Stephen Watkins has done a lot on his blog to try to separate the thinking from the chaff in all the verbiage being thrown around these days on The State of (and The Future of) the Publishing Industry.

I always read his posts on the subject, though I don’t always read the posts he links to and quotes from (my interest only goes so far, since I’m not really considering either independent or major publishing). But sometimes I do follow the links, and the thing which has struck me most is how emotional some bloggers get about the whole thing.

A lot of independent-publishing enthusiasts talk like they’re plucky Rebel fighters trying to explode the Death Star of traditional publishing (and they seem confident that the Death Star is about to implode anyway). Others stand firm in the camp of the traditional publishers, sarcastically dismissing small-press and indie works (often while cheerfully admitting that they’ve never actually read any).

My comment on one recent post (“Logic Error“) said:

I’m getting the idea that some people have a really strong emotional reaction against traditional publishing – the endless waiting, the rejection, the loss of control – and so they decide to go indie. But then, since this is a “business decision,” they feel obligated to construct an edifice of logic (good or, in this case, bad) to justify their choice. (This goes back to what we were discussing a few days ago – the anger that some people seem to feel about Big Pub.)

This goes the other way, too. To some people, publishing doesn’t seem “real” if it isn’t with a major. That feeling doesn’t have any effect on whether the traditional publishing model will continue to be viable over the next few decades or not, but once the decision is made, the retroactive logic is brought into play.

My reaction to both camps is the same: if your decision is based on logic, your logic needs to be good; but if you’re going with your gut, just relax and say so.

I publish the way I do because it gives me great pleasure to do so. Period. And for me, that is more than adequate reason.

So, here’s my question for any and all writers. How have you made your decision yet (small/indie press vs. trying to get picked up by a major)? If so, how much of it was based on analysis, and how much by gut? Or, if you haven’t yet made the decision, are you tending in one direction or the other? If so, is the tendency more from your gut or your head?

Speaking of which, more of Stevie One is posted. The new parts begin here. If you have been wondering whether there was going to be a murder in this story, the answer has turned out to be yes.

Sonje Jones has been documenting on her blog the various stages in the (apparently endless) process of conventional publication, including the fact that authors have no control over (or even any real input into) the covers of their own books. (Well, authors on the lower levels – I'll bet Stephen King and JK Rowling get a vote).

In most cases, this is probably at least annoying, but not a disaster (though I did really like the cover that Sonje commissioned herself – which was rejected).

But here comes the lunacy. She linked to this post by Justine Larbalestier. To quote Sonje:

You really should click on that link and read the story in its entirety, but to sum up, the publisher, Bloomsbury, decided in their infinite wisdom to put a picture of a white girl's face on a book in which the protagonist is a black girl. Larbalestier, of course, disagreed strongly, but she ultimately had no say in the matter.

I can't think of a more telling instance of marketing and integrity going in opposite directions.

I had naively assumed that the inexorable process of non-white characters becoming white, of gay characters becoming straight (or being "gay" in theory but never acting on it), of trans characters becoming cis... (and of everybody becoming thinner, etc.) – I had assumed that this didn't start until you got involved with Hollywood or TV. Apparently not.

The thing about the Liar situation, though, is that even from a business standpoint this is a terrible plan. The point in business, after all, is not primarily to get your product into the consumer's hands, it's to create a positive experience where consumers will come back and buy more, and tell their friends, give good reviews online, etc. Selling that first book by duplicity may get you a little money today, but will that reader have a positive experience, when they realize they've been gamed? And not only gamed but treated with contempt. After all, what is this publisher saying about the reading public by this sort of thing?

I'm sure there are some sort of statistics that show this will pay off, at least in the short term. And I am not saying anything about what the book should have on the cover. For one thing, I haven't read it, and for another I'm no designer. But I do know this: Just because the book is called Liar does not mean the cover should be a lie.

Oh, and I know one more thing. I am not going to cede control to people who would almost certainly think that Jan Sleet should be shorter, and blonder, and with more cleavage. And without the cigarettes, of course. And maybe tone down the atheism. And maybe Vicki is just going through a phase and ends up with a boyfriend. And Ron should swear less and take a bath and stop punching people (and be blonder, too). And let's not even start on starling or The Golden.

To quote Sonje again: "I'd rather go down in flames with something I love than float along in a lifeboat covered in shit."

On another subject, more of Stevie One is posted. The new part starts here.

I read an article today called, “Amazon Pulls Thousands of E-Books in Dispute“.

The article is interesting (though not surprising), but the most striking thing is this extraordinary statement: “The only two essential parties in the reading experience, Amazon executives are fond of saying, are the reader and the author. Middlemen like I.P.G. – one of Amazon’s three ‘distributors of the year’ in 2008 – are seen as dinosaurs in this framework.”

You do have to wonder about a corporation which promotes that kind of slogan, a slogan which clearly says that Amazon itself (which is, after all, neither reader nor writer) is unnecessary. What next? Will 20th Century Fox start trying to get people to stay home and listen to the radio?