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Ama's avatar

I self-published my first book in 1972, using the then-new technology of photocopying. It was a rather beautiful little book of seven poems. The original was handwritten. The copies sold for 30p!

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David W. Berner's avatar

I've been thinking about this for years now. Especially when I'm asked for advice from an aspiring writer about where to publish, how to publish. What I've negotiated in my own mind are two things . . . 1. Publishing is only the act of getting your words out there. How it's done is a matter of gatekeeping or not, platform, and goals. What is it that you want to do with your writing? And 2. I think there is a difference between an author and a writer. A writer writes because he must. It's in the DNA and "publishing" is a byproduct. How it's "published" sometimes doesn't matter. An author is someone who has a specific goal -- to get their memoir, for example, out in the world and seeing it in print. Holding it in your hand. There's a tangible goal that MUST include publishing in some fashion. I'm OK with the modern world of publishing. More voices is always good. But "democratization" also means that with those many voices comes various levels of skill and craft, and that can be a kind of collateral damage with now have no choice but to accept.

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