This probably won’t be a very popular post but here I go with it anyway. With the invention of e-publishing new writers are coming out of the woodwork. These days anyone can publish their own work without having to pay money to do so. ANYONE. Who can be held accountable for what goes out there? It used to be that when you bought a book there was at least someone out there who believed in it. Sure, there was still a lot of crappy writing, but at least if you didn’t like a book you could sell it at a garage sale and get some of your money back.
I may not be in a position myself to say what I write is good, or that I won’t eventually go the route of self-publishing, but I’ve been reading long enough to distinguish what’s good and what is crap and I am appalled at how unbalanced it has become in the wrong direction. Up until last year I had never failed to finish reading a novel, no matter how bad it was. This year alone I have thrown up my hands in disgust at no less than three novels on my e-reader. Nowadays everyone thinks they can write. Many of the people self-publishing have long forgotten what they learned in Grade 3 grammar, and I hate to think what novels would look like without spellcheck.
For me it came to the forefront with ’50 Shades of Grey’. The author, E.L. James, actually said in an interview she understands that people who read her books are people who don’t normally read. I can easily believe it. When I read it I thought to myself, great! If this can get published anything can. By God was I right. Everybody and their sister said the same thing! I’m sure editorial slush piles have never been bigger, making it that much harder for talented writers to get noticed.
Will we get to the point eventually where there are more writers than there are readers? The way it’s going now I wouldn’t be surprised. I copied and pasted the following from Kindle’s website. I think I can keep my tongue firmly planted in cheek and let this speak for itself:
Do I need any special skills to publish with Kindle Direct Publishing?
Kindle Direct Publishing does the basic work for you, but if your content contains a lot of special formatting, a bit of knowledge in HTML may come in handy.
In closing, if you’re serious about writing a novel and you want to publish it, take a class or two. Brush up on your skills first. Make more than the effort to learn HTML and learn how to write! Hold yourself accountable for putting out a good product. Perhaps we can keep future of publishing out of the crapper after all.
lindaghill.com 
April 11, 2017 at 3:35 am
Yeah, fkcu her and her sthtiy attitude to typos.
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April 11, 2017 at 3:35 am
Damn, wrong post.
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June 8, 2013 at 12:29 am
Such an interesting conversation! Thank you. All of you. I also am optimistic enough to think that things will shake out and the better writers will come to the front. However, right now, it is difficult to find those better self published writers.
Has someone made a list of the best self published writers? Some of you might like to do that. Is there something like ‘Good Reads’ (http://www.goodreads.com/) for self published books, where people could vote on what they read?
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June 8, 2013 at 8:42 am
A list would be ideal. The problem is that it’s all a matter of opinion, and those with the loudest opinions aren’t always those who have the ability to tell the difference between good literature and bad writing. I think we really just have to wait for the cream to float, so to speak. 🙂
Thanks for commenting 😀
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May 29, 2013 at 1:19 pm
I totally agree about there being more ‘crap’ out there to read.. Even when looking for some piece of fluff to read, you can’t help finding a lot of poorly written self-published works (has nobody heard of editing??).. I’ve been looking into the Kindle Self-Publishing myself for sometime in the future.. and I know I’d be certain anything I put my name on is at least decent and has been double-checked by a couple people other than myself.
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May 29, 2013 at 1:28 pm
Apparently some people are interested in simply seeing their names on the cover of a novel and don’t care what’s inside. And now that anyone at all can do it… It certainly makes sense to put out the best we possibly can if we want to be appreciated and remembered for the quality of our writing.
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May 22, 2013 at 8:34 pm
I agree so strongly, I checked to see if you had one of those star ratings, so I could click the five!
There’s a LOT of crap out there. It’s not a wonder people like you and I, as well as thousands like us, are skeptical about spending money on self-published works.
>insert five gold stars here<
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May 22, 2013 at 10:10 pm
It’s not easy to pick through them, that’s for sure. I think word-of-mouth from people you know who share your taste is probably the best way to find the gems amongst the debris.
