And as I said, there are exceptions. Russ Manning who published his own hiking guides because he kept being told by even regional publishers that they were "too local" is now successful because his guides filled a niche in the market. A good writer can look for that niche, and if they find it, they can get their investment back.
The difference is, Russ went to a "printer" instead of a firm like iUniverse, and indeed, if you are going to go ahead and self publish, you should just go to a printer instead. You actually will get a better deal in the long run, and certainly a better quality product.
Secondly, there is a major difference in publishing "reprints" of your work that has gone out of print. You have already proven that you can sell your work.
But a self-published author is not going to get a lot of respect. The idea that anyone can become an author is absurd. Anyone can learn to write, and even write well is true enough, but there are too many people being lured into the belief that "they too can be a famous writer" by many of these PoD services. And the biggest reason is that even the best authors are not that good at editing their own work.
I know that you are thinking of what Charles DeLint has done over the years. I am not saying that there are not exceptions. But Charles was doing that in addition to selling his stuff to markets. And there are a lot of "published" writers who are going that route to make extra income since the markets are shrinking, and the competition for those slots is growing stiffer.
Personally, as a professional, I blame a lot of it on the glut factor of the 80s when there were authors getting really chunky advances. It hurt publishers rather than helped them. First off, they created supply and demand, and tried to fill supply by purchasing any old book out there. Secondly, it gave too many wannabes the idea that they too could be rich and famous.
Reality check: Rich and famous writers are but a handful of four or five names in the industry. The rest of us barely make a living at this and keep our day jobs. In fact, you will find that many of the writers who seem well known only recently retired from their day jobs to write full time because it took them years to finally get into a position where they could afford to do so.
Places like iUniverse are ruining the market with inferior books written by people who would never have been able to make it in the market.
The truth is, if a writer has not had to swim up stream against the competition that is the current industry and earned the right to call themselves an author, they have no business dreaming of being a writer.
Or as Marion Zimmer Bradley was fond of saying, "No one told you not to be a plumber..."
And sorry, if this comes across as a rant. I have thirty years of freelancing experience behind me. I started selling professionally when I was 18, I started selling short fiction to professional markets in the 80s, and I only sold the first of my now nine books in 2000. I get a little testy when I see it being promoted that "you too can be a writer--for a price."
But then, as a pro, I have earned the right to complain.
Laura J. Underwood
