RWA President Diane Pershing has posted her response to Deidre Knight at ESPAN. But I don’t feel like linking to it. I wasn’t expecting much, but it’s far worse than even I anticipated. Deidre posted a very civil, articulate, well-thought out response to Pershing’s letter in the RWR, and what does she get in return? Personally attacked. Accused of bias. Essentially called a hypocrite.
I really can’t read any more, because it’s given me a headache. And obviously, the debate is doing no good, because RWA is not listening. Or rather, they say they’re listening, they’re just not agreeing. Hmm.
Angela James, executive editor extraordinaire for Samhain, will post a rebuttal at ESPAN on Monday. I can’t wait to read it. I know I’ll want to cheer and applaud every word she says. It’s not going to do any good or gain any ground with the current board and president, of course, but hopefully down the line, things will get better. The simple fact of the matter is that it has to. It might not be any time soon. But e-publishing isn’t going away. And as more and more authors choose to go that route, RWA will conform. It has no other choice. More members e-publishing means more e-published authors running for office, and winning. And ushering in change. There’s no other way for RWA to go, except for that of the dinosaurs.
In the meantime, I’m going to write, and not look to this organization to legitimize me. I have a book available for purchase. I get royalty statements. I make money. I’ve been reviewed. I have readers. Regardless of what RWA says, that makes me a published author. The fact that I’m still writing with every intention of submitting more of my work? That makes me career-minded. It’s frustrating to hear someone imply I’m not simply because of the publisher I chose (yes, RWA, I chose, I CHOSE Samhain; in fact, they were my very FIRST choice, definitely not a last resort after exhausting NY or any such nonsense).
But what I’m really, really sick of? Are the people who recommend we get out if we don’t like it. I guess so they can keep on having their little in-crowd sisterhood without those pesky e-pubbed authors trying to nose their way in. Well, guess what, ever since high school, I’ve always been on the fringe. I was always considered weird and different. Because I’m a writer. So I’ll be damned if my WRITER’S organization is going to chase me out because of the way I choose to write.
Oh, hell no.
