The Stair Stepping Nature of Modern Publishing

No wonder there are so many crappy e-books out there. Seriously. I’ve been researching the process of how an e-book comes about, and it just seems way too easy for any schmo out there to publish whatever tripe they happen to be selling. I believe prose can be an art form, and too many people are out there diluting the paints with way too much water. I honestly feel bad for the people who have just bought e-readers because they have to slog through all that crap to find the diamonds in the rough, so to speak, the good books that ARE out there, but are at the bottom of the pile.

My wife told me that with so much crap out there, it is harder than ever for a good writer to make a mark trying to compete in the e-world. With books like Fifty Shades of Grey out there diluting the marketplace, it’s easy to see why. My six-year old could write something just as compelling as that book, and it’s sequels. I myself bought Switched, the horrendously bereft of grammatical corrections e-book that is selling like hotcakes. If I had access to a send-it-back switch, I would have clicked it without hesitation after the third page. With that being said, as a serious writer, it’s hard to maintain motivation when it seems like such a hit-or-miss proposition.

Until you think about real publishing. You know what I mean, actually getting an agent, and an editor, and spending time and energy promoting your physical book. Getting it printed on actual paper that smells like actual paper, that nice new-book smell that you know you crave, even if you’re not a librarian (which my wife is). And you realize how hard it is to get your serious writing into someone’s hands who can make it a reality as an honest-to-goodness book. A real BOOK. That still remains incredibly hard to breathe life into, no matter how good of a writer you may be. So what’s the connection, you ask?

It’s rather simple. A book like the aforementioned Fifty Shades of Grey became a phenomenon because it was first an e-book that people began reading for whatever reason. Because it was out there, most likely. With the groundswell of support for the book in e-format, a real life publisher decided to print it, and now I see it on the shelf in Barnes & Noble, where people continue to buy it with a ferocity reminiscent of a J.K. Rowling offering. So, if someone like that can produce garbage like that, still get the rock star treatment, AND get the book(s) actually published, why shouldn’t I give the e-world a chance to read my book first?

It’s really easy. And who knows?

Sam