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The Next Step
Feb. 6th, 2009 01:27 amAnyone on the HIPPIEcast feed will probably want to refresh it about now, as Chapter 1 is now up. (If you're not and want to be: click the RSS button at this link.) It took some editing, but I think I did pretty well. I suppose Fridays will be as good a day as any to get things done. Weekends to record, weekdays to edit, etc.
There are still things to do. Find places to pimp the podcast (there's a few on the list), do a trailer for other author to use on their podcasts if they want to (and return the favour in kind), probably cobble together something that looks like a cover (hello, stock photo sites, at least to get a general idea), that kind of thing. Of course, Flu of Doom and headache are not helping matters, so I won't be doing any of that tonight. I've spent enough time tweaking at this podcast and redoing the feed page without doing anything else tonight. It's late, and I feel rough.
Still, it's a start. There are next steps and next steps, and it's never going to really end, but everything I do gets me a little bit closer to being ... y'know, paid, maybe. I'd really love to be able to do this for a living. It might not be possible, but at least I'm working on it and trying to get people's attention.
It occurs to me that I've never sent anything to agents, and only tried to get one thing published, ever (short story in a magazine; rejected). But I know why I haven't, same as I know why that short story got turned down - I wasn't good enough. I wasn't. I wasn't up for sending anything of mine to publishers because I knew, even if I didn't want to admit it, that I had a lot to learn. Fanfic writing gave me a good grasp of dialogue and pacing, but there was a lot more work to do after all that. Setting the scene was something I needed to work at. I still could use some work in the editing department - there are extraneous bits I could use cutting out of some phrases that litter my prose. Still, I think I'm good enough now.
But I'm still not sending things to publishers or agents. I can't even peg what I write to a genre, and I know that the current economy is not a great place to start in terms of 'something new'. I want to get people's attention first, I think. This podcasting thing, much as I hate the sound of my own voice, seems the way to do it. Whatever happens after that - print on demand or whatever - will happen. I want to make this work; I want to get paid for what I do. But what I want more than anything is ... you know, to do this thing. I think I'm going somewhere with HIPPIE. Now it's time to get people reading. Or ... y'know, listening.
I could send HIPPIE to a publisher, but I'm not going to. I've thought a lot about this, particularly given the fact that people have, on occasion, said, "You don't have to resort to that print on demand vanity publishing thing". Yeah, I do take these things on board - it just takes awhile to show. Thing is, I keep complaining about the entertainment industry today. I complain how they take no risks. I complain that they spend more time listening to trend sheets than they do to people. I complain that a large chunk of the population don't get catered to because entertainment moguls are too busy trying to cater to what they consider the majority (who are often dumb as posts). I mean, come on - how the hell can I trust a publishing industry that gave us Twilight and dumped Scott Sigler because of an economic downturn after 11 Sept 2001 being a bad time to take risks? Not to mention a publishing industry that lets George RR Martin get away with murder in terms of release dates for the A Song of Ice and Fire books and pretty obviously lets him edit his own stuff when really he needs an editor that will cut some of the bloat out?
And then there's podcasting and print on demand. Rather than a few businessmen deciding what everyone wants to read and publishing suitable works accordingly, this lets individuals decide. Put enough of the power of choice in the hands of the individual consumer, I'm pretty sure the publishing industry would be shocked at what gets popular. I'm trying to think of the best way to put this, but all that's coming is, "FREEDOM!" I want to see an entertainment industry free from preconceptions and the 'bottom line' and a pandering to the lowest common denominator across the board. I want the industry moguls to see that they do not have to dumb shit down for an audience. I want everyone who's ever sat down and read some published tripe and said, "I could write better than this!" to be able to prove it without publishers deciding it isn't marketable or something. I want to prove, once and for all, that new is not bad, and that taking risks pays off.
So it's not thinking that I don't stand a chance against the Publishing Machine that prevents me from trying to get published the traditional way. I want this podcast-and-PoD thing to work, because if it gets big enough, it'll open a few eyes and change the industry, and I like the direction it's taking. It widens the options. It opens the medium. And even if it never leads to anything huge for me, I have enough confidence in my work that it'll at least sell someday, however I decide to do it. I don't need to be petted by an agent to write. I don't need to be backed by a publisher to advertise. So if I don't need these things and like the new way of getting one's work out there ... the choice is pretty simple, at least to start with. Maybe I'll get someone's attention one day. Until then, viva la revolucion!
