Education Fiction Writers - Are You What's For Dinner

Ever feel like you've got a hook in your mouth? "I've never quite bought the idea that the public buys or takes what it deserves. I think that...publishers to a measurable extent dictate public tastes. They're really more powerful than we want to admit." - VAN ALLEN BRADLEY, literary critic, quoted in Conversations by Roy Newquist One very viable solution for this dilemma (the publishing industry deciding arbitrarily who will and will not be "published") is to bypass these guys and self-publish your own book. Are you a fish or a fisherman? What do we need them for - anyway? Think about it. If you self-publish - You'll make 10X the money, retain complete control, and your book will stay in print indefinitely instead of 3 months; not to mention the fact that your book will be on the selves in a couple months instead of 18 to 24 months with a "publisher". When one adds up the simple facts - the "dream" of being published by a NY publishing house shifts from "dream" to nightmare pretty quick. "Hey, honey! We hooked another idealistic "writer" today. Turn on the grill. I'll have him gutted and cleaned in a minute." The only thing that a Big Box publishing house actually brings to the table (besides you're cleaned bones) is the cash for the first 3-5,000 copies. But when you realize, for that small investment ($10,000) they're going to pick your book clean of 80% of the profits and then throw what's left of you and your book in the trash - No self respecting business person would consider their "deal" for a NY minute. So, why do writers routinely fall for this obviously lopsided business arrangement? Are we as genetically stupid as fish? No, we're just programmed to think of ourselves as "artists", and discouraged from looking beyond the surface to the guy holding the rod and reel. We don't want to be involved in something as sordid as "business". As artists we're above all that! It's about the "art". That little worm hides the hook of our demise. Well, I say... Bull Shit! Or fish shit as the case may be. If we fiction writers don't want to be hooked and flayed like gasping mackerels we'd better put on our "business hat" and start thinking like fishermen instead of fish. Look beyond the surface - study the facts. Then make an informed decision. Am I going to be the fish, or the fisherman? Am I going to be a business person about this "writing thing" or am I going to be "dinner"? custom paper writing services