Internet Authors don't need greed

Many would-be word-smiths derive great pleasure and satisfaction from putting words on paper. They love to see the structure of a page, the paragraphs, the story unfolding and the lines spilling over. Others enjoy the bones of the story, making one thing happen after another, keeping the reader in suspense and finishing with an unexpected but satisfying denouement. Others like to make characters come alive, endowing them with attributes and watch them create their own future through the length of the story, rushing towards the inevitability that is themselves.

In fact there are many reasons why a person becomes an author, and, like the reasons above, it can be first and foremost to do with the satisfaction of creation. However, we live in a hierarchical and capitalist society, where virtuous motives are not to be relied on. We can't count on people to do the right thing just because they might enjoy it, they say. Far better to give them a motivation they can't resist. Such as money. No problem with that – it works. If you make it known that all the most famous writers on the planet are earning a fortune from their work, then people will get the idea that all they have to do is crank up the old word-processor and they could join the ranks of the rich and famous. Of course, they could achieve a similar position by playing football or the odd guitar; by dealing in stocks and share or property; or working their way up through the ranks of any profession, like medicine or the law. Money talks, in works in all those areas, so why not rely on it to do the same job in the field of authoring? After all, wasn't it the great Dr Johnson who remarked, 'Naught but a fool writes for anything but money'? It doesn't always work in the other arts, such as painting or acting, where there is more of a tradition of suffering for your art and remaining poor, but there are fewer well-respected and penniless authors to draw on for inspiration throughout history. The association seems to hold: if your writing is any good, you'll be rewarded financially. No question.

In that case, greed is good, if it gets people writing. Problem is, it's working too well. There's too darn many of them. Ask any publisher. They'll tell you that they're inundated with manuscripts, and most of them, well, let's be polite, they aren't that good. Some have poor grammar, or punctuation, or even typing. Some are derivative, or plain old copies of something else. Some are just weird and unreadable. Some are rude, and some pornographic. It's a tough old profession, publishing, and one not for the faint-hearted. Still, publishers, certainly the old-fashioned, well-established, ones have nobody to blame but themselves. They play the game. They talk about the 'Harry Potter millions'. Should they be surprised if their letter boxes are now stuffed with a daily delivery of stories of teenage wizards? Why, everyone wants to get in on the act!

Meanwhile, back at my desk, I'm staring at a blank sheet of paper and wondering what to put on it. Because, unfortunately, I'm not too keen on potions and spells, and dragons just make me yawn. Also, I've got enough sense to know that J.K.Rowling is making a pretty good job of telling that particular story. So, I'd rather try something else. Should I bother? Yes, I've been told that there's 'gold at the end of the rainbow'. If I can come up with the next big sensation, I might turn into a millionaire too. I might sell thousands of books. The stories might be turned into international films. On the other hand, I might not. The odds are somewhat against me. Oh dear, the money motive is fading. I want to write, but the promise of riches just seems like long, long way away. Greed is a good motivator, but hang on guys, it has to be a little bit believable. The fact is, reading the newspaper and the trade magazines, I can see for myself that I might win the Lottery – several times over – before I become a bestseller. Oops, it's not working. Greed is going, going, gone.

Luckily, there's another motivation, closer to hand. Apart from the pleasure of the writing process itself, which is where I started from, there's something else. The need to communicate. I want to tell a story, sure, but I also want you to hear it. I'm not sitting here putting the words on paper simply for my own pleasure – which is something, and a good start – but on top of that, because I want you to see them. Heck, I might even be hoping that they would give you pleasure too. Wait a minute! This is terrible. This is worse than greed, because if the odds of me getting my work published are actually quite low – as they most certainly are – then the motive of communication might be just as misguided as the other one of greed. Happily, that's not the case. Because, as every Internet Author knows, the route to getting published on the web is simple and secure. The 'chances' of getting published are better than even, they're certain. Which means that the would-be author knows one thing for sure – if you can be bothered to finish your book, then yes, you will communicate, as soon as you load it up onto an on-line, on-demand publisher like Lulu. Then, all you have to do is tell your friends, tell your family, the milkman and the window cleaner, they can order your book and share your work.

That's two pillars of satisfaction now. The first is the joy of creating something new and original, the like of which has never been read before. The next is the thrill of sharing that creation with your fellow human beings. That's pretty good, and plenty enough motivation for most simple souls. Who needs greed when you've got satisfaction? You don't need the lure of cash to write good books, not any more, thanks to the internet.

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