The following was written by Roy Pickering and the original can be found at: A Line a Day Blog

In this article Garrison Keillor bemoans the current and future state of publishing which has been inundated by self published authors. Since I happen to be a self published author (as well as one who has sold rights to my writing to publishers, thus putting me on both sides of fence) it may surprise you to learn that I in large part agree with the premise of Mr. Keillor’s article. I didn’t even need to be invited to a fancy Tribeca rooftop party surrounded by literary bigwigs each preening like the only rooster in a henhouse to reach the same conclusions. As it happens I was raised a lot closer to Tribeca than the windswept plains of Keillor’s childhood, but like him I grew up in awe of real deal “book people”. He has a number of years on me, but I too am old enough to recall the days of mailing a manuscript (even if not one typed on a manual typewriter) in a manilla envelope with actual postage stamps on it, then hoping that I would eventually find a much smaller envelope in my mailbox with an acceptance letter in it. When Keillor writes “These are anti-elitist times, when mobs are calling for the downfall of pointy-head intellectuals who dare tell decent people what to think, but I admire the elite”, I’m right there with him. Just as I watch NBA contests on TV rather than pick-up basketball in the park because my desire is to see the best of the best elevating it from a game to an art form, so too do I want to read the work of authors standing head and shoulder above the average person who may happen to own a pen and paper and have the ability to put down words, but surely this alone does not qualify one for the distinguished title of WRITER.

Self publishing has always been an option for those diligent enough to write a story to completion, but until recently it was not overwhelmingly commonplace. Once technological advances brought about the existence of publishing on demand, in essence allowing people to cost effectively print as small a quantity as one copy, the ballgame permanently changed and everyone who wanted in could become a player. The need to hone one’s craft in order to write so impressively that it was inevitable they’d land an agent and then a publishing deal simply vanished. It’s still a goal for many of course, but not a need for all. Now a person can write any old pile of gibberish, no editor ever need intervene with pesky suggestions or sound advice not to quit one’s day job, and within a few mouse clips they can become the published author of an electronic and/or printed book. Garrison Keillor laments this condition and expresses nostalgia for the days when only the chosen few were annointed by a passing of the torch, and his point is a valid one. Yet there are some critical issues he does not bother to make mention of, such as the fact that far before the irreverant emergence of self publishing, traditional publishing had fallen down on the job and made a mockery of its role.

The days I personally miss even though I didn’t live during them are not when Garrison Keillor was getting his earliest books published, but further back in time when the primary goal of publishers was to find great talent and provide a platform for unique voices to make their marks upon the world of literature. Doing so typically led to the other necessary goal – making a profit. I’m talking about an era when publishing was not mostly about following whatever the latest hot trend was in order to make a quick buck. The mindset was not - Harry Potter is selling well so let’s publish a ton of wizard books for teens. Oh wait, the Twilight series has caught on so let’s publish a bunch of books about teen vampires. Hold up, it turns out people really like Swedish detectives now and Stieg Larrson is no longer around to write them, so let’s round up as many imitators as can be found until the next trend emerges. And as for readers of color, in between Terry McMillan releases perhaps we’ll publish a few other tan writers who do the most remarkable job of writing as similarly to Terry as humanly possible. Of course, in order to become the Terry McMillan of Waiting to Exhale level success she had to start off as the self published author of Mama. This would make her first book just one of many examples which show that in addition to apparently being the realization of Mr. Keillor’s worst fears, self publishing has resulted in the voices of remarkable authors being discovered by appreciative readers. One might have to pick through some garbage when reading books by self published authors to find the gems.

But you know what – the same exact thing can be said about those who only read books put out by corporate publishers. And while big houses are mostly looking to sign the next writer and book that conforms to whatever the latest trend may be, many of the writers publishing themselves are demonstrating originality with their prose rather than going out of their way to write about a Swedish detective on the trail of a teenage vampire (hey, I might be on to something here) in order to grab an editor’s attention and avoid their pile of slush. In the end it doesn’t matter whether a new title is put out by Random House or Fred’s laptop, just as it doesn’t really matter whether you end up reading it on your iPad or as a paperback. It doesn’t matter if a writer attracts an audience by becoming a master of social media or has the luxury of sitting back and letting a big company’s marketing department do the bulk of the heavy lifting so he can focus on what he is supposed to be best at – writing. No difference is made whether you find out about a book because of a New York Times book review, a book blog composed in a college dorm room, finding a trailer for it while surfing the internet, or because the cover caught your eye while you walked past a shelf of novels in a brick and mortar shop and you decided to give it a shot.