There are still things to do. Find places to pimp the podcast (there's a few on the list), do a trailer for other author to use on their podcasts if they want to (and return the favour in kind), probably cobble together something that looks like a cover (hello, stock photo sites, at least to get a general idea), that kind of thing. Of course, Flu of Doom and headache are not helping matters, so I won't be doing any of that tonight. I've spent enough time tweaking at this podcast and redoing the feed page without doing anything else tonight. It's late, and I feel rough.
Still, it's a start. There are next steps and next steps, and it's never going to really end, but everything I do gets me a little bit closer to being ... y'know, paid, maybe. I'd really love to be able to do this for a living. It might not be possible, but at least I'm working on it and trying to get people's attention.
It occurs to me that I've never sent anything to agents, and only tried to get one thing published, ever (short story in a magazine; rejected). But I know why I haven't, same as I know why that short story got turned down - I wasn't good enough. I wasn't. I wasn't up for sending anything of mine to publishers because I knew, even if I didn't want to admit it, that I had a lot to learn. Fanfic writing gave me a good grasp of dialogue and pacing, but there was a lot more work to do after all that. Setting the scene was something I needed to work at. I still could use some work in the editing department - there are extraneous bits I could use cutting out of some phrases that litter my prose. Still, I think I'm good enough now.
But I'm still not sending things to publishers or agents. I can't even peg what I write to a genre, and I know that the current economy is not a great place to start in terms of 'something new'. I want to get people's attention first, I think. This podcasting thing, much as I hate the sound of my own voice, seems the way to do it. Whatever happens after that - print on demand or whatever - will happen. I want to make this work; I want to get paid for what I do. But what I want more than anything is ... you know, to do this thing. I think I'm going somewhere with HIPPIE. Now it's time to get people reading. Or ... y'know, listening.
I could send HIPPIE to a publisher, but I'm not going to. I've thought a lot about this, particularly given the fact that people have, on occasion, said, "You don't have to resort to that print on demand vanity publishing thing". Yeah, I do take these things on board - it just takes awhile to show. Thing is, I keep complaining about the entertainment industry today. I complain how they take no risks. I complain that they spend more time listening to trend sheets than they do to people. I complain that a large chunk of the population don't get catered to because entertainment moguls are too busy trying to cater to what they consider the majority (who are often dumb as posts). I mean, come on - how the hell can I trust a publishing industry that gave us Twilight and dumped Scott Sigler because of an economic downturn after 11 Sept 2001 being a bad time to take risks? Not to mention a publishing industry that lets George RR Martin get away with murder in terms of release dates for the A Song of Ice and Fire books and pretty obviously lets him edit his own stuff when really he needs an editor that will cut some of the bloat out?
And then there's podcasting and print on demand. Rather than a few businessmen deciding what everyone wants to read and publishing suitable works accordingly, this lets individuals decide. Put enough of the power of choice in the hands of the individual consumer, I'm pretty sure the publishing industry would be shocked at what gets popular. I'm trying to think of the best way to put this, but all that's coming is, "FREEDOM!" I want to see an entertainment industry free from preconceptions and the 'bottom line' and a pandering to the lowest common denominator across the board. I want the industry moguls to see that they do not have to dumb shit down for an audience. I want everyone who's ever sat down and read some published tripe and said, "I could write better than this!" to be able to prove it without publishers deciding it isn't marketable or something. I want to prove, once and for all, that new is not bad, and that taking risks pays off.
So it's not thinking that I don't stand a chance against the Publishing Machine that prevents me from trying to get published the traditional way. I want this podcast-and-PoD thing to work, because if it gets big enough, it'll open a few eyes and change the industry, and I like the direction it's taking. It widens the options. It opens the medium. And even if it never leads to anything huge for me, I have enough confidence in my work that it'll at least sell someday, however I decide to do it. I don't need to be petted by an agent to write. I don't need to be backed by a publisher to advertise. So if I don't need these things and like the new way of getting one's work out there ... the choice is pretty simple, at least to start with. Maybe I'll get someone's attention one day. Until then, viva la revolucion!