tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post2344346172625491725..comments2023-04-15T01:19:02.117-07:00Comments on Letitia Coyne Fiction: LINES.Letitia Coynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-25275675180078265342011-11-13T17:35:44.742-08:002011-11-13T17:35:44.742-08:00It’s with great shame that I admit that PKD is one...It’s with great shame that I admit that PKD is one of the many acclaimed authors whose work I have never read. Blade Runner is a favourite movie and I loved A Scanner Darkly. But Total Recall [which I also love] is a better example of the point I’d make with publishers. Arnie exactly represents the publishing industry’s outlook.<br /><br />He isn’t an actor; he doesn’t try for Broadway. He knows what he does, he knows his audience like what he does, and he doesn’t need to do more than perfect his formula and repeat. The publishers can read PKD as an unknown, see that he writes sci-fi and judge immediately that it doesn’t matter if he writes brilliantly or like a half-assed hack, his only audience as a sci-fi writer will be grubby teens.<br /><br />They might be over generalizing, but averages tell them that is where their primary market is. As long as his stories fit the pattern for that particular audience, in their view, potential for any other market is not relevant. His skill or lack of it does not mean anything. They will market to the audience they know will buy sci-fi. They perfect their formula and repeat. It is a model that works well financially.<br /><br />The same applies for authors like Stephenie Meyer or Ken Follett [whose latest novel has a first release print run of 26 000 000]. They don’t write well, but they have a perfect formula and they repeat. They make millions and that is ALL that matters for a business model. It’s a shame they then go to literary discussion tables and speak and behave as if they are talented. Arnie doesn’t bother; neither should they.<br /><br />Initially, publishers did not have to acknowledge any skill from Dick because ART does not matter. Once his stories were noticed outside the walls of the sci-fi community, he received recognition and the publishers could rerelease his books as if they knew all along he was a genius. [Fans still cannot have his work discussed as (L)iterary fiction on our national broadcast network’s Book show.]<br /><br />I’m not justifying it, but I understand that the system is motivated by money only, and marketing his ART only becomes relevant when they realize they can tap a new audience. Why are we setting that system up online, too?Letitia Coynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-65229421566493204932011-11-13T09:55:28.541-08:002011-11-13T09:55:28.541-08:00Once apon a time I bought a copy of PKD's Tran...Once apon a time I bought a copy of PKD's Transmigration of Timothy Archer which has a hidously corporate late 20th century cover.<br />Last week I got my hands on an older copy in a second-hand bookshop. Comparing the covers shines a light on the duplicity of the publishing industry.<br />Dick's novels were trash when they were first published - unworthy of anyone but grubby teenage boys - now he is an accepted literary genius with umpteen crap film versions of his books (Blade Runner and Scanner Darkly excluded)<br />I'm sure he's turning in his grave.Garthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15637097897454660933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-86832530247853147572011-11-03T19:21:45.118-07:002011-11-03T19:21:45.118-07:00Ah, but I recall:
http://rp7o333.blogspot.com/201...Ah, but I recall:<br /><br />http://rp7o333.blogspot.com/2011/10/thief.html<br /><br />Perhaps I could siren seduce you into coloured covers and then an Amazon account, or Lulu, or even one of my beloved free directories. <br /><br />You could be richer, with even more adoring fans than you have already - and there are lots of them - if you made a little book of poems for them to hold.<br /><br />LxxLetitia Coynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08441648447041629690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1251496679508246814.post-25634953264858618612011-11-03T11:13:21.040-07:002011-11-03T11:13:21.040-07:00Lucky for me I just write poetry. Maybe if each po...Lucky for me I just write poetry. Maybe if each poem came with a sandwich, or a flower - then I could be rich.Peter Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17806372860467057912noreply@blogger.com