Comments on: Guest Post: Little e, Big B: Books and EBooks and Love and War

By: Manuel Royal

Manuel Royal — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:26:10 +0000

Love the article; you expressed thoughts I’ve been having. I just want to write good stories.

By: Dusk Peterson

Dusk Peterson — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:20:52 +0000

Unfortunately, the tendency to be more interested in literary finances than in literary content has been around for a long time; just pick up a copy of Writer’s Market from the 1970s if you don’t believe me. Back in the middle of the last decade, I had to take a break from a professional writers’ forum, because I was so sick of reading posts that were along the lines of, “How should I change my writing so that it’s more likely to sell to an editor?” I spent my break hanging out with amateur online writers, who were happily swapping recommendations for good stories to read. I needed that reminder of what the essence of being a writer is. Thank you for providing that reminder here.

By: Ken Marshall

Ken Marshall — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:48:35 +0000

Thank you. I’m trying to transition from the technical world into writing and am already burned out on the marketing and tech hype surrounding ebooks. Don’t be led around by the nose by high-tech alchemy. If money leaves my pocket, I am buying something; I am not making a sale. I love writing, and each moment I am thinking about ebooks, I’m not writing. Now enough of that.

By: Rosemarie Breuer

Rosemarie Breuer — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 05:10:35 +0000

I guess, once ebooks are nothing new anymore, you will be able to have your conversations about good stories again, as we in our family have all the time.

I self published a bi-lingual book on which I have worked for years until I was happy with the result: Zauberer Zettelwitz – Table Mountain Wizard. I had it printed (in a better quality than normal books) as a special edition for gifts to family and friends. Big success, they were raving about it and came back to buy more for their friends. The result: all of a sudden I had my own small ‘publishing house’ (A Rosie Breuer book). Then my sons told me about Kindle. A short time later it was No 1 on a bestseller list for 100 children’s books with birds.
Kindle certainly is good news for poor authors. There still is such a lot on good writing in the internet, just look at the sfwa site.

By: John Walters

John Walters — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:51:39 +0000

Of course the story is the thing, no matter what. At first I thought this post was nitpicking, until I realized the emphasis was on story above all else – that is, above method of publishing or any other consideration. We all need to keep that in mind, rather than get into arguments about how we publish. Aren’t we all here because first of all we love great stories?

By: Doroty

Doroty — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:16:30 +0000

I would have to agree with this post. As someone trying to break into the industry, I see more and more on self-publishing and ebooks. I see less and less on the craft of writing. I suppose I’m a bit of a traditionalist myself. I want to be out there, to be seen and read. But I want people to love my characters as much as I do. I’ve put so much thought into them, and the journeys they go through, that I would probably be offended if I was only ever asked about why I self-publish or e-publish. I don’t really care about making money, if I do great, but the best reward to me is that other people get my writing.