Talked with a friend who tried to watch #JurassicRebirth and gave up, finding it to be a stale, forgettable rehashing of its too-many predecessors.

The goal of #movies these days isn't to tell a new, resonating tale. The goal is only to regurgitate the same story again and again for as long as it can make the cash flow. The state of our entertainment will continue this way for as long the public will come back and eat what's regurgitated. 🤮

My queendom for some originality, y'all.

1/2

It gets me down pretty frequently, how there are so many of us out here writing fresh, vivid stories that break from the popular mold to venture boldly into frontiers never before explored -- yet the people who have the money and the clout to bring our stories to the forefront ignore us entirely, in favor of the same voices with the same stories and the same posturing ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

#Capitalism is death.

#writing
#TheWritingLife
#WriterProblems
#BuyMyBooks

2/2

@courtcan and that's why those same people want "AI" to do the writing, because it will give them slightly rehashed versions of what's been done.

@courtcan

You do know you can publish your stories for all of about fifty bucks on your own website, right? And that there are plenty of websites where they will post them for free?

OK, and what mystical force would compel anyone to go to my website?

CC: @[email protected]

@cy @courtcan

You could....and this is just brainstorming, here....you could tell people about it.

That's how the publishing industry works. They bogart every opportunity to tell people that they can, to make sure no one can get the word out without their permission.

The forefront has been stolen from us and declared a rich man's private property.

CC: @[email protected]

@cy @courtcan

You could literally tell me about it right here, right now, and no publishing company on earth can stop you or punish you (unless you already have some kind of contract with them with clauses about permitted advertising). You could tell anyone on here who hasn't blocked you. You could get on reddit and tell people there. Or facebook. Or tiktok. Or bluesky. PLENTY of options out there to promote your work in ways publishers cannot prevent.

Yeah, so? They can stop me everywhere else.

CC: @[email protected]

@cy @courtcan

Sure, "everywhere else" besides literally dozens of channels. Lots of industries are over-regulated and/or captured. But publishing? Please. Stop playing the victim. For heaven's sake, zine culture is over a century old. And those folks didn't have easy access to cheap, high-quality printers they could keep and use in their own homes. You can literally advertise via dozens of venues, you could quite feasibly print the book YOURSELF.

You're really doing yourself a solid, defending a bully who's beating people over the head by claiming that he's not beating their big toe so they're just playing the victim.

@cy

You're really doing yourself a solid by whining instead of taking any of the dozens of opportunities available to you.

What has any publisher, anywhere, ever done to actively harm you? Just one thing. Because a beating is active harm.

Nope they're just coincidentally swinging the club where my head happens to be. You can't prove they intend to hit me with it! Except they say they are. But that's just business! Nothing personal.

@cy

Okay, so no examples. Got it. You have no examples, not even one, not even that you would present from behind a veil of anonymity. Not really surprising.

I get in trouble if I try to put my book on the shelf at the bookstore, and the bookstore is owned by only one company, if you want an example. Another example is I get attacked for what I create because another gigantic corporation claims it's their idea property. You seriously haven't seen the consolidation of the publishing industry since the 80's, and you don't think it's doing any lasting harm, because I could hand out my book on a street corner probably maybe?

@cy

I want an example of them ACTIVELY HARMING you, not of them exerting perfectly reasonable control over their own property. I might as well whine that you won't let me store my stuff in your home for free without asking. If I thought you were infringing on my IP, I'd respond too.

"Probably maybe"? No, you definitely could, unless it's filled with smut or classified information or something.

@AlexanderKingsbury @cy

I'm not entering this argument between you two for love or money.

Other than to say that I've been indie- & self-publishing for 15 years. Experience has left me with zero doubt that the capitalist-driven traditional book publishing industry is predatory & disdains creative people.

courtcan.com is my blog, where I do need to update my latest

https://books2read.com/b/bxRdoo has ebook links to my newest: THE PRIESTESS MURDERS, a murder mystery set in my fantasy universe

...

Available now at your favorite digital store!

The Priestess Murders by Courtney Cantrell

Courtney Cantrell: books, biography, latest update

Follow Courtney Cantrell and explore their bibliography from Amazon's Courtney Cantrell Author Page.

Amazon.com