THE ART OR THE DEAL?
COMPOSING whether for oneself (writing) or a target readership (authoring), has long been considered an art. Writing, for example, comes under the heading of Humanities, Arts and/or Letters. It is considered a creative endeavor. The business of getting authored works into the hands of the targeted readers, however, is a business and pretty much always has been considered such up to present. Business is both an art and a science, though it typically falls under a third category, namely business, in university. Publishing is widely regarded as a business, or a varying combination of art and science. This was true until self-publishing. So is self-publishing and art, business or science? I believe that self-publishing is more an entrepreneurship, that is, a means to an end, and being neither art, business nor science it probably fits more as a vocation, as might writing, in the end. On the other hand, who cares?
An artist typically receives royalties based on sales more in the nature of a “gig” or independent contractor, with benefits left to the individual to obtain. Businesspersons typically demand and receive a salary with benefits. Self-publishers typically pay fees-for-services and take what they wish or can from what’s left from product sales royalties. But the core issue is much greater.
First, without artists, few advances will occur. Without self-publishers, many advances that would be completely overlooked by society and business will be noticed. Without businesses and the trusted “machinery” of service and sales that drives local, regional, national or international economies, measured growth and consistence would be largely absent.
Second, in this increasingly AI-oriented technological age, where combined “app” machinery is slowly replacing artistry, entreneurship and business, it’s possible that distinctions between the three will not just continue to blur but disappear entirely, as the adverts are wont to say, “to free humanity from the clutches of mental and physical drudgery.” But for what purpose if not art, business or science?
The SciFu world of THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor mirrors for the reader just such a world, answering that question in its own unique way. Love or hate it, I would hold that for most readers, it’s impossible to be indifferent, and in choosing, not reflect on what each individual in today’s world is doing to enable or disable that new world whether it’s in relation to sally (salary), comp (compensation), sex and gender rights, personal freedom, joi de vivre, romance, love, sex, self-actualization, cooperation, recovery or violence. It’s all there to see and experience. One has only to look.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
An artist typically receives royalties based on sales more in the nature of a “gig” or independent contractor, with benefits left to the individual to obtain. Businesspersons typically demand and receive a salary with benefits. Self-publishers typically pay fees-for-services and take what they wish or can from what’s left from product sales royalties. But the core issue is much greater.
First, without artists, few advances will occur. Without self-publishers, many advances that would be completely overlooked by society and business will be noticed. Without businesses and the trusted “machinery” of service and sales that drives local, regional, national or international economies, measured growth and consistence would be largely absent.
Second, in this increasingly AI-oriented technological age, where combined “app” machinery is slowly replacing artistry, entreneurship and business, it’s possible that distinctions between the three will not just continue to blur but disappear entirely, as the adverts are wont to say, “to free humanity from the clutches of mental and physical drudgery.” But for what purpose if not art, business or science?
The SciFu world of THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor mirrors for the reader just such a world, answering that question in its own unique way. Love or hate it, I would hold that for most readers, it’s impossible to be indifferent, and in choosing, not reflect on what each individual in today’s world is doing to enable or disable that new world whether it’s in relation to sally (salary), comp (compensation), sex and gender rights, personal freedom, joi de vivre, romance, love, sex, self-actualization, cooperation, recovery or violence. It’s all there to see and experience. One has only to look.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
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