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/lit/ - Literature


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File: 167 KB, 960x960, Self-published author Brandon Jones.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18523250 No.18523250 [Reply] [Original]

Why does /lit/ have contempt for authors who forgo traditional publishing and instead do down either the self-publishing or web serial route?

>> No.18523254

>>18523250
we don't

>> No.18523347

>>18523250
I don't but I assume anyone who does is just upset that they themselves don't have the balls for ti

>> No.18523563

>>18523250
Go to sleep brandon

>> No.18524412

>>18523250
Because most of the time they write repetitive YA trash with no literary value. I don't think there is particular contempt for them though.

>> No.18524469

>>18523250
Don't worry about what these envious retards have to say. Just worry about producing work that's good.

>> No.18525416

>>18523250
Didn't you make this thread two weeks ago but instead you personally talked about how pathetic self published authors are? Are you all of /Lit/?

>> No.18525424

>>18523250
I have only respect for those who manage to strike out their own in this world

>> No.18525436

>>18523250
Anyone with a link to the laws governing self publishing?

>> No.18525600

They’re usually bad.

>> No.18527213 [DELETED] 

>>18523250
An independent author won the most important literary award in my country back in 2018, the one given to the most important authors in our history, and the book fucking sucks. I don't follow these things, but I only checked because me and the author are both from the same town

>> No.18528804

>>18523250
Never understood the hate they got here. I honestly admire and respect them. They set out to write and finish a novel and they actually did. That says more about them than the retards here who constantly say they will write a novel but never do shit.

>> No.18528811

>>18525600
Most traditionally published books are also bad.

>> No.18528948

>>18527213
What was it?

>> No.18528954
File: 885 KB, 1500x1291, 01.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18528954

>>18528804
I'm sooooo close to putting out my 2nd book, had to buy a paper chopper and now I have a book binding machine on the way...
>1st book was in 2013
>8 years of pain to really commit to being a writer again

>> No.18529051

>>18523250
I don't have contempt for them good for them to publish those books. Now when it comes to reading the actual books it's a crapshoot.

>> No.18529059

>>18528954
You’re not an author nor a writer. You’re some idiot with delusion of grandeur.

>> No.18529081
File: 50 KB, 1024x612, 1623085474471.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18529081

>>18529059
What exactly do you base this on?

I'll link you the 1st act of my 2nd book if you want...

>> No.18530892

>>18529059
>>18529081
dont listen to this hack fraud critic, OP.

id say you have to have some level of delusion to write. whether youre writing for yourself or writing for someone else - youre deluded that anyoneyou, including yourself, will care.

just do it. FUCKING KEEP DOING IT!

>> No.18530942

>>18523250
I don't look down on them at all. In fact I don't even think about them.

>> No.18531016

>>18523250
I have a bias against them in the same way I have a bias against non-peer-reviewed science. You need a process where someone tells you if what you're writing is trash or not. The self-publishing route is littered with bad ideas; I'm sure there are some good in there, but it's not worth wading through the rubbish.

>> No.18531831

>>18523250
Independent authors usually shit because actual publishers have standards for what they sell.

>> No.18531939
File: 5 KB, 250x166, self publishing.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18531939

>self publishing

>> No.18532711

>>18531831
>because actual publishers have standards for what they sell.
This is wrong though.

>> No.18532726
File: 1.67 MB, 1285x1215, i-have-no-chance.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18532726

>>18531831
Here in Canada, if you want to get published, you must belong to the correct IDpol groups.

>> No.18533214

>>18532726
I'm still shock to see people on /lit/ sucking off traditional publishing.

>> No.18534719

>>18531831
Nice joke, anon.

>> No.18534728

>>18533214
Just one look at the Twitter feed of Penguin Random House will tell you everything you need to know about publishing in 2021

>> No.18535123
File: 42 KB, 250x324, TheItalianWarAsSeenByAJapaneseSamuriCover.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18535123

Remember that healthy independent publishing starts with your support.

Plz buy my book.

>> No.18535393

>>18534728
Don’t need to see it. Already know how it is. The only people who refuse to see it at this point are just delusional.

>> No.18536509

>>18535123
I always buy self-publish books.

>> No.18536546

>>18536509
based patron of the arts

>> No.18536584

>>18535123
Could you at least make the cover look better?
Honestly my main gripe with selfpublishing things is that the covers often look bad
t. Fellow book translator working on French-English atm

>> No.18536600

>>18536584
>Judging a book by its cover
Pseud.

>> No.18536618

>>18536600
Nah, book =/= cover but it's often just how low effort people try to make the cover of a book when putting it out
Doesn't tell me jack shit of the quality of the book since that varies, but it's more of a question of why do you skimp out on that after all that effort? Burnout?

>> No.18536624

>>18536618
Hell, for the book cover here my main gripe is just the text centering compared to the images used which seems fine

>> No.18536687
File: 27 KB, 320x499, The Iliad.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18536687

>>18536618
This is the cover for the Greek Classic, covers don't mean anything.

>> No.18536727

>>18523250
Any tips for shilling your web fiction? I'm on vocal.

