Who is or who is not a serious writer and how do you define serious - is a minefield. I have been an artist for many years. Whenever I have called myself a fine artist (I paint realist subjects and portraits in oil on canvas), people come out of the woodwork to criticise. Many try to cloud the issue by discussing definitions. I think writers may be the same (no offense to fifafan meant). The only gauge of who is or who is not an artist is primarily decided by society - and sadly their only criterion is sales. I wonder if writers are judged the same - have they or have they not been published. I also wonder if this criterion is still applicable to writers because of the self-publishing phenomena that is Kindle. Again we may head into a debate about definitions - as some may equate electronic self-publishing to vanity publishing. A friend mentioned recently at a book launch, "Yes he may have five books published, but you know they are all vanity published, so don't be impressed - anybody can vanity publish." I asked another friend about publishing on Kindle and she gave a similar response. "Oh Kindle - well anybody can publish on Kindle - doesn't make them a writer does it?" I think writers are at a crossroads in regards to publishing. The appetite for electronic work seems insatiable. I am on the kindle discussion board and I understand there is a chap who writes erotica and has published over 50 works (albeit they are short 5 to 7K short stories and they sell for .99cents - he has sold almost a million at a 70% royalty. There are several kindle published authors that have sold over a million - maybe this is a topic for debate. I hope I have made my point clear.
I didn’t expect a large debate on erotica as it is still a subject – just thought I’d ask the question. Sorry if anyone has been offended.
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With the recent success of "Fifty Shades of Gray" and Waterstone's booksellers in London adding a complete erotica section - should serious writers be looking at erotica writing? I did notice that my small Waterstone's branch sells "Fifty Shades of Gray" - but they do not display any copies. The Gray series is the top three sellers and on the display stand with the top ten there is a notice to see the clerk. The clerk told me in her opinion mostly women are buying. Let's put prejudice about porn aside. It is my understanding that well written porn with a good story that adheres to good grammar and other aspects that set literature aside from just writing - is now making in roads. I know erotica has been around since the written word. Women seem to be going through a sexual renaissance - at least in literature. I read recently that "Jane Eyre" is being re-written as an erotica piece. I went into a porn bookshop recently and the material seemed to be mostly about bondage - the place was not female friendly. So if this genre of literature is on the rise among women it must be on line. I know that Amazon Kindle sells an enormous amount. What do you think?
Rookie Scribe
I am currently reading Alex Kershaw's biography of Jack London (author of Call of the wild - White Fang - Martin eden). He quotes Jack as saying, "I'm darned if any stories just come to me. I had to work like the devil for the themes. Then of course, it was easy to just write them down. Expression, you see - with me - is far easier than invention." Jack London bought plots from a struggling writer , Sinclair Lewis. So maybe there is a 10th inspiration - Other Peoples. So I agree with DirtyMartini - whatever works. I read in the newspaper today that ghost writers are re-writing Jane Eyre to make it a piece of erotica. I have no problem with erotica (I have written some myself), but to ghost re-write another author's story. That to me sounds like plagiarism at best - theft at worst. I suppose publishing houses must cash in on any new trends and 'Fifty Shades of Grey' - is certainly a new trend.
Rookie Scribe
I am Max and this is my introduction into internet story writing. I have posted a story that is a prologue to a novella I am writing. I hope to finish soon and will attempt to publish on Kindle - if I can get this 65 year old head around the formatting. Why are there no elderly smilies?