Years ago, (many years ago) when AOL was a fledgling internet
service, I subscribed to one or two (actually more) writing and writer's chat rooms
, discussion groups and forums more to explore and learn than
to socialize. Back then, AOL had numerous places to hang out and
exchange ideas.
One evening, I was lurking and looking,
entertaining myself as I watched the dialog among several people about
whether or not writers should expect to get paid for their work. The
camps were not equally divided but a goodly number of the people in the
chat room believed writing was an art that should be freely shared and
that writers should never write for profit. They should write because
they loved to write, period, end of discussion. On the opposing side of
the argument, defenders of the big bucks (my tag, not theirs)
indignantly argued that if writers should not expect to get paid for
their blood, sweat, tears and cost of typewriter ribbons (Yes, Virginia,
this was before word processing replaced those clunky machines
entirely.), then nobody should expect to get paid for theirs, not
doctors, not teachers, not policemen, not movie producers, not, not,
not.
Neither group convinced the other to switch sides.
I,
being a writer who used my talent to do silly things like pay the rent,
put gas in my car, and eat at least once a day, sided with the pro-pay
group.
Several years later, I landed a gig with an independent
publisher whose philosophy was “Never give away information.” I felt
vindicated, sort of. I add the “sort of” because I knew he was in the
business of publishing
information for which he expected to be
compensated through sales. Still, this made sense because when he got
paid, his writers got paid and both could pay the rent, put gas in their
cars and eat at least once a day.
(This same publisher also
believed that if a book gave you one single idea, one tiny shred of
enjoyment, no matter how bad the book, it was worth every penny you
spend on it, something I did not favor.)
Fast forward to this era
when AOL is just another player in the big cyber game where the debate
continues, now with the added ingredient called the eBook, the little
rascal that invites anyone and everyone to write and publish and sell –
and give away – their talent.
Now the question becomes serious
because the competition is even more fierce. One book by one author,
good, bad, sensational or stinko, isn’t going to get anywhere on the
sales charts of the big internet outlets because it is like that
proverbial needle in that farmer’s haystack. There’s no big publisher to
spend big bucks promoting it; and the independent, self-published
author probably doesn’t have the kind of dough it takes to get the job
done. The solution? Find every social media site, every forum, every
board, and give away that book. Ask, beg even, readers to review it in
their blogs, on those same social networking sites, those same forums
and boards. (And pray the reviews are as good as you think your book
is.) Build yourself a fan base in the hopes that those same readers will
pay for your second effort, or your third, or your fourth. But trust me
on this, if your book isn’t worth the read, even if there’s one single
idea, one tiny shred of enjoyment on the part of the reader, your
strategy won’t work.
Even so, I don’t believe writers should give
their work away, unless it’s in the form of promotional efforts -- like
blogs (where they still can hope to earn a few sheckels from
advertising, through click-throughs and affiliate programs) and
interviews and signings and such. This is where they can share our love
for writing for free.
Of course, this is my opinion. I’m sure I’ll get some disagreement.
And now, it's off to the word processor to write something to pay. The rent's due in a few days.