What matters is that there are still talented writers out there willing to pour their blood, sweat and tears on to a page, then hope that somehow, in some way, that page in some format manages to makes its way before your eyes. After that, let you the reader be jury and judge who decides if the story is worthy enough to make its way into your heart. Those who love Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books and can’t wait for the next one to come out need not worry because every major publisher in existence will put out several Twilight-like titles for your enjoyment until the next installment of the real deal is ready. As for those who are looking for a great new literary discovery, an original rather than a purposeful copy, you’ll find that traditional publishers are still putting out some of those too. But since they aren’t guaranteed money makers, in any given year more books fitting this description will be written than will be published by industry giants. No need for concern though, because in this day and age the everyman can build his own platform to showcase the fruit of his labor, and once built adventurous readers just may come and decide for themselves if the time has arrived to end the current trend and begin the new one.

- Roy Pickering (Author of Patches of Grey: A Novel written with all I had in me to give)

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This is a guest post….

F&*% you, Walmart.

For the sake of disclosure, I’ve never painted myself as a bastion of originality. Granted, I may not be ripping off other peoples work, but I’m not exactly setting minds on fire with some of the stuff that comes out of my mouth and spills onto my keyboard. That’s why for this post, I have no problem falling back on what most would now consider conventional wisdom: Walmart is the Devil.

To rest even further on my unoriginal laurels, I’m going to have to say that the Devil is in details with Walmart. Since Walmart’s level of low-priced evil is known on such a widespread scale, most conversations about the biggest of the big-box stores require an explanation of the details that paint Walmart in horns and hooves for any particular reason—or, in other words, Who is being negatively affected by Walmart’s near-ridiculous prices this week? This week it’s the literary world.

Hey, this is a web site maintained by a writer/publisher. What the hell else would you expect me to complain about?

According to a recent CBS News article, Walmart is the latest in what seems to be a number of hungry big businesses feeding on the last few remaining independent bookstores in the country. Walmart—a company that’s never been afraid to cut its own foot in order to use it to stomp out enemies—is doing this by taking big name books, such as Stephen King’s Under the Dome, and cutting the prices on their books by as much as 70% as a means to utterly obliterating the competition. Granted, said competition is Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders and, to a lesser degree, Apple who is trying to claim their piece of the literary pie by “hipsterizing” (my new word, feel free to use it) reading with the one-two punch of the iPad and iBooks store. Now, before you start shedding a tear over how Amazon’s bottom line this year will only reach the low 10 billions instead of the mid teen billions, consider the trickledown that has already taken place. Companies like Amazon, Borders and Barnes & Noble have spent years trying to figuratively pull their foot up high enough to administer the ultimate crushing blow on what remains of the independent bookstore industry. But now, there’s the threat of omni-evil Walmart stepping on those companies. It’s like Godzilla’s about to step on a human who’s about to step on a rat. And while that may be one of the most epic and awesome visuals brought up during a discussion about the book market, it is also a scary reality that could stamp out the spirit of independent bookstores.

For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of stepping into an independent bookstore, you’re missing out. Indy bookstores are the physical embodiment of that amazing feeling that washes over you after you close the cover of your favorite book. And they’re being economically eradicated. In some ways, it’s a miracle that stores like Barnes & Noble, with its pseudo, wannabe-but-just-cant-be-indy charm are still in existence. But when you think of it, Barnes & Noble is the Pizza Hut to indy bookstores’ corner pizza joint. It can be replicated on a grand scale, but it can’t be replaced in any capacity. But unfortunately, that’s kind of what Walmart is doing, whether they realize it or not (Editors Note: They totally realize it; you just know it).

To make matters worst, with low prices like this, Walmart stands in a good position to capture the majority of the book-buying market, which is a terrible thing since Walmart only sells a small selection of books by only the best-selling authors. Experts fear that this could lead to even less diversity among book titles. What does that mean for true book lovers? It means that James Patterson will grow even stronger and indie authors will have even less of a foothold in the industry.

Thanks a lot, Walmart.

Michael P. Ferrari is the author of “Assault on the Senses,” and the upcoming “Training the Problem: Stories and a Novella.” He’s also the founder of Blue Room Publishing (www.blueroompublishing.com). Follow his blog at www.assaultonthesenses.com.

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