It got me thinking, once again, how much the publishing industry has created a language that pushes people away from self publishing. It is, when I think about it, somewhat impressive that an industry that has built itself upon words has developed a set of codes that continue a certain kind of publishing scheme to remain in dominance. You can see, in comics, and in music, how that language isn't there, though both industries have enough self published, badly produced, and just plain awful material to warrant the same language, but it seems to me that it is only in the publishing industry that it's so potent.
Still, that said, it's not as if there aren't people doing there thing, and avoiding that language. An example of it is Catherynne Valente (
catvalente), who just released This is My Letter to the World: The Omikuji Project Cycle One, using Lulu. In her release for it, she said, "I've chosen to publish this through Lulu, because this has always been a DIY project, and I was curious as to how the system would work for me. (I'll be posting about the process soon.) Though the anthology will be available on Amazon soon, it is currently only available through Lulu. Since there is no publisher per se, all the publicity will be through my blog and Twitter, so please do feel free to spread the link around. I have no idea if this will be a success or a failure--all I know is that it is done and I am terribly proud."(crossposted)
