I hope you are having a fabulous week.
Okay,
tell me, how can we, instead of doing what everybody else is doing, do the
opposite?
Daughter
Darling reminded me of that the other day, and my favorite horse trainer, Pat
Parelli, said the same. “Watch what others are doing, and do the opposite.”
Okay,
what is the opposite?
Here is
what prompted this question. I have been getting material from literary agents
on how one must have a platform, give speeches, you know, all that crap. I have written ad nauseam about this subject,
but give me one more chance. Here is an article from FAST COMPANY that pushed me over the edge. I don’t disagree
with the writer, he knows his business. I just don’t want to play the game.
By Ryan Holiday
|September 18, 2012
Books are no longer simply books, they are branding
devices and credibility signals--not to mention the reason their authors
command large speaking or consulting fees.
“You don’t
understand,” the three-time, big-six published author told me. “Books aren’t
designed for you, the customer. Today, non-fiction books are business
cards--for speaking, consulting, and deals.”
I am assuming Holiday
is speaking of non-fiction books rather than novels, for if we must BRAND
all writers, meaning they must have a presence before publication, where will
the next To kill a Mockingbird (by Harper
Lee) come from? Where would Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
fit in, or Richard Back’s Illusions? What
about Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles,
or his Fahrenheit 451? You know about
Fahrenheit 451? It’s a prophetic tale
of the abolition of books, and the people who, to preserve them, each memorized
one entire book.
Are we thwarting the publication of books destined to become classics?
What about books such as Cervantes’s Don
Quixote, or Homer’s Iliad or Virgil’s
Aeneid. And The Bible? The Bible doesn’t have a by-line, and it is considered
non-fiction. It is, however, by virtue of its longevity, a BRAND. Everybody knows its name.
In 1899, Charles Duell, Commissioner US of Patient Office,
before he close the office, said, “Everything that can be invented has been
invented.” Is the publishing industry acting similarly?
I’m not saying I have written the next great American Novel, and given all the marks on my pages
by an editor, not a very good non-fiction book either, but I can still object
to the publishing attitude. They can call an author a brand, a device, a
credibility signal, a business card, a resume, a billboard, whatever they
choose, but what about content?
At the bottom of his article Holiday asks a question: “Is the term ‘best-selling
author’ worth anything anymore?”
Another thing, I have become disenchanted, as well, with the Social Media.
The other day someone sent a blog to me where the writer
stated that he hates FACEBOOK. In reading his article I agreed with him on certain
points. Why do we think everyone is interested in the minutia of our lives? Did
you have a cup of coffee this morning? Was it black? Did you put cream in it?
Flavoring? Whipping cream? Sugar? A
twist? Gosh, I’m getting hungry.
Are you on FACEBOOK, on twitter, do you use Pinterest?
FACEBOOK which started out as a disgusting gossipy way for college boys to rate
girls has turned into big business where even Home Depot has a site with
795,359 followers. Of course I like Home
Depot. We go there to shop all the time. Does having a FACEBOOK site help sales?
Apparently, or they wouldn’t use it, or else business think they just have to
post there. It is drummed into them.
I realize that the country has gone on an ego trip,
and I wanted to join in, but it doesn’t feel good. So, what’s next?
I would do the opposite, but I don’t know what that
is.
There is a fascinating design I found on FAST COMPANY:
It's a $9 bike. A cardboard bike, made for all recycled materials, that will support up to 485 pounds.
See, we do have to become visible; otherwise nobody knows we’re there, and like the song from Chicago, “Mr. Cellophane,” nobody knows your name.
What to do,
what to do?
From someone
who loves books,
