ARTICLE:Just Because Walt Whitman Self-Published, Doesn’t Mean You Should, Too

[German Translator]

Amazing - an article on self-published works in 2019 that does not mention ebooks, Amazon, print-on-demand... and the most recent book discussed was published in 1974, it seems....



https://lithub.com/just-because-walt-whitman-self-published-doesnt-mean-you-should-too/

Just Because Walt Whitman Self-Published, Doesn’t Mean You Should, Too
On Self-Publishing, Vanity, and the Need of a Good Editor

[JRTomlin]

🤦

[Bill Hiatt]

Weird! However, in fairness to the author of the article, though he does use a couple of novels as examples, is really talking about poetry.

One of my friends who is a poet confirms that self-publishing is still common practice. He and a poet-turned-novelist I once met confirmed that there's no money in poetry unless the author is a Pulitzer Prize winner or something like that. So while it's easy to sneer at self-published poets, even trad published poets are probably not rolling in money.

The writer should have done more research and been able to cite more recent examples.

[Tiffmeister]

It reads more of a history of self-publishing in the 19th and 20th century. There is mostly a poetic angle, but some novelists are mentioned. I did write a self-publishing blog post several years ago, citing Beatrice Potter self-published and so did Charles Dickens. In fact, Dickens self-published "A Christmas Carol" because no one would publish it at the time. So, he did. So, I always took writer's believing in themselves and their writing is important. Get your work out there. Making some money off it will happen. It just takes time. And if you don't write it and publish it, then there is no chance to make money.

Here's the blog post by the way. Wow. Date was back in December 2009. Been at this awhile folks. Self published my first book back in 2007.
https://crystalkeeper.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/charles-dickens-self-published-a-christmas-carol/

The Beatrice Potter wooden blocks she used to stamp her illustrations to self publish are at the Albert & Victoria museum in London. My mouth fell open when I saw them. The info on the display talked about how she self published first, and then a publisher in London saw them and ended up taking them on, thinking they wouldn't make much.

-Tiff

[Dormouse]

In fact, Dickens self-published "A Christmas Carol" because no one would publish it at the time. So, he did.

Not really. He was in the middle of a dispute with Chapman and Hall and therefore paid for it to be published for a profit share. They did everything to do with publishing and sales. More akin to vanity than self publishing.

But a common arrangement at the time. Many famous books were published in this way.

[Hopscotch]

...I always took writer's believing in themselves and their writing is important. Get your work out there....

Lived in Berkeley CA in the late '60s when Shattuck Avenue was packed with poets hawking their self-made mimeographed chapbooks, some of those poems so good I still have them and re-read them.  Considering the prices they asked for the books, I doubt the poets made more than beer money.  But they got their stuff out there and - Tiff's right - that's what counts.

[Doglover]

Who's Walt Whitman?

[Arches]

Who's Walt Whitman?

I laughed out loud at your question. I assume it was tongue in cheek. But we are used to foreigners not knowing much about American popular culture before American movies and TV shows became so widespread.
In case the question is serious, he's a long-dead, gay American poet of some renown on this side of the Atlantic. His most famous work, Leaves of Grass, was self-published about the time of the American Civil War.

[Simon Haynes]

The name was familiar to me because of Breaking Bad, although I'd heard mention of him before.

I went to school in the UK, Spain and Australia, which meant an entirely different pantheon of greats. (And not-so-greats.)

[Bill Hiatt]

The name was familiar to me because of Breaking Bad, although I'd heard mention of him before.

I went to school in the UK, Spain and Australia, which meant an entirely different pantheon of greats. (And not-so-greats.)

Well, not entirely different in the sense that a number of UK authors are well-known in America. In the school where I used to teach, sophomore English was devoted to the study of British literature (with some other British titles in other years). In some states, the senior year is British literature. When I was an English major at UCLA, three of the required courses for the major were centered on Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton. (That's no longer true, but English majors are still exposed to all three.)

It's also worth noting that some British classics, such as Dickens's Chrismas Carol, have worked their way into American pop culture. People who've never read the book know the basic plot, just as they know some of the Shakespeare plots and a few others.

And then, of course, there's Harry Potter.

[Arches]

The name was familiar to me because of Breaking Bad, although I'd heard mention of him before.

I went to school in the UK, Spain and Australia, which meant an entirely different pantheon of greats. (And not-so-greats.)

I suppose that the truth is that America doesn't have a particularly deep bench of Nineteenth century poets that are still widely read today, but Whitman resides up there with Emily Dickinson. I just checked on KDP, and Leaves of Grass is ranked 12K in the Kindle Store a century and a half after it was published.

As Bill mentioned, American kids get a heavy of dose of British literature in school, and even afterwards, we read a lot of books from the British Isles. Rightly so, I would say. But I assumed a few American authors were better known than they apparently are. Those who are known world-wide, like Mark Twain and Herman Melville, might be because of movies or TV rather than the books themselves.

[Doglover]

Who's Walt Whitman?

I laughed out loud at your question. I assume it was tongue in cheek. But we are used to foreigners not knowing much about American popular culture before American movies and TV shows became so widespread.
In case the question is serious, he's a long-dead, gay American poet of some renown on this side of the Atlantic. His most famous work, Leaves of Grass, was self-published about the time of the American Civil War.

Actually, no it wasn't tongue in cheek. I have really, truly, seriously never heard of him. Thanks for the explanation.

Now, as my mother would have said (God rest her ignorant soul) 'I'm not foreign; I'm English!' 

[Doglover]

The name was familiar to me because of Breaking Bad, although I'd heard mention of him before.

I went to school in the UK, Spain and Australia, which meant an entirely different pantheon of greats. (And not-so-greats.)

It's also worth noting that some British classics, such as Dickens's Chrismas Carol, have worked their way into American pop culture. People who've never read the book know the basic plot, just as they know some of the Shakespeare plots and a few others.

I had the complete works of Dickens, beautifully bound, until I got my first giant Newfoundland puppy. He left me with A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol. I think he must have known they are my favourites. Very clever breed. 

[Simon Haynes]

I have three Dickens novels (inc Oliver Twist) in tiny pocket editions, with gilt pages and '16 photographs in character' - dated early 1900s. I daren't read them in case they fall apart.