Eisler vs. Hocking
I haven’t done a comic in a while, so figured I’d share my two cents on Amanda Hocking’s commercial publishing deal and Barry Eisler’s decision to self-publish.
I haven’t done a comic in a while, so figured I’d share my two cents on Amanda Hocking’s commercial publishing deal and Barry Eisler’s decision to self-publish.
Colleen
April 13, 2011 @ 9:38 am
Very nice!
James
April 13, 2011 @ 9:42 am
That’s brilliant! And one of those things that can be applied to a lot of different topics where consumer reaction is involved. 🙂
Ali
April 13, 2011 @ 9:42 am
It’s Eisler, not Eisner. But the cartoon is very amusing. 🙂
Jim C. Hines
April 13, 2011 @ 9:42 am
Crap!!! Editing time…
Jamie Todd Rubin
April 13, 2011 @ 9:58 am
You nailed it!
Stephen A. Watkins
April 13, 2011 @ 10:06 am
Probably because I keep my head in a certain genre window (mostly epic fantasy), but my initial reaction, as a reader, where more along the lines of “Huh, who are Barry Eisler and Amanda Hocking?”
Jim C. Hines
April 13, 2011 @ 10:11 am
Well yeah, there’s that reaction too 🙂
Anita K.
April 13, 2011 @ 10:27 am
Me too! 😀
David Forbes
April 13, 2011 @ 10:37 am
Not to be a proofreading PITA, but it should be “two million dollar contract,” not “contact.” (I do that all the time too…)
Regardless, it’s a great comic, and totally nails it!
Jim C. Hines
April 13, 2011 @ 10:41 am
Fixed, and thank you.
Apparently my secondary mission this morning was to demonstrate the importance of proofreaders…
Ed Robertson
April 13, 2011 @ 11:02 am
Hah, and the particular challenges that come along with being an indie cartoonist.
I don’t really get anyone who is adamantly indie or traditional. That feels like you’re working for a medium rather than making that medium work for you. Frankly, going forward, I think a lot of the most successful authors are likely to employ a blend of both routes.
Joe Selby
April 13, 2011 @ 11:46 am
I have not yet read anything Amanda Hocking has written. Has anyone here? All I ever see is people writing about how much money she’s making. No one has said whether they read and enjoyed her work.
Jim C. Hines
April 13, 2011 @ 11:51 am
Depends on where you look. I picked one of her Amazon listings, and she’s got more than 200 reviews, mostly positive. People are definitely reading her stuff.
Anita K.
April 13, 2011 @ 12:01 pm
I haven’t read her actual work so far, but I have read several blog entries (http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/), and have really enjoyed them all. If her book-writing measures up, it should be great. My library is considering purchasing her books and I hope to read them soon.
Elizabeth Moon
April 13, 2011 @ 12:37 pm
Love that cartoon…so true!
KarenJG
April 13, 2011 @ 12:45 pm
I bought the first book of her trilogy after Jim linked to her post on e-publishing, and liked it well enough to buy the rest of the trilogy. The attentions of a *good* editor and proofreader would definitely improve it – a few draggy spots, some typos, but it was better than some “traditionally-published” books I’ve read. I didn’t just love it, and I’m probably not going to be her biggest fan or anything, but it was a decent story, decently told. (At least the first book was – I haven’t read the other two yet, because I bought other books at the same time that I wanted to read more. Fantasy isn’t my first love, or even my second. It’s third in my personal hierarchy – ahead of traditional fantasy and alternate history, but behind science fiction and mystery.
Oh, and great comic, too – I’m that reader. I call myself a bibliovore, because I devour books. I need stuff to read. Don’t care how it gets to me, as long as it does.
KarenJG
April 13, 2011 @ 12:50 pm
er… I meant to say _urban_ fantasy is third, ahead of traditional fantasy.
