When I signed up for this class i honestly didn't know there was such a difference between the worlds of small press publishing and the major publishing houses (much less the existence of zines and that its not actually short of magazine).
The one thing I want to do in life is publish a book, so naturally I was striving to get on the bookshelves with Random House stamped proudly on the spine. Strangely I never saw it as a dog eat dog world, eating up the smaller corporations... pretty naive, huh.
Anyway after reading the article about zines, I've really been swept away with the idea to publish simply for the sake of publishing work (not making money-- zines versus magazines). This goes right along with the discussion we had over James Patterson's books. Clearly, he doesn't have a whole lot of integrity... does that then reflect on the publishing house that publishes his books? Has literature reduced itself to a Hollywood-like industry that makes books that will attract the most amount of people, thereby shooting for mindless entertainment? And to the same extent, is that ok?
I'd like to say to each his own, but what point does this actually hinder our collection of new literature? If the big publishing houses aim at having the most people buy their books, and what sells is mindless Patterson-esque novels, then are these big publishers sacrificing the next Pride and Prejudice of this century?
So it is comforting to know that there are people out there who want to publish and distribute work just for the sake of loving the work itself. The fanzines, the dedication that comes with the subculture (perhaps not so 'sub' these days), and the love that drives the smaller publishing world is what really gives me hope to not only get my book published, but to not have it altered for the mainstream media in any way.
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Frankly, I don't know if there ever will be a "Pride and Prejudice" of this century. The sheer number of not only PEOPLE in this world, but also of aspiring writers and potential publishers (both Small Press and otherwise) seems like it will disable the ability for ONE BOOK to become as popular and timeless as the books of yesteryear. When Jane Austen was publishing, the market was much smaller, as was the demand. Today, people like James Patterson and Danielle Steele and Stephen King and John Grisham and whoeverthehell else may publish A LOT of books that become hugely popular for the blink of an eye, but who will remember those books in 100 years time? Or even 10? If James Patterson can't identify a section of his own book, how can anyone else be expected to?
I guess this can all be attributed to the disposable culture of our times; flash-in-the-pan celebrities, one-hit-wonders, trashy romance novels (enjoyable, yet unmemorable), plastic silverware, kleenex, etc. Our job as writers and members of the human race is to rise above all this crap and produce something that is worth the time it takes to create and the energy it takes to generate. I know that's a pretty big burden the shoulder, but I'm willing to at least try it out.
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