First it was the Tradional Houses Now it is The Agents

A couple of weeks ago I post the blog below on my site at http://indieauthoryvonnemason.com. After much debate with myself I felt it deserved to be reposted here. The reason is simple. For years publishing houses have been telling readers what to read. They controlled who was allowed to be in print and who wasn’t. No only were they in control but the agents who represented those who were fortunate enough to get them were in control. What most readers do not know is that agents have hundreds of manuscripts on their desk and in their computers. They are just sitting there going no place fast. Second if an agent is not into a certain manuscript they refuse to even look at it. It doesn’t matter if the book is good or not. If it is not their thing it sits in the big black hole. Traditional houses hold the author hostage in that they control where that author appears, when he appears and how many books he is allowed to sell at the event. More times than not an author is not allowed to appear at a small event. Another thing that most readers do not know is that the author no matter how popular he or she is makes very little per book. And yes they still have to market their own work.

  If an author is fortunate enough to sign a contract with a Traditonal House and is given an advance, he has to sell that much in books in a year or else he has to repay the advance. Now all this brings me to the point of this blog on my site.

   A junior agent at a house in New York wrote a very nasty piece about indie authors. She made the statement that we were not creditable because we published our own work. I have read some tradional authors work that I was sorry I spent my money on. Several come to mind.  My response is below. She plainly stated that our work was not worthy of being read by anyone. All I have to say to her is that I have works that are award winners and best sellers.

   Indie authors embraced the internet way before the tradional houses did. We broke the glass ceiling and have made a name for ourselves. We earn more money and have a readership base that is becoming envied.      

   Don’t be afraid to embrace and read indies you just might be surprised.

  From My Blog:

I find it very amusing that since the Genie has been removed from the bottle and writers no longer have to depend on Agents and Traditional Publishers they now want to push back. Case in point:

http://bigglasscases.blogspot.com/2012/05/damn-yankees-and-other-ways-self.html

The chick that wrote the above article demanded that we as indie authors stop calling ourselves that because we were not indie authors.

“AND STOP CALLING YOURSELVES INDIE. You’re not that either. Using “indie” interchangeably with “self” only confuses people who want to self-publish and pisses off actual independent publishers. There is a clear difference between publishing with a small press (“indie”) and using a vendor (“self”). Misusing/stealing pre-existing terms doesn’t give you credibility; it makes you look unprofessional.”

Seriously! Let me just give her the Webster definition of Independent aka Indie- ” Not influenced or controlled by others  in matters of opinion, conduct, etc. thinking or acting for oneself as in independent thinker. Not subject to another’s authority or jurisdiction, autonomous: free as in an independent business man. Not influenced by the thought or action of others. Not dependant , or contingent upon something else for existence, operation, etc. No relying on someone or others for support, working for oneself in a private business.

This is just a few of the definitions that Webster gives. Now from the looks of these definitions I can truly state I am an Indie Author. I am in complete control of all my work, from the publishing to the cover art. No one tells me what I can or cannot write, how to write it, when to write it – how to publish it or when to publish it. I control the cover art, the pricing and the market. Ms. LaPolla it doesn’t get much more independent than  that. So before you spout off about things you have no clue go back and check Webster.

Next point this one is my favorite. She says    ” Because the thing is, most of the traditional publishing world has moved on and we’ve stopped thinking about you. We’d rather focus on ourselves. Frankly, we think you should go and do your thing if that’s what you want to do. More power to you. This town is big enough for the two of us. We promise.”

The reason we have taken matters in our own hands is because you never considered us. You all thought we would just go away and never be heard from again. Yes, the world is big enough for all of us. But it appears that the traditional folks are beginning to push back. The question is why? The is answer is simple fear on your part. We don’t need you, but apparently you will need us. We forgot about you long before you all forgot about us.

Traditional houses didn’t think they would start losing their authors to indie publishing because they felt as if they had them in the palm of their hands. They were wrong Jackie Collins is a prime example. She found out she can make more money doing her own thing.

Moving on to your next point:

“ It’s true, there is still a stigma. And here’s why: The number of writers self-publishing out of impatience outweighs the number of writers who self-pub because they’re making it a career. Which means the overall quality of work being produced through self-publishing is too low to have credibility.”  This was the best argument you could come up with? Lack of credibility!  Allow me to enlighten you- I have read books by traditional authors that one I should have never wasted my money on and two they were about as credible as a suspect who is being interrogated. This dog won’t hunt. You will have to do better than that.

“So, self-publishing community, for being called “self,” you’re not very autonomous. If you want to convince traditional publishing you’re its equal, stop drawing comparisons and start recognizing yourselves as your own entity. Self-publishing is not an offshoot of traditional publishing, and it’s not a gateway to traditional publishing.”  This was perhaps my favorite quote. We know we are not an off shoot from traditional publishing- never claimed to be, don’t want to be and wouldn’t have it if you gave it to us. As for me, I am my own entity. Trust and believe. I have been at this game for a long time.

Yes, I am autonomous because I am an Indie author and if you don’t believe it go back to the beginning of this blog or better yet check Webster.

Traditional  Houses started this “Civil War” as you called it. We just do our thing. We moved on a long time ago.