[HN Gopher] I wish I'd self-published sooner
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I wish I'd self-published sooner
Author : alexellisuk
Score : 42 points
Date : 2021-11-26 12:54 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (blog.alexellis.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (blog.alexellis.io)
| ggm wrote:
| My partner is a semi-retired academic proofreader. The suggestion
| to "find a friend" to proofread what is a commercial proposition
| is as bogus as asking a photographer to shoot your cover "for the
| coverage"
|
| Shame on you. Proofreading costs a lot because it's bloody hard
| work. You are a charlatan if you value others labour towards your
| own value proposition so slightly.
| thih9 wrote:
| To be fair, the article says "find a friend" and not "find a
| professional proofreader".
|
| So I'd say this is comparable not to asking a photographer to
| shoot something for free, but to asking a friend (not
| necessarily a professional photographer) to something for free.
| whalesalad wrote:
| Woah bud, slow your roll there. Shaming someone publicly for
| asking a friend to proofread their work is a terrible thing to
| do. You have absolutely no right to make that kind of claim,
| especially with zero real world context. Do you know the
| author? Do you know the author's relationship with the friend?
|
| This explosive knee-jerk commentary is out of control. Don't
| project your frustration with your partner's career on other
| people.
| dang wrote:
| Please don't respond to a bad comment with a personal attack
| of your own. That only makes things worse.
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
| dang wrote:
| Yikes - there's no need to attack someone like that. Perhaps
| you don't feel you owe people with insufficient understanding
| of the complexities of proofreading better, but you certainly
| owe this community much better if you're participating in it.
|
| If you wouldn't mind reviewing
| https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the
| intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
| dsizzle wrote:
| I don't see any discussion about compensation.
|
| The "find a friend" heading does suggest free favors, but then
| the text says friends and community members "offered" their
| help.
| vasco wrote:
| I'm sure you pay your friends every time they help you with
| anything at all since for anything in the world they could
| possibly do there's a person out there making a living on that
| activity.
| function_seven wrote:
| If my friends' labor was an essential input into my way of
| making a living, you're right that I would pay them for their
| part.
|
| I have a friend who paints houses for a living. If he ever
| asked me to help out on a job, for no pay, I'd say no.
|
| If I'm a professional mover, then no, I'd never dream of
| asking my friends for free help carting customers' boxes to
| the truck.
| toss1 wrote:
| Yup.
|
| Heck, even if I borrow a friends tool, I give it back in at
| least as good shape as I got it (e.g., clean and add more
| fuel), and along with a gift like a gift card for a dinner,
| etc.
| jstanley wrote:
| On the other hand, self-publishing a single book is
| potentially quite far away from being a professional
| author.
| StevePerkins wrote:
| As a published technical author, if you believe that your
| self-published book will be "an essential input into [your]
| way of making a living", then I have some really sad news
| for you...
| huhtenberg wrote:
| I have read several self-published _non-technical_ books and the
| lack of professional editing smacks you right in the face from
| the first page.
|
| Two that stood out in that aspect were "Unix: A History and a
| Memoir" by Brian Kernighan and "Not All Fairytales Have Happy
| Endings" by Ken Williams (of Sierra, Space Quest, etc.)
|
| Had really high hopes for both and they were an absolute chore to
| read. The "Unix" was excruciatingly boring, despite the
| underlying material. The "Sierra" was just over-board quirky and
| poorly structured, more like a collection of random notes stapled
| together and padded to target thickness. Both could've been much
| better given a bit of professional editing attention.
| TillE wrote:
| Likewise, I've attempted many self-published novels, some with
| high praise from independent readers, and found nearly all to
| be of miserably poor quality - Andy Weir being the sole
| exception.
|
| Even if you have the bones of a good story, even if you're a
| talented writer, a good editing process can transform your work
| from an unreadable mess to an actual solid novel.
| chillfox wrote:
| Editors does a lot less for quality of the writing than
| people tend to think.
|
| Also, there's nothing stopping someone self publishing from
| getting an editor to polish their manuscript before
| publication.
|
| The truth is that most authors who self publish are simply
| not good at writing.
|
| I am generally a fan of self publishing, it's great for good
| writers as they get to keep more of the money and for the
| ones on the border it allows them to get something out there
| that might be good enough for a small audience.
| csdvrx wrote:
| Counter take: did Kernighan and Williams made a profit from
| their self published books? If yes, why do you want to monday
| morning quarterback them?
|
| They may have made more profit from hiring an editor, or
| engaging in regular book publication, but that's not 100%
| guaranteed.
|
| Also, they may have self-published just for fun.
|
| There's more than one way to do it, and I don't think we're
| qualified to judge ex-post if what Brian Kernighan chose to
| share his memoirs was the best way.
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(page generated 2021-11-29 23:00 UTC)