According to that anonymous commenter, getting published is not about talent, skills, and hard work. Really??? WTF!It appears that it has more to do with pitching, luck, who you know, and the stars being aligned.
Anyway, Jim C. Hines took a few minutes out of his day to respond to this nameless commenter who replied to the author's post regarding self-publishing myths.
Read Hines' post here.
3 commentaires:
My field is different, I've written books on military history and business-related articles. I might struggle to get fiction published (if I ever started writing the stories currently only in my imagination). But I've never had trouble getting my work published. In fact, a fair bit of it was material I was asked to write.
Why? Because I am a good researcher, I have a basic competency in English, and I have a proven ability to meet deadlines and fulfill contracts. In other words, because I work hard at my projects, and I know what I'm talking about in my chosen subjects. The latter occurs due to years of unpaid research I have done (and continue to pursue) for fun.
So my success (which amounts to extra beer money) is based on talent and effort, and those two things, in combination, are a recipe for success. Winning the lottery is great, but most people will never do it, no matter how often they try. However, anyone can work hard. Most people simply choose not to do so.
The crowd that Jim eloquently knocks down are conflating personal with commercial publication. There's nothing wrong with having your work printed using POD or (gawd forbid) a vanity publisher.
However, taking it to the commercial level requires that some third party evaluate the work according to the writer's skills as demonstrated in the manuscript. Commercial markets need well-written, solid material. If a writer can't demonstrate this in a manuscript, then the manuscript won't get published.
Commercial publication does not rely on luck, murmured incantations to dark gods, or sleaze tactics. If commercial outfits did this they would go out of business overnight.
Like Marc, I'm published in the technical field a few times over. I continue to be hired because I know my subject matter, I can meet the publisher's guidelines for content and tone, and I can write material for the target audience.
I've never met anyone from my publisher, I don't have a fancy writing degree, I haven't attended a fancy tech conference or shmoozed with other tech writers. I just write. This method works for me, it works for many people throughout the world, and has worked throughout history. The anonymous whiner should try this method sometime.
To address the comments above : I'm not certain publishing works the same for fiction and technical books.
The anonymous comment was rather exaggerated, but I don't find it terrible to state that luck plays a part. Someone with connections in the industry should also find it easier to publish his works.
But naturally it's *not* all: work and talent do matter.
So... it sounds like much ado about nothing to me.
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