Hello again! In this post I’ve decided to feature a fellow author I’ve been writing to quite a lot recently; Matthew Temple. We’ve taken different approaches to marketing our work and I must say that the more I talk to Matthew, the more I admire him. Here’s what he has to say about mainstream publishing:
I’ve spent so many years sending out thousands of query letters to literary agents and it’s fruitless. They don’t want to publish what I’m writing. I did briefly publish Things Said in Dreams with a small press, then finally broke my contract with them and put it on my website for free. Now all my books are free. I feel better about that. I think the publishing industry needs a revolution—the publisher takes way too much of the profits, for doing something anyone can do, while the author takes the small part of the profits, when what they did takes a lifetime to learn and is the essential product. It is the total product. I’d rather say fuck you to publishers who do that. I’d rather give it all away for free and be poor for the rest of my life than go along with something I think is immoral: thievery by the publishing company.
Someday it’ll change, I think. Till then, I just forget about everything except the writing. That’s all I can control—and not even that fully. But I just write the best thing I can, that’s my whole job and I have to let go of the illusion that I control anything else.
For more of his view on the topic – and the hiccups that come along with it – visit Matthew’s blog. Take the time to discover and recommend his books. Every single one for FREE!