Oh Look! Another Rant Against Self-published Books! *Yawn*

Every day it seems, there's a new blog post from someone with ties to traditional publishing lambasting self-published books. It's not a new phenomenon, but lately, it's like someone dialed up the frequency of these articles to where I'm now I'm reading  three to four new ones a month. The posts are getting old and tiresome. I guess that's why one ranter felt the need to shake things up by putting authors in classes, like mail or plane passengers. Or comparing us to cattle to be culled. Seriously...he did. I'm not making that up, but I won't link to the blog post. He's had enough attention already.

When I began self-publishing, reading those articles got me so worked up, but now they are reduced to background noise for the most part. I applaud those who go in and stand up for indie books but really, I think our books and our success will be the ultimate defense.

Another reason I can't get too worked up anymore is that lately, the direction of the rants, and replies to them, seem to imply that we should *do* something about those horrible self-pubbed books. As if because I self-publish, I must also bear the responsibility of making sure all the other self-pubbed books out there are up to standards. Whose standards hasn't really been determined yet, but certainly not the readers. They are left out of the equation in these rants. Or if they are mentioned, it's in the guise of protecting them from the avalanche of terrible writing, plotting and cliched characters.

Just as I can't take credit for Hugh Howey's success, I shouldn't be blamed for Random Author's bad book. Does Stephen King get blamed for Twilight? Did we blame Cormac McCarthy for Fifty Shades of Grey? Yeah, seems ludicrous but that's the kind of attitude indie authors are subjected to by people with ties to traditional publishing.

I am not responsible for anyone's books but my own. I do the best I can and publish them and hope readers enjoy the books.  I'm not bullying anyone into buying my books. I'm lucky if people even know I have books to buy!

I barely have the energy to work a day job, write, market and take care of a family, let alone police the indie ranks for sloppy books. Even if I had the time, who am I to tell other people that their books don't deserve to be published? If asked my opinion, I might make some suggestions, but if I'm not asked, I'll just shrug and get on with my own business.

My thoughts are that the surge in rants is fueled by the fears of some desperate people worried that their jobs will no longer be relevant. Only time will tell. Or, like the kids say, 'Haters gonna hate'.