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I'm surprised more writers don't advertise with slogans like "read the dangerous book they don't want you to read." It's also possible that the most interestin

I'm surprised more writers don't advertise with slogans like "read the dangerous book they don't want you to read." It's also possible that the most interesting writing is happening in the self-published world, or the near-self-published world. That's where current classics like Lolita or Ulysses came from. Or much of D.H. Lawrence.

eclat 6y ago
That’s what’s happening. Publications like Substack are letting authors escape the censors. Others still like Quillette, Aero, Spiked and more traditional ones like the Spectator have an anti woke consensus mission - and they represent the entire political spectrum. I’m not sure about book publishers but the change is happening across media more widely. The progressive left keeps getting hammered in elections in Europe at least, but it seems certain institutions are going the other way, not least media.
wincy 6y ago
I read a rambling self-published screed by what I can only assume is an alt-right man in his 20s called Harassment Architecture. It was really bizarre and like nothing I’d ever read. I couldn’t put it down, it felt almost pornographic him saying things that just aren’t allowed to be said. Like listening to circa 2000 Eminem in 2021. I’m honestly not even sure how I got the book, I think I was drunk and ordered it off of Amazon. I wouldn’t say I recommend the book, but I think you’re right that there’s a lot of self published stuff now that is really off the wall.
leephillips 6y ago
Neither of those novels was self-published, or “near”ly so.
- Mediterraneo10 6y ago
  I suppose the OP meant choosing (or being forced) to eschew mainstream publishers when publishing one’s book. Lolita and Ulysses both had to be put out by small presses in Paris where there was no censorship, though indeed this isn’t quite self-publishing because there was a publisher who took on the risk.
  - leephillips 6y ago
    Letting a small publisher that was not your first choice publish your book isn’t just not “quite” self-publishing, it has nothing to do with self-publishing.
    - Mediterraneo10 6y ago
      In practice, the concepts overlap more than you seem willing to admit, especially today. As a literary translator, I see this often: authors have a book they want to get out in a foreign language, but a mainstream publisher won’t touch it (due to the belief it won’t sell enough), so instead the author has to turn to a small press specializing in that kind of literature. But here’s the thing: many of those small presses also double as vanity presses. Some of the manuscripts they publish they think are deserving literature and they take on the risk, but for other books they put out they simply accept the manuscript because the author is willing to pay them a few thousand euro (and in internal discussions with me as the translator, the publisher’s staff even admit that the book is author-funded crap). The ordinary consumer actually has no way of knowing which of the small press's books were published on literary merit, and which ones are vanity press. Also, due to the pressure on small presses to cut costs, both merit-published and vanity-press titles get the same lax proofreading and editing and poor typesetting.
      - leephillips 6y ago
        I know about everything you say here, and it’s all true. But it has nothing to do with the two novels under discussion.
amalcon 6y ago
That's been the primary manner of marketing a whole genre of books for decades. Therefore you can't use that slogan unless you're OK with being mistaken for that genre.

eclat 6y ago

That’s what’s happening. Publications like Substack are letting authors escape the censors. Others still like Quillette, Aero, Spiked and more traditional ones like the Spectator have an anti woke consensus mission - and they represent the entire political spectrum. I’m not sure about book publishers but the change is happening across media more widely. The progressive left keeps getting hammered in elections in Europe at least, but it seems certain institutions are going the other way, not least media.

wincy 6y ago

I read a rambling self-published screed by what I can only assume is an alt-right man in his 20s called Harassment Architecture. It was really bizarre and like nothing I’d ever read. I couldn’t put it down, it felt almost pornographic him saying things that just aren’t allowed to be said. Like listening to circa 2000 Eminem in 2021. I’m honestly not even sure how I got the book, I think I was drunk and ordered it off of Amazon. I wouldn’t say I recommend the book, but I think you’re right that there’s a lot of self published stuff now that is really off the wall.

leephillips 6y ago

Neither of those novels was self-published, or “near”ly so.

Mediterraneo10 6y ago
I suppose the OP meant choosing (or being forced) to eschew mainstream publishers when publishing one’s book. Lolita and Ulysses both had to be put out by small presses in Paris where there was no censorship, though indeed this isn’t quite self-publishing because there was a publisher who took on the risk.
- leephillips 6y ago
  Letting a small publisher that was not your first choice publish your book isn’t just not “quite” self-publishing, it has nothing to do with self-publishing.
  - Mediterraneo10 6y ago
    In practice, the concepts overlap more than you seem willing to admit, especially today. As a literary translator, I see this often: authors have a book they want to get out in a foreign language, but a mainstream publisher won’t touch it (due to the belief it won’t sell enough), so instead the author has to turn to a small press specializing in that kind of literature. But here’s the thing: many of those small presses also double as vanity presses. Some of the manuscripts they publish they think are deserving literature and they take on the risk, but for other books they put out they simply accept the manuscript because the author is willing to pay them a few thousand euro (and in internal discussions with me as the translator, the publisher’s staff even admit that the book is author-funded crap). The ordinary consumer actually has no way of knowing which of the small press's books were published on literary merit, and which ones are vanity press. Also, due to the pressure on small presses to cut costs, both merit-published and vanity-press titles get the same lax proofreading and editing and poor typesetting.
    - leephillips 6y ago
      I know about everything you say here, and it’s all true. But it has nothing to do with the two novels under discussion.

amalcon 6y ago

That's been the primary manner of marketing a whole genre of books for decades. Therefore you can't use that slogan unless you're OK with being mistaken for that genre.