>> No.18536741

>>18536687
Didn't say they did, just see it as a thing to put some effort in if it's your own work
While this is just a public domain version of the Iliad being sold for cheap, it's low effort and that's the intention of that publishing house
Just saying man, after all the effort you put in translating I'd say it deserves a cover with a decent amount of effort

>> No.18536820

>>18536741
>>18536618
Whats wrong with the cover? I was trying to imitate Éditions Gallimard
>t. Fellow book translator working on French-English atm
You're not that anon working on Les Deux Étendards are you? I'm very much looking forward to its release.

>> No.18536852

>>18536820
>Whats wrong with the cover?
Namely just the text like I said here
>>18536624
I like the way you put the photographs myself
>You're not that anon working on Les Deux Étendards are you? I'm very much looking forward to its release.
Nah not me, I'm doing something completely different and generally don't care to talk about it
Also, what are your Lulu royalties? Was thinking of using it myself but the thing seems to be iffy

>> No.18536857

>>18536624
Fair enough. I noticed afterwards that the text should be on the other side but I'd already published it by then. I appreciate the feedback anyways, its good to consider for the future. Not going to bother changing the cover because I've got a dozen other things going on and other books I'd rather be working on but I'll upload a pdf in another week or two for everyone to read.

>> No.18536913

>>18536852
>Also, what are your Lulu royalties? Was thinking of using it myself but the thing seems to be iffy
I'm pretty happy with it. I've only sold 3 books so far but I get $8 a sale which is decent profit margins considering I'm not taking any risks or putting any money down. Basically they take about 6 or 7 dollars off any book for print costs, and you can set whatever margin you want. They have an openAPI which you can integrate onto your website so the customer bypasses Lulu altogether, so in theory you can have a website and sell directly through your website to customers while using Lulu just as a drop-shipping service... it's pretty brilliant really. I used to work with a print shop and lack of orders is a constant problem in the industry, so I suspect that Lulu just uses its print-on-demand services as a way to keep busy. The $6 they take off any order is reasonable for single item printing, most print shops will charge around $2-4 per book even for orders in the hundreds or thousands.

>> No.18536958

>>18536857
Understandable
Any other similarly interesting titles like this?
>>18536913
>They have an openAPI which you can integrate onto your website so the customer bypasses Lulu altogether
Wasn't aware desu, I was thinking of doing KDP just since it seemed easier access to people compared to Lulu, but has a worse royalty rate
What I'm doing varies in risk since I have a few books I've been messing with, with 2/3 having more recently dead authors with living relatives

>> No.18537141

>>18536958
>Any other similarly interesting titles like this?
Interesting to me anyways. I'm working on a translation of Ryunosuke's Kappa, apparently its been done several times before but I enjoy the literary exercise, a short French play, and some reprints of already published works that deserve more recognition or have gone out of print. I'd like to do Wang Huning's America Against America eventually, but its a substantial enough work that I won't be done for a long while and without extensively consulting a native speaker.

>Wasn't aware desu, I was thinking of doing KDP just since it seemed easier access to people compared to Lulu, but has a worse royalty rate
Never used KDP but I'm quite happy with Lulu so far. My goal is to set up a website where I can sell a whole bunch of different titles, in particular regional literature that tends to get ignored by big publishers, then hopefully generate enough passive revenue from that to enable my to read and write full time. These new print on demand companies are creating some really interesting possibilities for publishing, since they've basically taken away all the financial risk traditionally associated with it.

>> No.18537176

>>18532711
>>18534719
Cope.

>> No.18537215

>>18537141
>that deserve more recognition or have gone out of print
Based, but make sure to check the death for each author if they're dead, and any living descendants or how recent they died
Always a pain in the ass, though most descendants wouldn't know they have rights anyway
>then hopefully generate enough passive revenue from that to enable my to read and write full time
Same in the end, but I love doing this just because I get to read interesting material long gone
>since they've basically taken away all the financial risk traditionally associated with it.
Trade off is you're stuck on your own for advertising
Just as an example for you're book btw, couldn't actually find it off google at all until I searched your png file name and found an archived thread, and then a link you posted in there
While for other titles it's easier to find just googling and seeing an Amazon link

>> No.18539138

>>18537215
>Based, but make sure to check the death for each author if they're dead, and any living descendants or how recent they died
Of course. Idk what its like in your country but where I am its death+70 years before any author can be republished. Its a shame but those are the rules
>I love doing this just because I get to read interesting material long gone
same. its pretty much my dream to just be able to read obscure old authors and write all day long. Recently I've been reading a lot of old history and folklore books. Franz Boas is a titan in this genre, but one of his students, Roland B. Dixon, wrote a book of oceanic mythology which is interesting as well. Another great but underapprecaited book is Legends and Myths of Hawaii, which was written by the Hawaiian Island's last king and is basically a gothic retelling of the thousand+plus years of history of the Islands. It makes a very good case that Hawaiians are actually one of the lost tribes of Israel.
>Trade off is you're stuck on your own for advertising
True, but I don't see myself having any luck in publishing in the first place. So I either do it myself or don't do it at all.
> While for other titles it's easier to find just googling and seeing an Amazon link
Thats true and its something I need to work on, but unfortunately Amazon takes a huge cut from any books released. I tried to publish a book with them earlier this year and all that ended up happening was that I had to up the list price on Lulu by about $10 (amazon's cut) and in the end Amazon just rejected it for no reason. Not much point doing that. I've got a website I'm working on, tikhanovlibrary.com, to host books so when thats done I'll try to work the analytics so that it turns up on google searches.

