Why it can hurt

[onyxhawke]

One of the impactful questions that lurks behind the question of self publication (or in some cases micro-presses and scam organizations) is:

Why does self-publishing have a stigma?

There are two answers to this, the first is the simple one, the second will no doubt get me unfollowed on twitter, unfriended on Facebook, and generally labeled a member

Comments

[bondo_ba]

Agreed. And a corollary to number two is that people who can't play within the system are unlikely to react well when asked to do a rewrite or to murder their darlings.

I used to review SP work, and just... stopped. Some of it was conceptually all right (I can't recognize brilliance either, it seems), but the editing was atrocious. Tight prose is always preferable to that which meanders from one misuse of the languege to the next...

[wendigomountain]

I think a big reason self-publishing is so reviled is because (and I'm sure everyone knows someone that has done this) a person will enter a conversation, look down their nose, and tell everyone about how they are a published author. And that they have the car trunk full of cases of their book if you want to buy one. Whereas the rest of us struggle with slushpiles, rejections, rewrites, etc., etc., etc.

It's in the same vein as telling a combat veteran that you know what war is like because you finished Call of Duty.

[archangelbeth]

Regarding Bujold...

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bujold+ivan+story&aq=f

I haven't heard anything recent on it, but am holding out hope that writer's block has not caused her to abandon it. (The last I recall her saying, on the LMB fan list, was that she was Procrastinating due to some of that. And more recently she's apparently been tidying and self-pubbing (heh!) some of the novellas she has e-rights to, and The Spirit Ring.) The transcripts I've read suggest that The Ivan Book is delightful. ( http://matchstickeyes.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/a-sneak-peek-at-lois-mcmaster-bujolds-upcoming-ivan-book/ )

[green_knight]

My guideline for the 'real publisher or scammer' is a simple one: Who does the website sell to

[mmaresca]

Ironically, your Google ads below this post? For self-publishing one's book.