Issue 40 / January 2012
Publish or Perish - my brief experience with audiobookpodcastering.
Every day, writers are asked why they spend so much time writing and so little time marketing, particularly by people who don't write. Why aren't you twittering every few hours, we're asked. Why aren't you blogging every week (check!)? Why aren't you embracing the world of iPods and Blackberries and Palm Pilots and automatic dishwashers, which have brought so much financial success to so many authors I can't think of a single one off the top of my head right now?
These un-asked-for advisors may have thought no one was listening to their inane questions. But I was. Which is why, a few years back, I decided to podcast a novel.
I chose the website Podiobooks, one of the earliest and most popular of the fictional podcasting websites, which is still around. Scanning the site, I quickly noticed that pretty much every novel was either science fiction or fantasy. This is unsurprising, as the type of person willing to get their fiction through a computer and an iPod often tends towards the techie, rather than the artsy.
No problem, I thought. The first novel I ever wrote was a science-fiction book (about sending all the ugly people on Earth to another planet; more on that some other time), and it actually came the closest to publication of any of my five books. I grew up reading Piers Anthony and Orson Scott Card and Philip K. Dick. I could definitely knock out a fantasy novel. Helping my decision was this article, discussing Scholastic's search for new material as the Harry Potter series was winding to a close. My novel would also concern a young boy with special powers (though mine was chubby and Hispanic...take that, status quo!).
I started writing, at the breakneck pace of 1000 words a day. As soon as I'd finish a chapter, I'd post it up to podiobooks.com. Before long, I had a handsome little following, leaving me the occasional nice comment and the not-so-occasional demand for faster chapter release. What they didn't leave, however, was much money. Podiobooks operates through Creative Commons, meaning that no one need pay for the content, and it can be freely distributed (though not sold) by others. This means that the authors on Podiobooks are doing it mostly for love, and perhaps the hope that they'll be "discovered". This hasn't happened much, though there are a few outliers, such as the sci-fi novelist Scott Sigler, discovered on Podiobooks.
Some readers did leave donations, though I wouldn't see any of the money until I finished posting the novel. This was a problem in my case. As I reached the halfway point of the book, I realized I wasn't enjoying writing it. Though I was a big fan of genre fiction as a kid (and still worship the masters, from Tolkien to Dick to Asimov), I find most of it escapist. With all the television and film clogging our collective sub, un, and regular consciousnesses, the last thing we need is more distraction. For this reason (as well as the fact that I'd logged about $20 worth of donations in the months I'd been writing), I made the difficult decision to stop podcasting the novel. Though I knew it would frustrate some people, I figured my audience could hardly complain; after all, it wasn't as if they'd paid anything for my work.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Here is a short list of comments I received in the year after I stopped writing the book: "The Prick of the podiobook world". "Time for him to get a real job". "The author is a bit obsessed with money vs. his writing. You are young and irresponsible. Shame!" "Tommy the flake". "Stop begging for money and complete a book". "I would suggest counseling to get over your issues! Any future employer will be sure to see how unreliable you are!"
The full comment thread can be seen here, including my defense of myself, which I'll reprint at the end of this blog post.
Now that it's been a couple years, I realize how flattering all of those negative comments really were. The truth is that people were enjoying the book, getting invested in the characters and involved in the story, and were justifiably pissed off that they wouldn't find out how it ended. An author can't really hope for more of a visceral response than that. I still get a message every few months, on MySpace or Facebook, asking when I'll finally finish the novel and give everyone the closure they've been seeking. And in spite of myself, in spite of the flood of relief that came when I stopped working on the book, I'm starting to wonder if it might not finally be time to finish the damn thing. At least to shut up my detractors.
-t
My impassioned defense on Podiobooks:
Hello Everyone,
I apologize for taking so long to write a response. As many of you may appreciate, life is complicated, and things happen that render podcasting fantasy novels trivial. I don't mean to belittle what I or any of the other authors do here, but for reasons more personal than fiscal, other things have taken priority in my life.
First of all, to defend against a bit of defamation. I am 24 years old. I have written four complete novels. I have had two major agents, including ICM, which is the agency that represented F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many other great authors in the last six decades. I have written numerous short stories and articles, and had them published in major magazines (Tin House, McSweeney's, ReadyMade and others). I am not an amateur. I am not lazy. I write for two hours every day, and have for the last six years.
I stopped writing this book because it was making me unhappy. I don't typically write genre fiction. As a child, I loved science-fiction and fantasy, but these days, I find it escapist. In a world with so much television and film, so much fantasy, I think literature should aspire to more. Much work on this site does. I am not trying to denigrate what anyone is doing. I still have a soft spot for genre fiction. But it wasn't inspiring me. I felt like I was writing for no reason that mattered. So I stopped, and started work on a book that truly interests me.
Again, I apologize sincerely for not talking to you about this decision. However, I would like to say this: I don't care about money. That's so unbelievably ridiculous, it insults all of us. No one who writes professionally cares about money. (The other work I do is as a professional musician; a song/video of mine was recently featured on the front page of YouTube (which is a site that pays nothing, in spite of the fact that my video received over 150,000 views), which was part of my distraction from TBC, along with applying to graduate schools, and personal issues). However, if you expect to read books being written for no money, you do have to create a new set of criteria. I realize it's frustrating to get involved in a story and not get an ending. However, this is the price you pay for getting entertainment, entertainment that requires hours of thought, work and dedication, for no money. I do not feel obligated to you, because I have not received a single thing from you. I received far more frustrated emails after I stopped than friendly emails while I was writing. Just so you know, I have not received a single cent for the 35,000 words of fiction I presented on the site. I am not greedy. I am not lazy.
So there you are. Believe me when I say that I'm sorry to those of you who truly loved the book. I hope someday to return to it. But you will not make me feel guilty for my decision. And perhaps, next time you think to malign someone creating art for your benefit, you might consider that it is the responsibility of those who appreciate art to help support it, not just with money, but with respect.
Tommy Wallach
'The Bright Child'
Wednesday, 3 March, 2010
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