FINALLY back online!
As Murphy's Law would have it, my connection went down yesterday, and I couldn't get back online till now.
I sincerely thank those who gave me the warm welcome.
Sassenach, what earth-changing piece have you written lately that puts you on such a high pedestal of lumping all authors of one publisher together? Tell me your credentials before you judge my writing. It would also help if you READ IT FIRST. On second thought, even that doesn't matter unless you're a decision maker at Putnam, Random House, etc. Even then I question their abilities if they let pure literature slide but publish garbage by ex-Presidents. I'm not going to waste much of my time proving myself and my writing to you or anyone on threads. Let's just see what happens over time.
By the way, for those who slam vanity and self-publishing, _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, _Moby Dick_, and countless others were originally self-published, PAID for such, because the editors and publishers had no faith in the works' commercial value. Idiots! So don't automatically turn your noses up at self-published books. That air of conceit just proves insecurity and snobbery. I will continue to self-publish as an option because many "editors" have the job title but not the knowledge. They wouldn't know a modal from subjunctive form, and they would swear that one can NEVER use a comma before _because_. To think that one's writing is automatically better than someone else's just because it's been accepted by a "big time" publisher is absolutely ridiculous.
On a more positive note, Steve, I am NOT insulted by YOU! I know you, and you are very serious about writing. You wrote a question that is prevalent at that "other" place, and yes, I saw "red" but not at you. I saw red at that question that you presented (sarcastically, I know), which is a question that drives me insane. I know that a lot of people from that "other" site read this site. They know that if they respond in truth there that they will be banned. That's why I posted on here--to reach out to there without getting automatically banned there. (I wasn't referring to getting banned here, but that wouldn't bother me either. Instead of posting, I will write other material.)
There are some serious writers over there, people who are suffering from the same crap that I am dealing with at being lumped into the overall heap. Many I know privately. I've tried to help them, especially showing them how I got my non-exclusive rights with NO gag order. And no, I'm not going to post it on here. I have four years, ten months, and eighteen days left in the non-exclusive "agreement."
As you can see, I don't just complain about things. I do something about it.
Sassenach, we may just have gotten off on the wrong foot. You decide.
As for everyone else, you see that I said "I'm no great writer." But I'm working on it, as I'm sure many others are, too. It is not conceit. It is hard work. The number of books published by someone doesn't make them great. It's that one book or work of writing that will be studied, analyzed, and taught from a hundred years from now that will eventually prove a work's worth. It's too bad we'll never be around to see it.
As I implied, I am no longer out to save the world from predators. The year 2006 will be the new me, concentrating on my own writing, no more editing or copyediting of others' works. The bad experience at that "other" place has taught me a lot and made me even more determined. Maybe such a reality check is even good experience for serious writers who don't yet know the ropes.
Unfortunately, I suspect that many will take what I say as conceit. I'm not conceited. I'm just sick of the excuses, sick of the snobbery, sick of the complaints without action, and sick of having my writing automatically judged just because I published at that "other" place.
I wish good writing to all, and I thank you for "listening."
Danny Lee Ingram