Author Sue Grafton, best known for the ‘alphabet series’ of thrillers, has caused a small stir by advising young authors not to self-publish. In an interview with LouisvilleKY.com, she suggests that self-publishing is the lazy option and that authors should instead take time to hone their craft. She goes on to claim that if all goes well, the universe will come to the aid of a writer with a good, well-told story.
As Hugh Howey notes, the idea that self-publishing is somehow lazy seems a little uninformed. Grafton accepts that there are occasionally exceptions to the rule, i.e. self-published authors who break out and become success stories, but she sticks to her guns and insists that writing is not a DIY-at-home project but something that requires time, a craft to be honed.
Grafton’s comments come across, in my view, as being a kind of boilerplate response by a traditionally-published author regarding the self-publishing world. David Vinjamuri has picked up on Grafton’s comments for a Forbes story about self-publishing, and Grafton has now spoken to the LouisvilleKY.com website again to clarify her earlier comments, taking a more even-handed approach and actually acknowledging that she might have got things wrong a little.
Since she hasn’t self-published she is talking about something she knows little of. And I’m not sure how self publishing has anything to do with the time a person takes to “hone their craft.” At least she was big enough to admit she may have said a bit too much.
Posted by Christine Keleny | August 16, 2012, 3:26 pmSue Grafton can kiss Patrick Walters ass! Actually, that’s a new segment we’re starting on The Triangle Variety Comedy show! She’s had to much success, time to take her down!
Posted by Brian T Shirley | August 16, 2012, 6:31 pmSue’s was being intellectually lazy by assuming all self-publishers just throw up their first drafts and wait for the money train to pull into the station. Many of them think that way, but obviously not all. A quote from her followup pretty much explains it all:
“I don’t understand the mechanics of e-publishing and I still don’t understand how you can earn money thereby”
I’m glad she came back and rethought her remarks.
Posted by beatbox32 | August 16, 2012, 7:17 pm