Power to the People or You Get What You Pay For?

Maybe it's because I'm a starving artist, but probably just because I'm cheap, the books I review will often be free Kindle books. I am one of those Kindle junkies that will pay 12.99 for one of my favorite authors--scandalous, according to some--but I stretch my book budget by subscribing to multiple freebie lists. The problem is, I only finish about 1 in 5 of the freebies I actually try. Most freebies are self-published novels. Its not that I'm against self-publishing, and I admit that self-pubs could potentially change the landscape of publishing. Especially if this article is true--though anonymous pontificators from "inside the publishing world" make me go hmm; the agents and publishers I've met were hardly shy about speaking their minds, regardless of the presence of any feathers to be ruffled. It's just that the current system exists for a reason, and most self-pubs actually prove the publishing world has yet to outlive its usefulness.

You see, not everyone that has A Great Book Idea--or even the raw talent to actually write well--has the patience, time, and grit to see it through. (Guilty. Cut me a break! It's hard, and I'm not into self-flagellation.) As a result, most e-pubs go to press far short of the standards readers expect. The Big Evil Agent/Publisher reads a few paragraphs and tells the writer, "Pass. It needs work." Starry I. D'Writer remains convinced that if the book could get to the public in spite of the publishing industry's gatekeepers, they'd just love it right up to the top of the Best Seller List--or, if we're being totally honest, just can't bear to spend another day on the same manuscript, but can't let it go. Thus, an e-pub is born, with typos, information dumps, and shifting P.O.V.s that only a writer's mother could love.

That's why I get really excited when I read a good self-pub. Why I take delight in giving that book props here. Because that writer put him/herself through the paces without the tough love an Agent would give or the gentle guidance an Editor with a publishing house could afford. And the others? Well, I won't mention them here. I'll just commiserate in silence. Because those who can, do. Those who can't critique.