Thanks for the gold stars! That’s a first! 😀
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May 22, 2013 at 12:09 pm
I think the one line that got to me in this whole post was: “The author, E.L. James, actually said in an interview she understands that people who read her books are people who don’t normally read.”
There is so much value in this comment. Getting those who normally don’t read to read a book is a daring feat. This is how Harry Potter became such a success. People who didn’t read were reading the books and made the whole series a hit.
Thanks for this! Loved that line!
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May 22, 2013 at 1:04 pm
The difference is, the people who made Harry Potter a hit learned right away what good literature was about. E.L. James has bred a generation of people who think poorly constructed plot, characters, and sentences, not to mention little or no research is darn good readin’.
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May 21, 2013 at 10:43 pm
I have made it a point not to read 50 shades because of what you described here and as a literary buff, lol, I cannot tell you how many times people I know are shocked when I say I haven’t read any of them.
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May 21, 2013 at 10:45 pm
Do yourself a favour and let them continue to be shocked. 😉
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May 21, 2013 at 6:42 pm
Amen
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May 21, 2013 at 7:29 pm
🙂
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May 21, 2013 at 6:37 pm
The Kindle question refers to the formatting for the Kindle, which is a somewhat difficult process and must be planned and executed according to exact instructions. It is not referring to the skills it takes to write the actual book, only the skills it takes to format the book for the e-reader, which is why it mentions HTML.
Also, don’t forsake the world of self-publishing because you’ve read some crappy writers. Crappy writers are everywhere, just…don’t read them. For the writer who can write and is open to critique, editing and is willing to let others read their manuscript before they go to publish — self publishing is enormously empowering. Don’t get caught up in the ancient thinking — the times have changed.
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May 21, 2013 at 7:28 pm
Yes, I knew when I copied and pasted that the Kindle question referred to the formatting. But there’s nothing to say that you need to be able to write either.
I DID mention that I might (read: more than likely) end up self-publishing myself, so I haven’t given up on it, not by any means. But it’s easier to pick up a physical book and see if it’s any good by opening it and reading a passage than it is to evaluate an e-book. The reviews don’t tell you anything. Have you seen the reviews raving about 50 Shades? Neither have I. But you can bet there are a lot of them by the number of copies she sold.
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May 21, 2013 at 5:45 pm
I remember back when CD burners were the hot new technology and all of a sudden a million musicians could produce their own CD in the comfort of their garage–no need for a label contract, no need for an expensive sound engineer or renting studio time!
Well, ten years later the overwhelming majority of those bands have gone back to their day jobs and the CDs with their photocopied covers are gathering dust in the attic, waiting for the kids to get old enough to find them and humiliate mom and dad with what they used to sound like.
Why? Because producing salable artistic product is hard work. Those bands who had the talent and the skills and put the work into learning the business survived, most gave up once they realized how much effort is was going to take to get anyone outside their families to buy an album.
That’s where we are with e-reader technology now–the tail end of the first big boom. Already you can see the self-publishing boards filling up with complaints about how much work it is to promote a book, and how mean all the reviewers are.
There are a lot of people who want to be writers, but few who are going to stick with it for the long haul, do the work, and make the investment necessary to keep going. In ten years the field won’t be near as crowded as it is now.
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May 21, 2013 at 8:03 pm
True enough, it does seem a lot of work AFTER the fact, even if not before. I guess for the people who want to make a living off it, if the product is substandard then the sales will reflect it regardless of the amount of work that goes into promotion. Without word-of-mouth you’re losing half your audience.
I hope you’re right, but at the same time I cringe to think what might be next!
Thanks for the comment 🙂
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May 21, 2013 at 4:51 pm
It seems like any time I download a free e-book, I’m really disappointed. These have all been self-published and really needed someone to at least do a basic grammar/spelling check.
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May 21, 2013 at 5:03 pm
I found that at first too, but now it’s starting to be the ones I’m paying for as well.
