Print on Demand
by William Hazelgrove
I was reading a newspaper article about
E-books and print on demand. The article talked about what a
great thing it is now that people can get their books into print
by merely p
aying the twelve
hundred bucks this particular company charges and wham—they’re
published. The article talked about how this was such a great
thing because before authors had to go through the hell or rejection
and now you don’t’ have to do that because the costs
are so low for print on demand that anyone can have their book
published now. No more rejection letters and no more having agents
and New York publishing pass judgment on people’s work.
But is this a good thing? I think not. Think about it. All
those rejection letters serve a purpose my friends and it may
not be politically correct in the age of mediocrity or instant
celebrity to say this but you can’t get something for nothing.
The reason most people get rejection letters is they’re
work is not yet publishable! Yes, there is the slush pile and
yes-great masterpieces are overlooked but the majority of rejection
letters are aptly sent and the real writer takes these letters
and their criticisms and continues on his or her literary apprenticeship.
The result is that you don’t get published until you have
matured as a writer.
Let’s take television. Cable. Oh yes. A channel for everyone.
This will be great. No longer do the big networks dominate television
because now everyone can have a cable access show and it has
been great! Has it? I can’t find anything on television.
We have maybe one hundred channels and most of them are garbage.
Why, because it takes
nothing now to produce something to go on the blue box. Whereas
before to put something on television required a lot of money
time and effort and the result was that while there were bad
shows there was a lot of what we now call “classic television.”
Is it any wonder the reruns on Nick At Night are better shows
than most of the current cable dramas?
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t aspire to
be a great writer but not put in your time. Maybe your maturation
process is different but most writers have to take the hard knocks
for years and it is then they learn their craft and if they are
good and work hard will become first-rate writers. All print
on demand and e-books is going to do is take a lot of people’s
money and their books will never see the light of day. Why do
you think you pay them? They are supposed to pay you not the
other way around.
The reading public will be the loser for this. For maybe one
good writer might be discovered through an e-book or a print
on demand title but there will be five hundred horrible books
thrown out on the market that will be there just to satisfy someone’s
ego. It is all about mediocrity. It is all about the age of celebrity
where everyone can be a star or a rock singer or a writer. The
truth is everyone can’t
and the people who pay their dues and ply their craft and endure
will reap the true rewards of the professional writer. While
the other people will be twelve hundred dollars poorer.
