Note: You can still weigh in on the “Writing for Snob’s” poll. And the “We Don’t Need No Editation” post provides some context to this one.
Comparing the work and influence of individuals to groups is difficult and, one might argue, unfair. But, every analogy is imperfect. Rather than get bogged down in the strength or weakness of the analogy, stick with me and consider the larger trends.
Are indie-published authors the garage bands of the writing world? Garage bands played music partly for the dream of making the big time and partly for the love of the art. From a technical standpoint, garage bands were often less proficient in their musicianship and had lower quality instruments and recording equipment [although this gap narrowed with improved technology]. Their fans may have been just as dedicated, voracious, and vociferous [or more so] than those of mainstream bands and were very forgiving of those technical deficiencies. In fact, the raw unpolished qualities were often part of the allure.
Garage bands didn’t have a contract with a big recording/publishing company. Some aspired to and eventually did get recording contracts and some remained indies. Some signed with indie labels or even started their own labels, publishing their own work and sometimes the work of others as well. Other garage bands burned out and settled into “real jobs” leaving music behind.
Do you remember lying in bed
With your covers pulled up over your head?
Radio playin’ so no one can see
We need change, we need it fast
Before rock’s just part of the past
‘Cause lately it all sounds the same to meFrom “Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio?” by The Ramones
If indie-published authors are like garage bands, are self-published authors the punk rockers of the writing world? Punk rockers thumbed their noses at the music establishment. They reduced rock music to its rawest form — they eschewed [but probably never would have used that word] everything about traditional technique and became the voice of rebellion. Often it was a defining characteristic that they could not play musical instruments or sing. Punk rock was a backlash from the style-over-substance trends of mainstream music. Punk rock was, among other things, penance for disco.
Of course, indie- and self-published authors may be very talented and technically proficient. They may employ beta readers, editors, cover artists, and book designers. The garage and punk movements shook up the world of popular music and the recording industry. They weren’t making gold records, but they arguably were making history. Indie- and self-published writers are shaking up the book publishing industry, although probably not [yet] to the extent of what happened in music. In hindsight though, most people agree that the music industry needed some shaking up and emerged stronger because of it.
Don’t be told what you want
Don’t be told what you need
There’s no future, no future,
No future for youFrom “God Save the Queen” by The Sex Pistols
What might have happened though if inexpensive digital recording, MP3 players, MySpace and YouTube had existed before garage and punk bands? What if every kid with a song in his heart and a guitar [or drum or accordion or kazoo] in hand had access to a world-wide market right alongside big-time professional bands? There sure would be a lot of noise, wouldn’t there?
Isn’t there? Now that anyone can digitally record songs relatively inexpensively and offer them [for free or for sale] on line, there sure is a lot of crap diluting [or polluting] the stream of media. How can we possibly find good music if the artist hasn’t been vetted and signed by a major record label? Except, of course, we can and do. And at the risk of sounding like a middle-aged curmudgeonly white guy from the suburbs [which of course, hi... hello... have we met?], I don’t even like most of the stuff being promoted by major record labels.
Which brings us to rap and hip-hop. I would argue that rappers are not musicians [yeah, middle-aged white guy from the suburbs, remember?], but there is no denying that they have transformed the music publishing industry and dominate sales to certain demographics. Rappers routinely and purposely use non-standard English. Who are the rappers of the book publishing world or is such a thing even possible? Is there a new beat generation coming up? Has anyone written a hip-hop epic poem? Does anyone even write epic poems any more?
It might be a trick that you don’t like
Comin’ in the side door then I’m grabbin’ the mike
Walkin’ and talkin’ – fist full in the air
It might seem like that we don’t careFrom “Yo! Bumrush The Show” by Public Enemy
Are you an indie- or self-published author? Do you see yourself as a rebel? Are the “rules” of legacy publishing outdated? Next week I’ll have some ideas about the mythos of garret-secluded writer.
Let's do Something Cheap and Superficial 
Yes, yes, I do see myself as a rebel!!! I do! Gosh darn it!
But I hope this doesn’t mean I have to swap my manuscript’s nice tasteful earrings (zirconium studs presently) for safety pins. I never did warm to that look.
One of my favorite quotes is, “I reserve the right to be more interesting than my clothes.” ~ Mark Durham. I’ve always enjoyed rebelling in subtle ways. It seems a little more subversive that way sometimes. I absolutely think you should keep the zirconium earrings and keep being a rebel too. ~Tim
Well, I don’t know whether a comparison between indie fiction and indie music is all that productive, but it’s a comparison I’ve made before, and one I encourage. At the very least, both sets of artists target just about every inch of the long tail. And that’s definitely a good thing when traditional publishers hone in on the average and the common. Sometimes we need a little weird. Fiction should disturb, and I don’t mean in its content; I’m interested in fiction that breaks the most basic rules, that forces readers to bend their minds around novel narrative structures. The big publishing houses won’t give us that.
I like this point in particular; it relates to what I said above. When the establishment accepts a particular way of doing things, that way becomes “good” and others become “bad.” There’s no objective standard for these things. Sometimes, then, the only way to innovate is to embrace the bad.
In short, maybe we aren’t that much like indie musicians yet, but we could probably learn a few things from them. And I’m not sure whether I’m a rebel, but, this comment considered, I do enjoy ranting like one sometimes.
Thanks for sharing some of your rants here. Most of this was just my mind wandering after several posts I read about the “need” for quality control in indie- and self-publishing. Control, of course, is what indie- and self-published authors are trying to take back from the legacy publishers. Let’s all embrace the bad! ~Tim