Bob Maxey <written_by@xxxxxxx> writes: > >>>I'm not sure what talent *is*; but in the way I use the phrase, at > least, it "counts for something". As often as not, it counts for a > "free pass" for *some* of the learning you need in a field. (I know a > bunch of authors; one of the best theories I've heard from that group > on "talent" is that every author gets pretty much a free pass on one or > maybe two aspects of writing -- character, dialog, plot, structure, or > various other small subdivisions; but that you then have to work your > butt off to get enough of the others to produce passable work, and > even harder than *that* to produce first-rate work.)>>> > > Interesting thing about authors and publishing. There are shortcuts > in these fields that remove the need to struggle; technology removes > the hard work and democratizes the process so absolutely everyone > can become a published author, with a book for sale on Amazon or B&N > dot com. This makes the work more legitimate in the eyes of > many. The sad fact is, many, if not most book stores will not stock > many of these books because the buyers understand that the author's > work likely suffers. So in what sense has this removed the need to struggle? As you say, those works aren't stocked in stores, and aren't accepted by other authors and editors and publishers as "real" publication credits. I have a number of friends in the real New York publishing industry, including a couple who are making a bit of a personal hobby out of trying to warn struggling and desperate authors against the scam artists out there, so "Publish America" is a familiar name, too. > This technology increases the pool of useless works that would never > be published ten or fifteen years ago. I guess it's partly technology, but I'm inclined to blame the scam artists at for-fee reading services and vanity presses. (And since you jumped directly from my mentioning I had author friends to talking about vanity press publication, I should mention that I know only two people who admit to having ever used such, and one of the uses was a counter-scam to see how bad a book Publish America could be tricked into accepting and how fulsome their letters of praise would be. With the exception of the *other* friend who did vanity-publish a book, the authors I'm thinking of are published by "real" publihsers. Most of these people make their living from their writing.) > I am not sure most editors give the writer a free pass on > anything. Then again, some might because writing is subjective and > it is sometimes difficult to tell what is good, bad, or terrible > dialog. I will admit that I read the "Mac Bolan" and "Overload" > series. The dialog is often silly, but these books represent a very > large series of silly books, all traditionally published. Either you misread me, or this discussion is getting too intense. I didn't say *editors* gave anybody a pass on anything; I said, in the context of a discussion of talent, that some authors *got* a free pass on some things. I meant that when they started out trying to write they *already* had decent abilities in one or (maybe) two of the necessary skill sets required to be a successful author. -- David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b@xxxxxxxx>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/> RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/> Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>