>> No.18539680

>>18537176
Not really a cope if you bothered to check for five seconds.

>> No.18539900

>>18535123
>Plz buy my book.
Why would someone want to read your book?

>> No.18539953

>>18531831
Kek
You must live in a dream world

>> No.18539972
File: 355 KB, 968x700, tsk-latest.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18539972

>>18536618
What do you think of my cover?

>> No.18539976

>>18523250
/lit/ has contempt for people who make it in any form.

>> No.18539981

Has anyone on /lit/ even read The Diamond League? Didn't think so... Plebs.

>> No.18540002

>>18539976
I notice this as well. Is it cope or what is it?

>> No.18540221

>>18539972
pretty cool

>> No.18540227

>>18540002
It's always cope.

>> No.18540252

>>18539900
Its a collection of letters from a Japanese Samurai fighting with Arditi on the Italian front of WW1. The author later ended up participating in the march on Fiume and ferried messages between d'Annunzio and Mussolini.
I'll be honest the writing isn't incredible, he's not Ernst Junger, but Shimoi has moments of poetic beauty and as a historical curiosity its interesting. Lots of flag waving Italian patriotism and asides about the beauty and tragedy of war.
You can read some selections here: >>/lit/thread/S18477402./

>> No.18540259

>>18540221
Thanks!!!!!!! :)

>> No.18540267

>>18540259
np buddy

>> No.18540268
File: 350 KB, 1080x1080, instragram-marketing.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18540268

>>18540221
I'm working on a logo for social media and for marketing... Need to add some signs like "acab" and "frig cops" to the guy standing in the background

>> No.18540274

>>18539900
I think people would like to read my book because it is a portrait of how quickly your life can unravel if you fight back against the modern world.

>> No.18540327

>>18540268
you sure that will be good for marketing?

>> No.18540378

>>18540327
My plan is to have a fake vigilante service advertisement on Reddit, Twitter, Instagram... just to test to see if it gets clicks... ( if it is approved... it is a parody, why not? )

I'm going to try various marketing methods and share with everyone here how they're working. Also going to share with /lit/ how I control everything from imagining the story, to writing it, to editing, printing with my Brother 5200DW, cutting with my Triumph 3905 chopper, and binding the books with my ebay-purchased hot glue perfect binding machine.
>Any random bro or lady on /lit/ will be able to emulate my entire process to possess the means of their own book production.

>> No.18541220

>>18539972
remove the "-some boomer" quote
no internet language

>> No.18541570

>>18535123
>Based

>> No.18541766

>>18541220
Why not?

>> No.18541775

>>18524412
Most books with official publishing are also YA trash though

>> No.18542409

>>18539981
I did. And I like it. It’s a bit rough around the edges.

>> No.18542715

>>18529081
Please post the link.

>> No.18542737

>>18529081
post a link to a FINISHED book and then I'll believe you're a writer. if it's even halfway decent, I'll call you an author.

>> No.18542755
File: 2 KB, 191x39, email.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18542755

>>18542715
https://jason-bryan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/tsk-act1-unpolished.pdf

Hope you enjoy!

I will polish it more before printing copies to sell...
Please finish the whole act and, if you'd be so kind, please send feedback to pic related.

>> No.18542759

>>18542755
Wow, you're really making the rounds. Trying to be the next Gardner? Fuck off

>> No.18542764

>>18542737
This is my book from 8 years ago:
https://www.amazon.ca/City-Singles-Jason-Bryan-ebook/dp/B00BDYI9D2

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFykUltGh_k

Thing I predicted have some true, people are having less sex and people are having less children.

>> No.18542769
File: 90 KB, 780x439, 1623077952963.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18542769

>>18542759
Being Canadian means I have to fight to keep my culture and channels of self-expression alive.

>> No.18542826

>>18542755
okay mate, a writer you are.
will drop you a line

>> No.18542832

>>18535123
WTF even is "the Italian War"?

Do you mean Italian campaign of WW2, or something else entirely?

>> No.18543227

>>18542832
It's the ww1 campaign, specifically the assault along the Piave and occupation of several cities across from the river.

>> No.18543234

>>18542832
>>18543227
Title was translated as "the Italian War" because that's how Shimoi himself phrased it, and also because "World War" doesn't really capture the place of that assault as the war of national determination and realization which is presented in the book.

>> No.18543672

>>18541766
ignore him, assuming you're from vancouver that's a perfectly fine term to use.

>> No.18543688
File: 1013 KB, 4032x3024, 0clv6lvtdu161.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
18543688

>>18543672
I appreciate it, thanks Vancouver bro.

>> No.18544443

>>18543234
Just say Italian front.