I’ll be honest. This morning, I wasn’t feeling my best. I slept in and managed to pull myself out of bed later than usual.

Sometimes being a writer is like climbing a mountain. You just have to take the journey one step at a time, one day at a time.

Today, I really needed to do something … anything … that would bring me further along the way toward publishing my next book.

So, I decided to apply for my LOC number. This meant I had to decide, once and for all about the title of my book.

Now, I like the title ALIEN SHORES. It’s unusual, but it expresses the feel of the novel succinctly and cleverly.

However, will readers look at it and assume the story is something like this?

Well … let me tell you, there isn’t a bit of that in my book, okay?

So … I was mulling this over, when I came across this news tidbit in my emailed headlines.

And I was like, WTF? Seriously? Here’s why. I’ll quote the retarded weird part for you:

Hachette Book Group, one of the world’s largest publishing companies, has a response. In a document leaked today to Digital Book World by someone inside the company, Hachette outlines just why publishers are relevant. The company has shown the document internally to employees and externally to a limited number of agents and authors.

“You have to take a long look at what you’re up to and how you’re changing and adapting,” said a Hachette executive who preferred not to be named and who confirmed the authenticity of the document. “We’re all trying to come up with good messaging.”

The executive explained that the document is a continual work-in-progress and would evolve as the publishing business evolved.

Related: J.A. Konrath Responds With Advice for Publishers

The document in its entirety below:

“Self-publishing” is a misnomer.

Publishing requires a complex series of engagements, both behind the scenes and public facing. Digital distribution (which is what most people mean when they say self-publishing) is just one of the components of bringing a book to market and helping the public take notice of it.

As a full service publisher, Hachette Book Group offers a wide array of services to authors

Okay, honestly, I don’t do stupid anymore. I don’t have the time or energy to care. But this is just SO wrong.

Apart from the fact that I publish my books in print and audio, so I am NOT just engaged in “digital distribution” (a totally bullsh*t term), I do believe that the word publishing may not mean what you think it means.

Why don’t we check the freaking dictionary, huh? And it says “the business or profession of the commercial production and issuance of literature, information, musical scores or sometimes recordings, or art.” That’s it. Just click the link right here and see for yourself.

BTW, I don’t see one freaking thing in the real definition about format, do you?

Oh, and about all those lovely services you offer to your authors. The marketing, the promo, the promises, the enthusiasm, etc., etc.

I think this author’s post should serve as a succinct response.

Oh, yeah, just as an aside … I forgot to mention the article I found on Facebook about the microwaved kitten. *shudder* Dear God … you gotta wonder …

Frankly, I’d like to pepper spray both offenders.

But instead I’ll take a non-violent tack.

Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! …

About these ads