Money, vanity, necessity: Self-publishing in Philippine literature
By Patricia May B. Jurilla, Ph.D.
from The Forum - July-August 2010 - (Vol 11 Issue 4)
There is a certain stigma that comes with self-publishing. By personally taking on the task and expense of printing, distributing, and promoting his/her own work, the author invites suspicion—be it of mediocrity (the work must have been rejected by professional publishers); hubris (how proud is the author of the work to go so far as spending for its printing and distribution); vanity (how conceited is he/she to think that anyone else would be interested not only in reading but even buying his/her work); unexplained, possibly ill-gotten, wealth (particularly for literary authors who are generally known or expected to have limited financial resources, where did he/she get the money?); or all of the above. There is the tendency then to regard self-publishing, which is also commonly referred to or scoffed at as ‘vanity publishing,’ as less credible or legitimate than the activity of professional, commercial, and institutional producers of books or the real publishers. In the particular case of literary authors, the stigma of self-publishing is perhaps more marked due to idealised notions on the incompatibility of art (as noble or nearly sublime) and commerce (as materialistic or much too worldly). The self-publishing literary author boldly crosses the boundary between art and commerce by not only expressing him/herself but also selling him/herself thereafter. » Read more...
Thanks to Angelo Ancheta for the link ;-p
from The Forum - July-August 2010 - (Vol 11 Issue 4)
There is a certain stigma that comes with self-publishing. By personally taking on the task and expense of printing, distributing, and promoting his/her own work, the author invites suspicion—be it of mediocrity (the work must have been rejected by professional publishers); hubris (how proud is the author of the work to go so far as spending for its printing and distribution); vanity (how conceited is he/she to think that anyone else would be interested not only in reading but even buying his/her work); unexplained, possibly ill-gotten, wealth (particularly for literary authors who are generally known or expected to have limited financial resources, where did he/she get the money?); or all of the above. There is the tendency then to regard self-publishing, which is also commonly referred to or scoffed at as ‘vanity publishing,’ as less credible or legitimate than the activity of professional, commercial, and institutional producers of books or the real publishers. In the particular case of literary authors, the stigma of self-publishing is perhaps more marked due to idealised notions on the incompatibility of art (as noble or nearly sublime) and commerce (as materialistic or much too worldly). The self-publishing literary author boldly crosses the boundary between art and commerce by not only expressing him/herself but also selling him/herself thereafter. » Read more...
Thanks to Angelo Ancheta for the link ;-p
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