(Sorry, Jim! Doesn’t mean I don’t love your books anyway! But, you know, it would be AWESOME if you turned your talents to urban fantasy… jus’ sayin’… I can totally see Jig transported to another dimension and running the subway tunnels under New York… Or the princesses (again, transported to another dimension) and introducing Washington D.C. to an entirely different form of politics…)
Jim C. Hines
April 13, 2011 @ 12:52 pm
You realize I’m currently working on a new series which includes Smudge transported into modern-day Michigan, yes? 🙂
KarenJG
April 13, 2011 @ 12:57 pm
Um… I didn’t know Libromancer was set in modern day Michigan, no. But, now I have a problem… I CAN’T WAIT! It’s a problem I’ve gotten very used to, however, so I guess I’ll find a way to wait. BUT I CAN’T WAIT!!!!
Jim C. Hines
April 13, 2011 @ 12:58 pm
::Grin:: I’m writing as fast as I can!
Anke
April 13, 2011 @ 1:05 pm
I gave Switched a try and gave up before the first chapter was over… Problem is that for me to be able to stand first person narrative, the voice must be really compelling, and here it wasn’t.
Jim C. Hines
April 13, 2011 @ 1:08 pm
::Glances at the draft of Libriomancer::
Uh oh…
Ali
April 13, 2011 @ 1:17 pm
Or as Taylor Mali said, “the impotence of proofreaders” (possibly one of my favorite poems EVER). *grin*
KarenJG
April 13, 2011 @ 1:17 pm
Thank you! I really do appreciate it! Of course, I was looking forward to your new series anyway – you haven’t yet written a book I didn’t love – but now I’m in edge-of-the-seat mode waiting for it. Which would be uncomfortable, but I don’t notice the discomfort so much as long as there are books to read between now and then. Hence the whole “let’s try this” joy of low-cost e-books to fill in the gaps. I’m willing to take a chance on a new author for $3, not so much for $10 or $20. (Until I got my nook, I shopped the “remainder” tables to try new authors. But, now I have Backlist E-Books and Smashwords available for try-outs.)
KarenJG
April 13, 2011 @ 1:23 pm
No worries, Jim, I’d bet your narrator will meet the “really compelling” test. (Of course, I can’t speak for Anke.) But I don’t have a problem with first person anyway, it’s present tense that drives me nuts. A book written in present tense has to be really, really, really compelling for me to read it.
Anke
April 13, 2011 @ 1:26 pm
We’ll see, but I’m fairly confident here. 😉
Ali
April 13, 2011 @ 4:20 pm
Oh, the irony. That should’ve been “the impotence of proofreading.” ARG. Also, grr.
KatG
April 13, 2011 @ 4:44 pm
That’s just lovely, Jim. I think you have a third career as a cartoonist.
Jim C. Hines
April 13, 2011 @ 7:39 pm
Eep! I can barely keep up with the two careers I’ve got now!
Inanna Arthen / Vyrdolak
April 14, 2011 @ 3:17 am
Oh, man, that just totally *rocks.* 😀
My biggest rant is the way that marketers, publishers, and an awful lot of authors seem to have forgotten all about the *readers.* Without readers, we’re nothing! But in all the punditry and predictions and puffery about “the future of publishing,” the readers seem to be the last ones who are asked *their* opinions or wishes, the last ones who are considered. It drives me up the wall.
Stephen A. Watkins
April 14, 2011 @ 10:18 am
Also, in “where more along the lines”… (I need proofreaders, too). “where” –> “were” –> “was”. What a tangled web we weave.
Andrew S. Balfour
April 14, 2011 @ 3:34 pm
“The the impotence of proofreading”, if you’re going for the complete title.
Ed: I agree. The smart cookie does whatever will make money and bring in readers. It’s irrational to assign ideology to publishing formats.
JD Rhoades
April 18, 2011 @ 5:48 pm
Jim, do you mind if I post this ‘toon (with proper attribution and linkage of course) as part of my next post at murderati.com? It illustrates precisely what I was planning to write about.
Jim C. Hines
April 18, 2011 @ 5:52 pm
As long as attribution and link are included, that would be fine. Thanks!
JD Rhoades
April 19, 2011 @ 8:30 am
Excellent. Thank you!
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