Why is publishing a novel such a fucking scam?Not just a scam. A matrioshka of scams within scams within scams. It's like leeches being attracted to hope and goodwill. How does one get out of that? Pic unrelated
Nigga just publish it. Literally. Upload it and link it.The game is no longer about making money with your sorry writing, the game is about reaching at all the people you write for. We don’t have to exchange money anymore. The internet is here, we are all here. Just talk.
>>25222541Because there's very little money in the industry -- especially for novels from relative nobodies. Don't self-pub unless you're willing to get your shit edited. Pray a small-time publisher will pick up your work and help you make a name for yourself. Keep working your way up. Accept that, even when you do make it, you won't be making much. That's the way shit goes these days.
>>25222546In essence this post is correct. You should focus on getting your work out there. Money should not even be a secondary concern. Take an author like Bukowski as a leading example.
>>25222591I can't take Bukowski as an example because I can't afford to drink.
>>25222608>I can't afford to drink.I can't remember where I read it but I distinctly remember Bukowski saying in an interview that he budgeted with drinking in mind when he planned his long periods of secluded writing. If drinking is your muse, add in the cost of drinking into your living budget. Also as a heavy beer drinker myself I can tell you that staying lush 24/7 is fairly cheap if you don't have high standards.
>>25222546Just posting 500 page-long novel on your blog might not get you readers though. How does one actually do it?
>>25222817You write mainly for yourself, and if someone resonates with your writing then that's a bonus. If you're just writing for fame then you shouldn't write.
>>25222817>How does one actually do it?It depends on the times. Post rel >>25222637 started out writing short stories for papers which consisted of mainly smut, in order to capture the crowd that read those kinds of papers. Today the audience for that avenue is practically non-existent (meaning paper readers). Today I reckon hosting your own blog and posting to shitter (x), bluesky, facebook, discord etc is your best bet to get eyeballs on your work. The only other way is to get published by a publishing house, and that requires connections.
>>25222817Ask Jason Pargin
>>25222900So either I preach in the desert or I get scammed. >>25222591Bukowski is ok, but I'm gonna go the Emily Dickinson route. Fuck readers. Fuck publishers. Fuck this gay shit.
>>25222541you have to be more specific.or you have to reframe your question:why is payig to edit, copy edit, design, layout, print prep, print, ship ,distribute, advertise, maintain online shops for, staff to ship, someone to buy fucking envelopes and stamps, why is infrastructure a scam?the fuck is wrong with you?
>>25223760Who hurt you, anon? Anyway here's a non-meme answer:I recently got offered a deal by a small publisher to publish some of my short stories "for free" with a group of unknown writers. Motherfuckers swore that it was for free and it was just a bunch of writers cooperating together. That got my spider sense tingling like crazy. I looked at the contract. Lo and behold: they had added two clauses where "if less than x novels are sold, the writers have to buy them at full price" and "The writer renounces any and all benefits of this book as it's just a collaboration."So basically the publisher always earns money. even if the writers don't lose money they don't earn shit.If this is not a scam for you go and take the deal. I know I dodged a bullet. If they were good at selling books they would take some of the responsibility if they fuck up. They don't= the they don't give a shit, the writer is a sucker and nobody but their mom and dad will read their work. You have to be a special kind of cuckold to enjoy that kind of process. If I want my family and friends to read my stuff I'll just send them a pdf on WhatsApp or something. Pirate my books, I don't give a shit. Just don't sell them if they aren't yours.
>>25224033youre describing literal scammers. those people dont represent the publishing industry at large. ive had art galleries approach in similar ways, im sure musicians have to deal with that shit too. just ignore them and look for real opportunities.
>>25224055Don't get me wrong, people should be paid for their work. But the business itself has changed. Agents? They give you a reply 3 months later where they read the first two pages and they ask for money. Even the good ones are starting to do that nowadays. It's hard to find someone reliable. Publishers? They ask for money and do zero marketing because they feel safe after that payment. This has become their business and this is not an infrastructure problem. These people should be starving and desperate, not fat and comfortable. They should understand that readers are the business, not paypig writers.
>>25224055>those people dont represent the publishing industry at largeDon't they? Maybe I've just met the wrong people too many times. It's such a hassle it makes me hate finishing books.
