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Anyone can transform their writing
into an e-book and offer it up for sale on the internet. Established media
forms have responded to this new development by almost totally ignoring it,
thus giving an impression of illegitimacy to the whole process. The advent of
the e-book may mark the beginning of an artistic revolution that liberates
creativity and gives every voice the chance of being heard. Alternatively, we
might be opening a floodgate through which will pour a torrent of mindless,
pointless writing without which we would be far better off. Be that as it
may, the world at large still perceives e-books as being at best laughable
(with the obvious exception of King’s foray into this format) or at worst
revolting.
It has always been possible to self publish and while the costs
are significant, they are seldom prohibitive. Vanity publishing has invariably
been available to those prepared to pay. Self-publishing is generally
considered a poor alternative to actually being published because it lacks
the moderating wisdom of an editor and the stamp of approval that comes from
being paid rather than paying. It is equally possible however to view
conventional publishing houses as a limiting force inhibiting creativity and
discouraging originality. Conventional publishing houses will probably always
err on the side of caution; turning away the most groundbreaking writers on
the grounds that the public might not be able to accept them.
E-publishing can cost little or nothing - a free website, and
address for cheques and the promise of an emailed text are all you require.
Whether your texts will sell is an entirely different question. There is no
shortage of online publishers who will take any text sent to them and
variations on the theme of vanity publishing abound. Furthermore, there are
numerous opportunities for giving writing away, thus ensuring a readership
but avoiding a wage. I wonder if some of the writers who publish for free
think that by so doing they might attract the attention of a conventional
publishing house. In reality, it is improbably that they will crossover into
the mainstream by this method.
These innumerable self-publishers go largely unchecked. Without
editors to shape their work and determine what is worth publishing there is
no quality control and any rubbish may be marketed as an e-book. This would
perhaps be a more compelling argument against the e-book were it not obvious
that much work of dubious merit finds its way into bookshops. It is a sad
truth that conventionally published works cannot be depended upon to be high
in integrity or particularly original.
The presence of a publisher gives at least the impression that
a book has been carefully selected on the basis of merit. E-books do not
offer the reading public that kind of reassurance - either they have been
self-published, or the publishing house is totally unknown and therefore
untrusted. How justified is this attitude towards online publishers? It is
certainly true that many are nothing more than vanity presses, but many have
editors, well considered submissions policies and a desire to select the best
possible work. As examples, consider Online Originals, Hollow Hills
Publishing, or Author Network.
E-publishing has suffered from the same derision that has
affected all aspects of the internet. The rise ad fall of the dotcom industry
has lead to cynicism and all online projects are met with scepticism. The
internet remains an amazing way of spreading information and an ideal testing
ground for the new and the innovative, despite the reputation it has
acquired. Unwillingness to shop online, doubts about the value of e-commerce
and a lack of comment and observation from the mainstream are all affecting
e-publishing.
The revulsion of mainstream media and publishing in response to
e-publishing is in many ways self fulfilling: Without review, comment or
criticism to rate and check new writing, inspired work will go unnoticed and
poor work will receive no discouragement. If the mainstream media was
prepared to take on e-publishing, to comment on it and to offer up much
needed criticism then decent e-books would receive the attention they deserve
while unworthy texts could be weeded out. Most depressing of all however, is
the state of play with online reviewers. The internet is littered with book
review sites, both amateur and professional. Ezines review conventional fiction
and the vast majority of them will not touch e-publishing despite the fact
that they are e-publishing themselves.
It would be tempting to take a Darwinian approach to the
internet arts and assume that the best will be selected and supported by the
reading public while the worst will fall by the wayside. The internet however
is not a level playing field and with so many voices clamouring for attention
it may well be the loudest and not the best that finally triumph. There is
far too much material online for any one person to possibly be aware of all
of it. This is equally true of the fiction available on paper. The role of
the literary critic is largely to help readers determine what they should
consider and what should be ignored. An absence of attention to e-books will
probably fail to smother this new development (although it is worth wondering
if this is the intention) but it will certainly mean that the best writers
online will not receive the attention and encouragement due to them.
Currently it seems unlikely that the internet will host a
literary revolution, but with the support of traditional criticism and
reviewing, it could become an exciting testing ground for new projects and
innovations.
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