Interview by Pasquale Giannino on publishing fee, publishing in general and the difficulties facing those who want to become a writer
What does it mean today to be a writer?
The definition of a professional writer assumes that a publisher may believe and invest in the product that is offered and remunerated by the author with a share of the proceeds. Clearly there were - and are - writers who earn very little and who are exploited by publishers (most, actually), but the fact remains that these things should work this way and that, in principle, the author should not never find have to pay to be published.
What kind of message to convey to the readers think?
I think a critical message. I try to make my readers call into question themselves and their way of life. I think a good book should undermine any certainty, turn on some fuse. For example, the last book, "Living to die", which I conceived as a sort of "Dangerous Liaisons" of today, I quote - novels - many of the episodes that have dominated the news in recent years: the blackmail, scandals, the compromises, the escort, and so on, taking a social photography, which tends to warn people from the myths of today and the allure of show business. Not surprisingly, among the protagonists, there is a boy became famous because he won the last edition of 'Big Brother', a young heiress, a paparazzo a wealthy and unscrupulous movie producer.
The stagnant situation in the Italian favors the proliferation of publishers for a fee. What is your opinion?
Many people write me to ask if it's worth to post fee. The answer is always the same: NO. Apart from very rare cases of publishers who ask for poetry modest contributions (under 500 €) any publisher who asks you for money is a "Alone", as they say in Rome. Always. The selection there is flaunted. The visibility there is flaunted. Interviews in TV shows, art fairs, all bales. These publishers never get paid even in the library with their books. Never trust the publishers to charges. The advice appeal to those who are determined to become writers is to not give up, and be patient. They must have something to say, to begin with. They should not expect to center on the first try. Should send their manuscripts to publishers serious, if necessary for years, until a real publisher will agree to publish their work. Many inexperienced writers
they fall into the clutches of characters unscrupulous, ready to bleed them with promises of promotions and services that they can never guarantee: often do not even have a distribution network. In the best cases, the author obtained copies that will sell to friends and acquaintances, but you will soon realize you have thrown away their money. Sometimes, the book will not even printed. Many well-known writers are aware of but, except for very rare cases (Umberto Eco in "Foucault's Pendulum"), prefer to remain silent. Do not you think that "talk" would be an effective way to combat the problem?
I know. And I repeat what I said before: do not ever pay to publish. There is another reason not to "bite" bait publishing fee. The selection that you are forced to face serious publishing a filter is necessary because all that is useless and amateurish is offered to publishers are rightly set aside. In Italy all suffer from the Promotion and all want to be writers. Well, it is right to move beyond a selection in order to use the title "writer", as in any career is to end the university and to overcome various competitions. The equivalent of graduation, for a writer, be published by a publisher who believes they can win in marketing the product that is proposed and then invests in it, and then the author gives a portion of the proceeds. The author should never put a penny. In short, I think ports face (taken for years) are a must of the training of a writer is to get the bark, as they say. I myself spent 10 years before they can publish and know what it means risking the loss of hope. But anyway I would discourage all those who agree to pay to publish. It makes no sense and in most cases it is an unnecessary tribute to our ego and our vanity. There are also small and medium sized publishers who do not ask for money and are still fairly in the area. Might as well groped with those, as well as large publishers. If the quality is there, the opportunity will come. And if it goes well with the first book that is written, then the best thing to do is write another and another and another. The point is to want to groped, groped, groped ... and wait until a door will not open. It 'a kind of natural selection.
The philosopher-mathematician Bertrand Russell includes envy among the leading causes of misery that afflict man and considers it an endemic disease among colleagues. It is perhaps this that makes the writer states so indifferent?
I think the writer claimed not indifferent, but sadly aware that the vast majority of people want to publish a book just because "is cool", and not because it really has anything to say or a story to tell.
What I can say to aspiring writers is this: many people send me some pages asking for a review of their manuscripts, and in 99% of cases they are immature works. You do not become writers from day to day, and if you did not experience the first thing you write is almost never published. The point is: Do not give up, keep trying to write and send their manuscripts to publishers. Certainly also need talent and creativity, properties of language and content, but the difference between those who publish and who is not public and especially in their ability to persevere. Send your manuscripts to publishers real (large and medium), maybe call first to let say if they accept manuscripts on display. Then wait, and meanwhile - if you really want to do the writers - reading and writing. Read the classics, you know what it means to write. Again, the first book is almost never published, mostly for the writer it is a test. Write no hurry to publish. When the time comes - when your text is ripe - comes the fateful phone call from the editor.
The problem, in truth, is more general: a sort of "hazing" circulated to young people - now rampant through new forms of exploitation (graduates hired for three months in call centers, project contracts, etc..) - a phenomenon that affects not only the literary world, but also the professions, employment, finance, research (drain brain), journalism ... Do not you think that young people could be a valuable resource for the country?
course I think. But Italy is not a country for young people - give me the quote from my "Living to die :-)
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