EDITORIAL
| 3rd May 2008 |
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The fact that this question’s asked at all will strike some with sadness or incredulity, at the least.
Yet, there are those who believe writing – even if creative – is also an author’s business. "When I was pursuing my M.A. degree in writing / publishing, I took writing classes with students that were MFA candidates. They were considered “the writers”. They were serious about the craft and that was refreshing. But in talking with some of these classmates, I learned that they didn’t know a thing about publishing. This surprised the heck out of me because in my head, I’m like, if you are a writer, you’re in the business of publishing too." Falicia Pride, (creator of Backlist). This is a more ePublishing / Print-On-Demand (POD) savvy view. It puts traditional practice, where writers wrote and hopefully somewhere along the line, submitted to agents / publishers, into perspective. The time honoured approach creates a neat separation between the writer, the middleman, and the financier. The elegance of such division is simplicity and specialisation. You write, they sell you and the print / distrubution is left to a well oiled machine, whirring somewheres off behind the scenes. It works too, particularly for the established artist; speaking on Radio 4’s 'Start the Week' recently, two creative giants Mike Leigh (screen writer / director) and Salman Rushdie (international author), amongst others, agreed that much of the wonder involved in creating art emerges from the act of craftmanship. The artist needs to be focused on the process of creating. However, the traditional literary supply chain also has its disadvantages. You write, that’s where your power lies but you cannot ensure that what you write will ever see the light of day. Such decisions lay in the hands of others. Their power exists over the future life of your work. The new realities challenge all of this tradition. "The current state of book publishing forces writers (people usually categorized as introverts who enjoy the solitary aspect of their craft) to be much more proactive in their career. No longer are the days when we can just submit a manuscript and be done with it. Writers have to be much more involved in the publishing process from start to finish." Falicia Pride. The entry of info-tech and e-thinking has made neat distinctions between writer, meadiator, and publisher less distinct. In the age of click-an-go the individual is no longer limited by ‘lack of information’ or ‘denial of access’ barriers to knowledge. Thus the idea of a perfect literary market becomes possible. One in which the writer can become all things (take on all parts) between the manuscript and the publication. In this digitally enabled world, ability and intent become the only real barriers. |
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