[stylist] Topic for discussion

[Bonnie Mosen]

Hi Bridgit and others. I do not believe self-publishing would be a waste of
an MFA. While it might help in terms of teaching credentials and polishing
one's craft, it is, like most other forms of post graduate degrees just
furthering one's education and training to be the best in whatever field is
being studied. Yes, there is a lot of self-published crap out there, and a
lot of published crap by well-known authors. I'm a member of romance writers
of NZ, and we have quite a few very successful self-published authors. While
some might scoff at the romance genre, it is the highest grossing genre on
the planet. One of my friends has been able to quit her job and write
full-time. She teaches a self-publishing workshop and stated she made over
$250.000 last year in sales. I have met agents and editors from NYC, and
they recognize many authors are going the self-published route and are
supportive of the trend. One editor said the publishing industry has changed
more in the last five years than in the thirty years she had been involved.
Some authors elect to be hybrids--going with a traditional house and also
self-publishing. The downside with self-publishing is you do have to do all
your own marketing, but the plus is you don't have to give a percentage to
an agent or editor. I personally think an MFA is a great degree; however, I
have found many writers with MFA's to sort of thumb their noses at writers
who don't have writing degrees. I come from Boston where we have some of the
top MFA programs in the world and experienced this in some writing classes I
took at a writing center. I think one of the biggest problems with
self-publishing is anyone can publish a book. My best advice is if you are
going the self-published route get a good copy and line editor. I would be
interested in hearing more about your experience in the MFA program.

Cheers
Bonnie . 
 Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit
Kuenning-Pollpeter via stylist
Sent: Thursday, October 6, 2016 4:02 PM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List' <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter <bkpollpeter at gmail.com>
Subject: [stylist] Topic for discussion

I'm curious to see what others on the list think of this. I thought it might
make for a good writers discussion.

I'm getting my MFA in creative writing. I've been told by the program,
editors and publishers that if we self-publish, we are throwing our MFA in
the garbage. I recently sat in on a lecture with a publisher from Red Hen
Press who once again backed this comment up. He advised against us
self-publishing because it would be a waste of our MFAs.

Discuss, please.

Bridgit


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