RARA-AVIS: Re: state of NY publishing

From: A.T. Stanford (amandatstanford@gmail.com)
Date: 13 Nov 2009

  • Next message: Steve Novak: "Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: state of NY publishing"

    To add my newbie 2 cents:

    I would say that obviously making a living is on every writer's mind (speaking from personal experience) but every good writer also has within them the drive to write. To continue writing, they would find a way to make a living to continue that drive - whether it be teaching, a second job, the movies or whatever they can find.

    While I agree that POD is not a positive thing for the book/writer market, I also agree that if you took money away from writers they'd still do it - though in far less numbers and I agree, we would have lost a great deal of fine literature.

    I also agree that money helps just as much as it hurts. I will add the example of million dollar advances from outside this particular genre (though it happens all the time) - "The Nanny Diaries." Absolute drivel of a novel, pointless in every way - in a literary sense - but made a lot of money with brainless nitwit readers (and a few movie fans later.) And so it goes.

    The age old adage, "Writers write" comes to mind. I'd add, "Writers write and good writers write regardless"

    Someone once told me, "Good books get published, bad books get published. But some good books don't get published, and other bad books don't get published either."

    AT Stanford

    --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "davezeltserman" <Dave.Zeltserman@...> wrote:
    >
    > Mario,
    >
    > Do you think Hammett, Chandler, Westlake, Stout, Jim Thompson, Spillane, etc. would've written the books they did if they didn't have a real prospect of earning an income with their writing?? Under your scenario, probably none of the great crime novels written from the 30s to the present day that we enjoy discussing here (when we discuss books!) would've been written.
    >
    > --Dave
    >
    >
    > --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "jacquesdebierue" <jacquesdebierue@> wrote:
    > >
    > > I would add something to Dave's commentary: ironically, it's a great time to be writing. Basically you have the collapse of industrial civilization to work with, not exactly a small subject... And the period where it will be kept on a respirator may be the most interesting of all. Provided one does not starve, of course.
    > >
    > > I think toning down expectations is a good idea. Also, think of how many books did James Joyce sell during his lifetime? A ridiculously low number by today's standards. But he wrote, he watched and wrote.
    > >
    > > I think that ultimately, those who really want to write will write, and we will see a golden age of writing. The corporate structures will probably wither away, but that doesn't mean good stories will stop. The need to write and to read good stories is innate in us. That's the big picture. So, if an era closes (dies), another one will come. It's always been like that.
    > >
    > > Best,
    > >
    > > mrt
    > >
    >



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