tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post1232336347998989254..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Why John Green Can Bite My Surname by Lev ButtsKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-16465301661159515052013-08-25T17:34:45.436+01:002013-08-25T17:34:45.436+01:00I'm sorry to have waited this long to reply to...I'm sorry to have waited this long to reply to your comments, everybody. School is just starting back and I'm up for tenure this year, so I've been running around all week like a chicken with its head cut off. <br /><br />As you can see, I am fairly passionate about this topic. I have entered my own self-published short fiction collection as part of my tenure packet despite the guidelines stipulating that creative work must be published by a reputable house (after all, whose house is more reputable than my own?) I have, however, also posted the several things I have done in my role as a professor of my institution to promote and encourage independent publishing from teaching several continuing education courses on independent publishing to being the keynote speaker at a local college's creative writing conference to assigning such texts alongside more canonical texts in my classes. We'll see if this holds any weight.<br /><br />Thank you everyone who commented on the meat of my post for your taking the time to hear me out.Leverett Buttshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05822160835689818255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-77892823876684489662013-08-24T00:28:42.562+01:002013-08-24T00:28:42.562+01:00Great, passionate post. We had just this debate at...Great, passionate post. We had just this debate at the Edinburgh Book Festival (the one IN Edinburgh, although I did manage to mention the eBook festival as well!) on Wednesday evening: three older and fairly formidable women writers of which I was only one - and believe me the other two were much more formidable - and a 'devil's advocate' in the form of a youngish publisher. We were discussing 'being a writer in the digital age'. It was very well attended. OK, so he was consciously 'putting the other side' and we three were very much hybrid writers, not anti publishing so much as pro choice and all three of us happily self publishing with some traditionally published work as well. And it was essentially a good natured debate. Except that somewhere along the way, he seemed to be saying that some deadly combination of Amazon, eBooks and the 'digital masses' would mean the death of culture. We were all girding up our loins to challenge him when a fourth formidable lady in the audience stuck her hand up and said 'excuse me, but who are YOU to decide what is and isn't culture?' I still can't quite bring myself to believe that he really meant it. Perhaps he didn't. (He WAS playing devil's advocate for the sake of the debate!) But it did make me think of a comparison. Edinburgh at festival time is packed with artists, musicians, actors, comedians. Most of them 'doing it for themselves.' Some are wonderful, some terrible, and there's a great shifting mass of people in between: experimenting, trying things out. You hear people complaining about the unmanageable numbers from time to time - but you hardly ever hear anybody suggesting that the buskers who sing and play on the streets in all our cities, the musicians who play in a million pubs and clubs - are going to cause the 'death of culture' by their very existence. They ARE culture. Culture isn't only for undoubtedly bright young men who believe that their personal taste is some objective cultural phenomenon to which we must all aspire - and which can be somehow killed off by the participation of the 'masses'. The sad thing is, I thought that belief had been pretty much demolished last century - by the likes of John Carey. Obviously not. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-50656123417034486152013-08-23T17:18:28.701+01:002013-08-23T17:18:28.701+01:00OT, but couldn't resist:
http://angelliecastr...OT, but couldn't resist:<br /><br />http://angelliecastrojas.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/constructing-the-identity-of-a-young-athletic-curvy-woman/Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-31275656618993394042013-08-23T13:43:25.554+01:002013-08-23T13:43:25.554+01:00Go, Lev! (aiming for brevity here... but I'm s...Go, Lev! (aiming for brevity here... but I'm sure all at the ebook fest salute you!) CallyPhillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15481379296340077102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-5911365821480376892013-08-23T11:36:48.188+01:002013-08-23T11:36:48.188+01:00Loved the picture of the cute puppy. Much better t...Loved the picture of the cute puppy. Much better than a widget in my opinion. Oh and the article was pretty awesome too. Well said and thank youWendy H. Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04022089775887274043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-46228314816385603602013-08-23T11:20:00.093+01:002013-08-23T11:20:00.093+01:00Great post. Really enjoyed that. You've taken ...Great post. Really enjoyed that. You've taken the words out of all of our mouths there. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13010018929722337508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-1854490606753421122013-08-23T11:10:09.815+01:002013-08-23T11:10:09.815+01:00Great post Lev and welcome to AE! The anti-indies ...Great post Lev and welcome to AE! The anti-indies you quote use the same argument I've seen in US articles against equal marriage - gay people getting married will 'spoil' marriage for all the straight people. weird reasoning in both contexts!Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-37106208688614635902013-08-23T10:55:11.030+01:002013-08-23T10:55:11.030+01:00Brilliant post, Lev, and I can only uphold what ev...Brilliant post, Lev, and I can only uphold what everyone else is saying, plus I don't think traditional publishers are looking for literary genius, they're looking for something that's going to earn them money - the maximization of profit bit! So while the authors are fulfilling their lives, the publishers are maximizing their income! It's a pity Green hasn't twigged that!Chris Longmuirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488093821886798927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-25232546002757904332013-08-23T10:37:28.794+01:002013-08-23T10:37:28.794+01:00Great stuff, Lev. Passion but with all the example...Great stuff, Lev. Passion but with all the examples and references needed to support and validate it. The hubris and self-righteousness of Green and his ilk make me wonder what they write. With such literary omniscience and self-assurance, it's presumably something like The Bible.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-6094416552561339642013-08-23T10:13:51.745+01:002013-08-23T10:13:51.745+01:00the man needs to kiss your surname, not bite it. w...the man needs to kiss your surname, not bite it. well said, sir<br />Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-86645994709581223992013-08-23T09:49:16.535+01:002013-08-23T09:49:16.535+01:00Welcome, Lev. A new, energetic and refeshing voice...Welcome, Lev. A new, energetic and refeshing voice. I would have written that last month if I hadn't been stuck with a dodgy wi-fi connection in Provence. This is a great post. It says what we all believe on here but said it really eloquently with some wonderful examples of stupidity, so thanks. The 'Wheat and chaff' remark of the egregious Mr Thor both repelled and amused me. Does he seriously believe that one night I went to bed wheat and woke up chaff? Well, judging from his his reasoning, he obviously does. Prat.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-40711874448199764902013-08-23T09:30:18.400+01:002013-08-23T09:30:18.400+01:00Yes, yes, and again yes!
And quite frankly, I'...Yes, yes, and again yes!<br /><br />And quite frankly, I'm tired of people like Green who have a lot more living to do before they can pontificate about what makes for a fulfilling life. (As to his novels, he's clever about pushing all the right YA buttons. Gets rather tiersome.) Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-76656589056112534422013-08-23T02:04:30.940+01:002013-08-23T02:04:30.940+01:00Well done, Lev. Well researched and beautifully ar...Well done, Lev. Well researched and beautifully argued. Shame on Grafton, even if she did recant.glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.com