The Amazon v. Hachette dispute has now turned author v. author.  I’m talking about trad-pubbed authors v. indie authors, of course.  Apparently Preston (of Preston and Child—their book Relic is on “Steve’s Bookshelf,” an honor few have, albeit it’s probably only an honor in my eyes) has formed a protest group of Hachette-related trad-pubbed authors dedicated to attacking Amazon.  Of course, this really is an attack on indie authors.

I saw it coming.  In this cutthroat publishing environment, I knew it was inevitable that the Goliaths would work to turn author against author.  Divide and conquer is a well-known tactic on the battlefield and in corporate life.  Preston et al are making a big mistake, though.  (1) They will turn all indie authors against the “establishment.” (2) They will fight the battle for Hachette and other Big Five members, but lose the war.  (3) They will hurt the people they claim they’re trying to protect, namely the readers.  Let’s consider these points.

Before I do, let me say that I know where Patterson, Preston, et al are coming from.  They feel threatened by the whole idea of indie publishing.  They have their cushy contracts with the Big Five; are recognized and popular as authors; are often millionaire one-percenters (especially Patterson—I don’t know about Preston, but probably); and, although their opus has become uninteresting and formulaic, still sell books to unsuspecting readers.  Moreover, they’re old, think old, and see any change as a threat to their livelihood.  I feel sorry for them.

#1: In the last ten to fifteen years, traditional publishing has turned its back on readers.  The whole structure has become fat and bloated.  In order to support that, they bet on what they consider to be the sure horse in the race to bestselling nirvana.  As a consequence, their author stable is aging and is fast becoming irrelevant because the new, exciting authors look at the whole structure, but especially the gatekeeping mentality of agents, the royalty percentages and usurious contract restrictions, the lag needed to jump through the hoops to release a book, and say, “Enough!”  Preston’s actions will only hasten the turning away from trad-pubbing.

#2: I view this as a battle similar to the mammals against the dinosaurs.  If you remember, that really wasn’t a battle.  The dinosaurs became irrelevant because they couldn’t adapt to a changing world.  The tiny mammals adapted.  Sure, they had to run from the dinosaurs at first, but in the end they took over the world.  The Big Five conglomerates (most of them are old dinosaur breeds who have banded together for self-preservation) will go the same way unless they adapt.  Their stable of increasingly irrelevant authors will disappear and readers will turn elsewhere.  Perhaps they know this and want to inflict as much damage as possible in their death throes.  By pitting author against author, they hope they can make them all come to their doorstep willing to work for even fewer royalties and in virtual servitude.

#3: While indie authors never have had anything resembling a union—the infamous Guild is just an a political arm of traditional publishing and is dominated by trad-pubbed authors—Amazon, at least up to now, has allowed the mammals to eke out an existence in the shadows of the dinosaurs.  By attacking Amazon, Preston is attacking the livelihood of indie authors.  Apparently, he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about that, forgetting that once upon a time he was also nobody, a zero too.  Or, maybe he does remember, and feels threatened, as mentioned above.  But he’s got his head in that proverbial dark place because the people he’s really hurting are readers.  Yes, dear reader, you’re being screwed by Patterson, Preston, et al as they do the dirty work for the traditional publishing industry.

Avid readers—any readers, for that matter—need indie authors.  Trad-pubbed authors’ originality and new ideas, their exciting venues and social messages, are on the decline; those same things are on the upswing in the indie world.  I recently took time off to get some R&R from my writing.  I downloaded a half-dozen ebooks from Amazon for the price of one(!) trad-pubbed ebook.  I’m selective about what I download (as an author and reviewer, I know a thing or two about writing).  Every one of those ebooks is refreshingly original, unlike Patterson’s opus after the first Alex Cross book, and unlike Preston’s opus after Relic.  Every indie author in that list was a new voice for me—sublime entertainment.  For me, readers rule.  For Patterson, Preston, et al, the Big Five rule.  That philosophical difference is key.

In this blog, I’ve argued that an author’s political viewpoints shouldn’t matter if he can tell a damn good story.  I’m not sure I can maintain that objective view in the case of Preston.  But I won’t call for a boycott of his and other Big Five authors’ opus.  I don’t have to do that!  The Big Five, in their vainglorious greed and insidious power, are pricing their books in a way that will lead to their extinction.  Many readers, even those addicted to certain A-list names like Patterson and Preston, think twice about the purchase of an ebook when it’s more than $10 and close to the price of the hardbound.  I feel sorry for Patterson, Preston, and all the other old horses in the trad-pubbed stables.  They are a dying breed and will disappear into irrelevancy.

Readers rule, and you, dear reader, along with your peers, will determine how this all shakes out.  As for indie authors, what should we do?  Nothing!  Well, maybe laugh at Preston and others in their feeble attempts to put their fingers in the dam when the flood waters are already roaring down the spillway.  Otherwise, remember the mammals: they did nothing and the dinosaurs still died off.  That’s the way of the world.  Patterson, Preston, et al, are trying to stop the inevitable.

In libris libertas….

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