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May 21, 2013 at 5:11 pm
People don’t seem to think an editor has value. And from the perspective that so few books make any money, a lot don’t feel the money invested will be recouped. But even a fellow writing buddy or friend might catch at least the obvious stuff.
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May 21, 2013 at 5:22 pm
Even a writing buddy… I’ve read stuff from people just wanting a quick look-over and I’ve wanted to change something in every paragraph.
There are people out there who are publishing that need serious help and a friend who isn’t an editor isn’t usually going to take on the full-time job of editing a piece of crap, no matter how good a friend they are. For that matter, they probably wouldn’t even be a friend for long if they were honest. It’s difficult being told you suck! 😛
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May 21, 2013 at 4:21 pm
I am not a writer – but I am an avid reader. I love supporting indie authors, but some of what I have read (and purchased-even it was cheap) has been horrible. I am not the grammar police, but the basic use of their/there/they’re are unexcusable in my mind. And don’t even get me started on the plots/character development. I had not finishing a book. I have started only buying ebooks that provide a sample that I can be sure it won’t be just horrible.
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May 21, 2013 at 4:40 pm
That’s what I thought at first too – support the little guy. I’ve since become jaded and wary.
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May 21, 2013 at 4:06 pm
Those Kindle instructions are so funny (and sad). I’ve had to stop reading a lot of books lately too and I never used to do that. People seem to think it takes too long to traditionally publish a novel, but maybe that’s a good thing. At least if it takes years, it’s probably going to end up being better than one that takes much less time.
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May 21, 2013 at 4:32 pm
I got a kick out of the Kindle instructions too. If it takes years rather than months to write a book it means that the author has probably done more than one draft. Apparently (I just read this) one of the 50 Shades books was written in 4 months.
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May 21, 2013 at 3:57 pm
It is all about the editor anyway. Some writers can do a bit of both…others really need an editor. And that is what is never going to happen with self publishing. Someone who has the balls to say this is crap, but if you would just…
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May 21, 2013 at 4:28 pm
If it’s bad enough the editors ignore it. And what friend of a writer has the guts to say it’s awful? It’s hopeless.
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May 21, 2013 at 3:49 pm
Hated 50 Shades (the first one, couldn’t stomach any more!). And I agree with you Linda, there is one big steaming pile of crap out there now from some pretty crappy writers. As Charles said, hopefully word gets out about these types of books.
Still, E.L.James is laughing all the way to the bank.
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May 21, 2013 at 4:23 pm
It’s beyond me how she did it.
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May 21, 2013 at 3:13 pm
As someone who did self-publish, I agree to an extent. There is a lot of people who are using the system to get published without putting the work in. Yet, there are also a lot of people out there who have spent half their lives getting rejected and are using self-publishing to reach their dream. Rejection in the traditional arena is no longer about talent, but about marketability.
Anyway, I’ve read articles about people who purposely write crappy books and toss them out for .99 cents. One person in an article claimed to have ‘written’ 400 books in a year and he hates writing. Those types flood the market, but they don’t really get success. Word goes out on them fairly quickly. Don’t even get me started on 50 Shades and the mess it made.
Small note: From what I’ve been told, I’d be doing the same leveling of marketing and work that I’m doing now if I was with a traditional publisher. I’d be making a lot less money too. I’d rather be the sole one responsible for the same amount of back-breaking work.
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May 21, 2013 at 3:21 pm
As I said, I’ll probably end up self-publishing too. But I have put the work into the writing. I just wish more would.
And in the case of 50 Shades apparently marketability has nothing to do with talent either. haha! From the sounds of it we could both talk about that book until our heads explode.
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May 21, 2013 at 3:58 pm
Same here. I’ve actually only met one person who didn’t do the work to be published. Not sure what happened to him.
With 50 Shades, it opened the floodgates for fan-fiction to rush into the pipeline. Some agents and publishers look at fan-fiction as a source of books now.
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May 21, 2013 at 3:09 pm
Awww, but for the writing, I think I’d enjoy writing.
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May 21, 2013 at 3:13 pm
Go for it! Add to the list of the talented!
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