Wow, I had no idea I was undercutting hard working writers who don’t give away their work for free. I’m also glad that Howard Hendrix thinks that my stuff is good enough to get paid for, and that I’m screwing up the world by giving it away online. Thanks, Howard! That would mean a lot coming from you, had I any idea who you were or why I should care.
Before I counter-rant, for those who are interested, here’s my webscabery in action:
Something Else – ongoing microfictions. (Although if you only have time for one, may I humbly suggest this one or maybe this one)
Dark Blue Monstropolis – ongoing sci-fi series
If you like my stuff, you’ll be pissing off Howard if you read my books, either for free, or proving him wrong by buying them on Amazon. So I say: piss him off and buy.
Mystics on the Road to Vanishing Point – my novel. Sorry, it’s straight fiction. But don’t hold that against me. Buy it on Amazon or read it for free.
Magnificent Desolation – my short story collection. Dark fantasy and other weirdness. Buy it on Amazon or read it for free.
Find more webscabs online here.
Right. Now if you want to read my counter-rant, proceed. Otherwise, thanks for stopping by and enjoy my free webscab-enabled work. Huzzah.
Okay. Here’s my favorite part of his rant:
A problem with the whole wikicliki, sick-o-fancy, jerque-du-cercle of a networking and connection-based order is that, if you “go along to get along” for too long, there’s a danger you’ll no longer remember how to go it alone when the ethics of the situation demand it.
No longer remember how to go it alone? Dude, I have always gone it alone. In fact, if I was still trying to go with the herd–or whatever your sanctioned path might be–I wouldn’t have two books in print, I wouldn’t have this website, I wouldn’t have any freaking readers. Part of my great satisfaction has been to get told I wasn’t a real writer by my hometown paper, when I have more readers on this website than their entire circulation. I’m glad you have so much money that you can afford to retire and chop wood and whatever. Some of us work dayjobs so we can pursue what we enjoy: and what I enjoy is having people read my stuff. If it were up to you, apparently, I should still be getting nothing but rejection slips from publishers who didn’t know what to do with my stuff (“We really like this, but we’re not sure what to do with it…do you have anything else?”). I should still be sitting around waiting for somebody to give me Permission to Be Published.
And from his “clarification,” where all he clarifies is that he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about:
My primary concern is that the webbification of publishing will increasingly disenfranchise authors—to the benefit of the big bandwidth barons, the media conglomerates.
Oh, I see. Authors taking their lives and careers and work into their own hands and thus bypassing the media conglomerates who couldn’t pigeonhole their stuff into a particular easily salable form is somehow causing them to play into the hands of media congolmerates. This reminds me of Tom Stoppard: “I’ll jump over the side, that’ll put a spoke in their wheel.” “Unless they’re expecting it.” “Right. I’ll stay on board, that’ll put a spoke in their wheel.”
Whatever. To hell with you, sir. I make more money being a technopeasant than I ever would have following your path. And I think I have a helluva lot more to be proud of than you. I’m doing this my way, on my terms and no one else’s. How’s that for “getting along”?
You have a nice day.
