Is there a place for self-publishing at a writing conference?
In recent days, there's been some, shall we say 'spirited', discussion amongst my friends at the the Greater Lehigh Valley Writing Group about whether or not our annual Write Stuff Conference should cater for folks interested in self-publishing
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One prime example springs to mind. An acquaintance, (not friend), recently stuck up a historical romance and it was self-published in the exact sense of the words. I purchased because this is someone who takes money off other people to get their manuscripts in order for publication. I figured that this person, (who doesn't call themselves an editor), must surely be able to write decent narrative with acceptable grammar. I gave up counting the mistakes after chapter two. I had scored one hundred and twenty-three by that stage. And then there was the problem of the plot, or lack thereof. What the book was was a series of erotic fantasies loosely tied together with some fairly improbable characters. The first three pages had obviously received a lot more work than any part of the rest of the book as these were not too badly written and at least quite gripping in the sense that they contained the story I thought I was buying.
I don't see the point of self-publishing being on the program at a regular writing conference because these people in general, and I know there must be exceptions, are not prepared to put the work in to make their book presentable. They are not prepared to pay an editor to go over to check for the many errors. They are not prepared to pick up a Chicago Manual of Style, or any equivalent how-to grammar book, and they seem to not possess a dictionary. Also, having recently been in the company of a goodly number of such people, I found them to be unlike real writers. There was a sense of arrogance I thought particularly unattractive and also a dogged belief in their own way of writing, warts and all, that was advocated to any new member, despite people pointing out to them that they were not correct. I simple couldn't stand the bad manners and pulled out.
This is why I think the whole subject doesn't belong in a real con. If it was offered then droves of these people probably would show up to bray their own wares. I actually know of someone recently banned from commenting on Amazon because she was plugging her own book with every comment she penned. It would be a bit like expecting the Morlocks to develop table manners when visiting the Eloi. Just won't happen.
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Regardless of which side of the argument folks are on, I hope they appreciate that line :)
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