The Curious Case of the Publisher Who Hated Writers

We all sometimes hate our jobs, but recently in the UK Guardian, a publisher went overboard, giving vent to his rage and contempt for authors - in principle his lifeline. How could a publisher hate writers when he would have nothing to publish without them? If you're curious to read the piece click here.

And thanks to Passive Voice for drawing my attention to this. His post got over 100 comments (presumably) from irate authors, see here, while the Guardian got less than half the number (only 49).

The arguments put forward are bizarre in themselves. Briefly put:

1. This is a publisher who professes to prefer readers to writers

2. He finds writers are insufferable egotists: while readers are people who want to learn about the world, writers have "made up their mind and seek to deliver the resulting verdict to what they imagine is a waiting world". How idiotic and self-centered can authors be? 

3. He believes most writers don't know how to write: "the ability to write well is an attribute not widely shared". Poor writers...Family and friends "irrigate" with ill-founded compliments their belief in a talent they simply do not possess.

4. He has come to the conclusion that writers are publishing worthless stuff, causing a "deluge of writing" that is contributing to "declining readership". In short, "the sheer volume of what is now available acts as a disincentive to settle down with a single text." The phenomenon is "the literary equivalent to channel surfing", only made worse by the tsunami of self-published authors jumping in the publishing pool.

5. Publishing as a business is turned on its head: increasing numbers of writers are paying to be published (through Lulu and all manners of self-publishing means). Writers are "ubiquitous", readers an "endangered species". We're not yet at the point where readers are paid to read, but "it surely isn't far off".

His solution? Writers should take a sabbatical and stop writing for a year! A "moratorium" during which writers could take up hobbies, play golf, hike or even (yikes!) read.

Who's this guy? Colin Robinson is a co-founder of the New York-based independent publisher OR Books. On its site, OR Books claims that it "embraces progressive change in politics, culture and the way to do business". Really? The sweet irony of this claim...

Perhaps Mr. Robinson should take a sabbatical from publishing.

What's your take? My view is that he forgot one important point: writers do NOT necessarily write to promote their own personal views of the world. They write to ENTERTAIN. I know I do. I enjoy the sheer act of writing, of discovering what the characters I have created will do next. Because they do have an unexpected life of their own. They entertain me and in my experience, if that's the case, then they will entertain readers too.

Dammit, publishing is an entertainment industry!

I can't wait to hear your opinion!

Comments

Unknown said…
Claude it is hard what is happening and there is a lot of pressure out there, lots of pressure on people then there is the topic of subjective and objective. The break is a reaction, the suggestion of a break is a tip, so the critique of the writer could be a emotive reaction to the landscape. Your passion for writers and thought is amazing. By highlighting the competition he is speaking to a wide audience and the title is catchy as Benjamin Button. I agree in the sense that classics are classic for a reason and one year of reading will help everyone.

Thanks for sharing Claude your views and speciality in the subjects you address are unique, exciting and highly sort after.
Jack Durish said…
I was bewildered by this until you mentioned that he was a political progressive. That certainly explained it for me. Progressives are dedicated to killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
Anonymous said…
I've been saying for ages now that publishers are still in the dark ages while the rest of the world moves on. This is more proof that they have lost touch with the real world of authors and readers.
Emandyves,Jack Durish and Jm Bob, Thanks for the comments!There is no doubt that this is a publisher who's had one hell of an emotional reaction, he's plain fed up with (no doubt) his own demanding writer/clients.I believe that his mistake was to expand his rant to the whole population of authors...Although, his excessive statements make for funny reading!
John Klawitter said…
Hey Claude, I hope A Hook In The Sky continues to do well. About the Publisher who hates writers, I once knew a fellow who despised fishing...and bought a very expensive bait & tackle shop. There is just no figuring out people. Needless to say, his venture was a failure.
Best,
John Klawitter
johnklawsbcglobalnet
Thanks John for your kind words. My Hook in the Sky is doing well, still attracting the attention of more readers and I'm happy about that. You're right, there are always people who hate the line of work they're in, perhaps they fell into under duress and not by choice. In this particular case, I don't know what happened, but this happens to be a professional in the industry with a sterling reputation (as far as I know) and enough stamina to start his own publishing house in 2009. Maybe he's just tired out, it's true that one can get really under pressure these days with the digital revolution opening up a flood of self-published authors (many of whom are excellent even if the majority is equivalent to the slush pile)and bringing on the scene a new giant player, Amazon.
Unknown said…
Yes you are right, it's easy to understand a dissatisfaction with Amazon, and his words are very tame in comparison to the thoughts writers listen to in creativity mode. The direction of comments over reader's is an interesting propriety that as you say makes no real online sense. Celebrating comments and reader satisfaction simply is then a measurement another male attribute. Did his book do well on Amazon Claude, it's just they bought Washington Post recently and then would be supportive of his satire now. The owners of Amazon have a very clever ranking system and the terms and conditions require lots of reading too. You have answered most of them here on Blog Spot too. Well done.