urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:deadscrypt by m.j.euringer m.j.euringer 2009-07-29T14:34:58Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:deadscrypt:182226 2009-07-29T14:31:04Z 2009-07-29T14:34:58Z Yeah, so the stigma against self-publishing is largely about the material not being vetted by an editor. Well, as I understand it, most editors don't edit anyhow. They read enough to tell if they can sell it, then pass it off to an assistant to check for legal issues. Grammar? Story? That's on the writer. Sure, they may tell you why your ending doesn't work for them, but chances are that the way you wrote it was better. <br /><br />The funny thing about an audience is that we normally cry foul when the ending's whack, and endings are usually comittee meetings about what will best please the crowds. It's a pristine catch-22. In that light, no one wins.<br /><br />So where does a creatively ambitious person set the bar?<br /><br />Right in the fucking mirror, friend, right in the mirror.<br /><br />You know if you're more concerned with craft or glory. If not, then you're not in this fir the work at all, and that makes you a complete waste of my time. Don't do that. Know thyself. <br /><br />Yeah, so that would be my argument -- a self-pubbed piece by a superior craftsman beats a tepid piece with a whack ending by a big house.<br /><br />Hold your own feet to the fire, goddamnit.<br /><br />Should be another fortnight or two before I get a hold of my machine.<br /><br />She's coming back a monster.<br /><br />This excites me.<br /><br />I like monsters.