Being new to the whole “publishing a novel” thingy, I’m still and repeatedly baffled by the “trad-pub vs. self-pub” battle lines. Ever since I began querying agents, not a week has gone by that I haven’t seen one side condescend to the other and/or blow a gasket over perceived condescension. It’s simultaneously entralling and baffling.
The most fascinating thing about the whole debate is that 99% of the time, the humongous corporations that “back” either “side” sit back and say nothing, while the individual authors go at each other’s throats like roosters in a cock-fight. The popular voice of traditionally published authors decries self-publishing and berates Amazon as an evil, monopolistic giant, while the popular voice of author-publishers rails against the draconian, iron-fisted author-shafting of the Big 5 Publishers.
What amazes me the most is that no one really sees how alike these arguments have become. None of these authors seem to take note of how individual authors aren’t only putting down one another for their choice of publishing path, but rushing to the defense of *multi-billion dollar corporate entities*. News flash: Corporations don’t give a flying fuck about individuals.
One of the most common condescensions is to put down an author’s choice by “warning” them against how badly screwed they could be by the machine they’ve shackled themselves to. And the arguments sound so fantastically alike, that I just watch and wonder if authors in these arguments realize they’re making the exact same argument from only slightly different angles.
