Vanity Pottery for Sale…
So, once upon a time, there used to be this thing called 'Vanity Publishing.' It worked this way. Your Aunty Maude, or whoever, writes a book. They are very proud of this book and set about trying to get an agent or a publisher interested in it. They have no luck but so convinced are they of the book's worth, that they find a short run printer, strike a deal and get five hundred copies of, 'Murder Most Deadly,' published at their own expense.
They manage to get the owner of their local book shop to take a few copies, after all, they buy all their books there and they have known him for years. They give away a couple of copies to the local library, send some out as Christmas presents and sell a handful of copies after placing a small ad in the local paper.
Time goes by and when dear old Maude passes on, her puzzled family find four hundred and seventy yellowing and mildewed copies of 'Murder Most Deadly,' in her attic. No one in the family remembers that Maude even wrote a book, except for old Uncle Jim, who still has the copy she sent him for Christmas one year.
Things have moved on a bit since then, modern indie publishing is a very different beast. It's not alone. Nowadays, everyone is selling direct. Bands record and sell their own music on-line, cutting out the big record labels. You can get comedy, short films and of course every conceivable kind of artwork, or handicraft, at websites like Etsy. Take a seaside holiday and someone will have a little stall, or a rented space in a shop, to directly sell you stones that they picked up from the beach and hand decorated themselves. Everybody is doing it and it's considered to be pretty cool.
Well, I say that... most of those things are fine but indie published books? No, they are not allowed to play with the cool kids.
Somehow, the spectre of, 'Vanity Publishing,' is still with us, hiding in dark corners, whispering in people's ears, even in ears that are too young to have even heard of 'Vanity Publishing.' There is the lingering notion, that the only reason that these books are independently published, is because they are not very good.
Indie books are held to a different standard to other directly sold products. Download that music track and the sounds not so great, you can hear people talking and glasses clinking in the bar where it was recorded? That's good, that's great, it's raw and immediate, it's live! Order a vase and it has little flaws and the odd fingerprint in it? That's great too, it's real, it connects you directly to the potter, from their hand to your hand! Fantastic... Find a small error in an indie book and it just confirms your worst fears, it's going to be rubbish. That teapot not like the ones on the high street? Great, it's unique and original. That book not written in the style you expected? Is that because it's unique and original? No, it's because the author doesn't know what they are doing.
Now, I am a very relaxed sort of person, I am known for it, some say I'm too relaxed and they are probably right. Still, I care about what I do and you know what? So do all Indie authors, so it does rub me up the wrong way just a bit, chilled as I generally am, that we can't play with the cool kids for some reason.
I mean, I don't ever remember hearing of a band being accused of releasing a 'Vanity Album,' or anyone being slated for selling, 'Vanity Pottery.'
