EL MANIFIESTO REVOLUCIONARIO DE WICASTA LOVELACE DE LA MANCHA
I intend to ...

Write stories independently.

Many people have read my writing on my web page and asked me why I have no been published. I've always had trouble answering that question, because most people simply can't understand my answer. But the short answer is that I detest the publishing industry.

Think about the books that are popular. The books that glut the front of the bookstore when you walk through the door. You know the ones. The titles with the full-collor cardboard displays and the tables full of stacks of the same book. The books that the publishing industry expects that you will buy if only the packaging is attractive enough, or if you get a sense that there's some sort of “buzz” built up around a certain title. The publishing industry is peddling another product, and they believe that you (the consumer) will purchase their product if only they can sugar it up enough that you can't resist its syrupy siren call.

Notice that thus far I've said nothing about writers or writing. That's because selling a book has nothing whatsoever to do with the art of writing. The industry has polluted our collective psyche with drivel, because drivel sells. We want our artery-clogging meal to be quick and satisfying, not necessarily challenging or thought-provoking. And so we are given what we ask for and demand; a quick fix.

On the artistic side of this is the writer. He has sat before his desk and slaved over words, phrases, paragraphs and chapters, often torturing himself to arrive at just the right turn of phrase and to create just to right amount of tension and drama. And when, after weeks, months or even years of exhaustive exploration, the writer finally manages to arrive at a completed version of his work, what must he do then?

Why, he turns to a publisher in the hopes of having the work published and made available to the public. That's when he learns that what he has created is not a work of art, but a product that must be packaged and marketed, and which, too often, is not the particular flavor that's popular at the moment, or, more often, is simply too long. Yes, the work is brilliant, but can you shave off thirty pages or so?

I will not bow down to the publishing industry. I will write what I write. If they will publish it, fine. But if not, I have the Internet, and will post my work on my web site for free. But I, and my work, will never, ever be owned by a corporate entity with an investment and marketing strategy.

I am, after all, a man of La Mancha. Aren't we all?
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