GW sightings

Chris · 14 Aug 2003, 17:50 · from urth-v0308.mbox · original

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From: "Chris" <rasputin_ at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: (urth) GW sightings
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 17:50:50 +0000
Message-ID: <urth-v0308-3899 at digest.urth.net>
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>On Wednesday, August 13, 2003, at 09:57  PM, Lisa Schaffer-Doggett wrote:
>
>>
>>On Wednesday, August 13, 2003, at 08:43 AM, MBS 808 wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>GW mention: In today=E2=80=99s climate, an acknowledged master
>>>like Gene Wolfe would never have gotten a second or
>>>third novel published. In fact=E2=80=A6 I would hazard to say
>>>that without David Hartwell, most of Gene Wolfe=E2=80=99s work
>>>would not be in print today. As a senior editor at Tor
>>>Mr. Hartwell has done a great job of advocating for
>>>quality material. And Patrick Nielsen Hayden -- who
>>>oversee's the Orb line of classic reprints -- has
>>>helped ensure the genre=E2=80=99s history won't be lost. But,
>>>at the end of the day, even senior editors at one of
>>>the largest SF/Fantasy/horror publishing houses find
>>>themselves at the mercies of big media accountants and
>>>marketing types that insist a book is only as good as
>>>its initial six months of sales.
>>>
>>
>>
>>Don muses:
>>
>>Technology will change this, I think.  Just like with the music industry,=20
>>it is becoming less and less expensive to do things yourself with a good=20
>>degree of quality.  And as the world becomes smaller and smaller (barring=20
>>apocalyptic calamity) marketing becomes cheaper as well.  It's only a=20
>>matter of time before the myth of literature existing  only through the=20
>>graces of a publishing house loses it's meaning.  Almost everything prior=20
>>to the twentieth century was self published and I think it will go that=20
>>way again, with the added benefit (or curse depending on your view of the=20
>>masses) that those of small means can find the funds to bring their=20
>>cherished works to print without interference from anyone on high.
>
>But if all of 300 million people in the US alone had 12 self-published=20
>novels, how would one decide what was worth reading?  A hierarchy will=20
>still present itself with, perhaps more difficult, obstacles to obtaining=20
>an audience.  One could easily imagine that publishing houses would simply=20
>become marketing houses for literature, with the same kind of standards. =20
>Given that anyone near a Barnes and Noble can publish something for a smal=
l=20
>fee, I guess this is already beginning.
>
>Michael

And there's the rub. Nietzsche lamented the coming of universal literacy an=
d=20
advanced printing methods (whether he was serious or joking, I couldn't tel=
l=20
you) because he foresaw something like this coming. And it's been happening=20
for a long time; the number of books out there is staggering, and even 100=20
years ago you could probably count on many of them being garbage to your=20
taste. We cope with it by relying on a kind of consensus/trust system: we=20
trust that if X publisher put the book out it may be in a subject we're=20
interested in, and that it has at least some minimum standard of quality; w=
e=20
trust that if a lot of people are buying it, it must have at least some=20
charm; on a more direct level we trust readers we know who have similar=20
tastes, and if they recommend it we have a reasonable expectation that it=20
will be worth reading. A self-published author is obviously at an enormous=20
disadvantage, as he can only rely on the last of these methods to start=20
with.

But the internet *is* making it easier to do this, and quickly - it *has* t=
o=20
just to make itself navigable, because it has an even greater explosion of=20
information than exists in the printed world. Thus you have portals,=20
filters, networks of people who share trusted sources of information and wh=
o=20
in turn link with other networks of people... So I think it's very possible=20
that a self-published writer could establish a buzz in this day and age. Bu=
t=20
it doesn't sound like a great solution for someone who depends on writing=20
for their living, because god knows how long it would take to get=20
profitable.

Civet

_________________________________________________________________
Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* =20
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--=20

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