Where: Room 201
Colorado Convention
Center, Street Level

When: Saturday- April 10, 2010 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m.

1) It seems the self-publish to/not to debate will forever remain, as proponents of both sides are strong. The “not to” crowd seems to want to hold onto the credibility associated with having an editorial gatekeeper. The “to” crowd seems to want to break down that gatekeeper for the sake of elevating importance of self-expression. What do you think the general consensus will be at AWP, considering so many of the presenters and sponsors come from the world of editorial gatekeepers?

Generally the consensus is that self-publishing is here to stay – much like ebooks.  It’s not really something you can deny as being part of the fabric of publishing.  Case in point, our panel, which I believe was refused last year, but this year a slot was allowed for the topic – you should ask Christopher Meeks about that because he set up the panel, registered with AWP.

I really don’t think the editorial gatekeeper argument is going to last for much longer, as there are more and more stories of “good” writers being turned away.  What will endure for a while longer is the fact that it’s harder to sell self-published books because it very much is still a brick and mortar industry.  But that’s because the iPad hasn’t even been released yet and the ebook revolution is really just on the edge of beginning.  Once more people are reading ebooks, brick and mortar distribution will no longer be a mark against self-pubbing.

Wow, I didn’t even know about that – that’s depressing.  Are you suggesting that b/c Pat Walsh is closed off to self-publishing it’s related to MacAdam Cage’s trouble?  Can’t say that, because MacAdam Cage is at least forward thinking in the types of books it chooses to publish.  But anyone who uses absolutes such as “will not bring you literary success” should not be listened to.  It’s hard, and it’s easier to sell a book in a bookstore, but it’s sort of like saying “writing experimental fiction will not make you a success.”  Depends how you define success.

Self-publishing does deserve its stigma to some degree because it’s something that’s been built up over decades. Blogging, on the other hand, which is really the same thing, we’ve all seen unfold in real time. And so the terrible blogs – of which there are many – have not come to represent blogging on the whole.  Whereas with books the opposite is the case.  The generation growing up now doesn’t know any other world than one with the internet – they’re raised on Wikipedia, Youtube, blogs, and Twitter.  Those people will not see the difference between self-publishing on Lulu and self-publishing on Blogspot.  And the people who see the difference are going to become grayer and obsolete.

There are more “bad” books self-published than there are bad traditionally published books,  but there are also a lot of readers who can’t tell the difference.  Much mainstream fiction I find is unreadable, and so by that argument you could say most fiction in general is “bad.”  And I’m not talking about typos – because that’s really a myth.  I’ve seen MANY self-published books and typos are the least of their problems.  The main problem is a kind of lifelessness, which I also see in highly-successful mainstream fiction.  “Lifeless” is subjective, however, and to each his own.

People love Jackie Collins – that’s “bad” writing by my estimation.  But she’s a celebrity.  The very same book could be released by a no-name self-published writer and it might be criticized for being sub-par writing, even if it was (hypothetically) the exact same book.  The method of printing should never overshadow the words on the page.  There may be an unfair stigma about self-publishing, but they’re also held to an unfair standard to be “as good” as traditionally published books, when traditionally published books aren’t always the pinnacle of human achievement.

There is something to be said, though, that if you’re buying something from Xlibris, sight unseen, there’s a greater probability that the book might be absolutely unreadable compared to a book put out by Random House.  But when have you ever bought anything sight unseen?  There are ways to test out a book beforehand – samples, objective reviews – which can mimic picking up a book in a store and testing it out.  The validation should be in terms of personal preference, not the preference of an editor who you’ll never know and who likely has a much different criteria for what makes a book “good” than you do.

Henry Baum is the author of the novels The Golden Calf, North of Sunset and The American Book of the Dead, recently released. He’s published work at Identity Theory, Scarecrow, Storyglossia, Dogmatika and others, as well as stories in anthologies put out by Another Sky Press and 3:AM, and a story in a single volume by Cloverfield Press. Visit theamericanbookofthedead.com where he’s posting a song for each chapter in his new novel. In addition to being a self-publishing advocate, he’s also into home recording. He lives in Los Angeles.