Part III was going to be about one of the strangest misconceptions, namely
Money Always Flows TO the Author, Never FROM the Author.
But then they tell you that writing is a business, and I was going to talk about how strange that little maxim would sound when applied to any other business. I was going to say something like “Take the phrasal template ‘The money always flows TO the X, never FROM the X,’ and in place of the X, put the name of a kind of business person or professional.”
- “Money always flows TO the lawyer, never FROM the lawyer.” Really? Who pays the paralegal?
- “Money always flows TO the doctor, never FROM the doctor.” Really? Who pays the receptionist?
- “Money always flows TO the house painter, never FROM the house painter.” Really? Who buys the paint?
I was going to point out that you could even substitute various kinds of artists in this template, and point out that singers and photographers and, yes, even writers all have expenses, and that in the new paradigm (except I wasn’t going to say “the new paradigm,” because it’s a cliché), publishing services are simply one of the expenses a writer might pay.
Oh, it was going to be a terrific post. Brilliant and witty; heady, yet with a subtle bouquet of humility, with a solid finish, perfect for pairing with spicy cuisines and the meats of wild game animals. You were going to read it and simply be amazed. You were going to talk about it for weeks.
But you know what? The definitive post on the new money flow has already been written, and it is called, oddly enough
The New Money Flow
It was written by Mark Barret, at Ditchwalk. Ditchwalk is henceforth to be considered required reading for all writers. If you said to me last week “I’m a writer,” I would have asked you if you write. If you said no, you’d like to, but you never have time, or you have writer’s block, or you don’t know what to write about, or the blank page scares you, or you sit down to write, and nothing comes, then you were a wannabe. From now on, I’ll just ask if you read Ditchwalk. Same question, different words. If you don’t read it, you’re a wannabe.
So go there. Read that. What? You’re still here?
Related posts:
- Misconceptions About Self-Publishing — Part I
- Misconceptions About Self-Publishing — Part II
- Arguments Against Self-Publishing, Round N
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
I don’t blush, but if I did, I’d be blushing.
No, no, no! Don’t blush. Gloat! You nailed it.
OH yes, after reading that piece on the new flow that was like instant RSS feed add.
asrai´s last blog ..Thoughts on grammer
I’d actually found Ditchwalk the day before, reading his excellent piece on agents and professionalism, and then when I began to do research on Yog’s Law, I found this one. Definitely a great blog.