>>25224055>those people dont represent the publishing industry at largeAlso watch out for "self publishers" and "vanity presses".https://selfpublishingadvice.org/best-self-publishing-services/
>>25223760thats one scammy dude with a scammy planstill doesnt answer the why is payig to edit, copy edit, design, layout, print prep, print, ship ,distribute, advertise, maintain online shops for, staff to ship, someone to buy fucking envelopes and stamps questions
>>25225450>answer the why is payigopinion discarded
>>25225598ive published more books than you, cunto
>>25225609post book
>>25225619post tits
>>25225620So you are full of shit then?Even more of a reason to disregard your opinion.
>>25225609You need pics to prove your statements.Post any one of the many books you've published.
>>25225621oopsyour pronoun is man boobs?sorry to offend
>>25225627So you haven't published any books?I have.No sales records? Any evidence at all?
>>25225627>>25225636Get absolutely moggedBTFO
>>25225636401? Kek. Rough.
>>25222541How many people do you know in real life that read regularly? How many of those people are actually reading literature and not smut/self-help shlock? We live in a time where literature is not as popular/relevant as it used to be. Will times change? I hope so. Most people in America are practically illiterate. If you are writing books with tangible success in mind, I think you will be sorely disappointed with the reception your novel will recieve (even if it is as important/valuable/great as something like Anna Karenina, or Brothers Karamazov or whatever.) I think the only way forward for a writer of our breed (the /lit/ breed, that is) is to self-publish and cultivate a small following ala Tao Lin or Mike Ma. Maybe in 100 years when we are all dead and gone, we will receive the recognition we deserve. I just don't see that happening in current society.None of this however, takes away from the importance of our task. We HAVE to create, and do our best to achieve greatness through our writing. It is up to US to accurately depict the times/emotions/spirit of our current times for future /lit/izens and readers who will no doubt find themselves in even more confusing and fucked up situations then us. >>25222546 is 100% correct, in todays day and age, viewership is much more important then tangible fame. I think the next Great American Novel will be advertised on /lit/ and self-published via Amazon KDP or something similar. WE do not have the luxury of a Kerouac or Bukowski, to see the fruits of our labours and be appreciated in our time. However that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to reach that, or stop trying. I am drunk and rambling, but my concrete advice is this: Write your book, and save a few hundred bones to buy adspace on 4chan for your novel. Self publish and go the route of ARX-HAN. We have the ability to get our shit out there without having to bow to the giant ZOG ogre that is traditional publishing. I think it is retarded to not take advantage of that. In fact, I think it is imperative for the future generation of writers.
>>25225636nice two dollar pdf>>25225708mogged by a two dollar pdf?
>>25225929401 > 0>>25226016Yes, it really is that sadYou got mogged by a two dollar pdf
>>25226030ah yes, i am so concerned by lit nerds opinions, oh dear me.i am very happy for anon and his pdfs. congrats. no doubt he has great fonts and well laid out pages and beautiful kerning.is publishing a scam? sure if you work with a scammy publisher. is 'self-publishing' bad? ask walt whitman or ezra pound.im here for a different conversation than the one youre having, thanks.
>>25225952it's really freeing to have this amazon kdp and personal website plan. like sure i wish i was born into wealth and connections but i really don't mind. my situation is what it is and i'm really excited to put my work out there this time next year and put an ad on /lit/.
>>25226041>>25225609Haha no books
>>25225952>Stupid drunkard thinks self publishing and buying 4chan ads makes him the next Tolstoy or Dostoevsky
>>25222541Nu-/lit/ truly is the worst.
>>25226116Yea you're right bro. You should actually spend 5 years sucking lit-agent cock so you can get a Penguin Published book that nobody will read EVER. They won't bother spending too much time/resources plugging your shit on account of the fact you aren't a brown lesbian. No Dua Lipa podcast for you faggot. Kill yourself.
>>25226180a Penguin book deal could get you a 30k advance. your book might not sell and they might not ask you for another one, but money is money. and you dont have to be a brown lesbian. if you are, tits plox. not sure why youre sucking cock for five years tho
>>25226051you think people on 4chan are spending money on books?
>>25226180If you cared about writing, you wouldn’t self-publish and buy ads on 4chan. No one here reads anything they see advertised. And people would just pirate your book. Dua Lipa hasn’t been famous for like 6 years. How old are you?
>>25222541>uploads a rough manuscript>buys random ads in the wrong places (like the shitholes of the internet, reddit or 4chan)>expects instant success>and then blames da j00z and the (((industry)))
