Welcome to the final part of our weeklong discussion about self-published e-books and legitimacy. We’ve looked at different possibilities for attaining self-published e-book legitimacy and examined their pros and cons. We’ve heard several different perspectives from members in and outside of traditional publishing. It’s time to wrap things up and draw some needed conclusions.

The original concept that spurred this series was the idea of creating a “substantial publishing record” through self-published e-books, so that’s where I’d like to end. Sure, we’ve covered that building a large demonstrated readership (download numbers, reviews, etc), self-published or not, will probably get a traditional publisher’s attention. But what about legitimacy without transitioning to traditional publishing? Just what are we actually building here? A gateway to the big leagues? Or a separate and legitimate venue?

We’re trying to make the fringe mainstream – that’s the juicy beating heart of it. We’re punk music. We’re techie geeks. We’re social networking and blogging and twitter. We’re goddamn revolutionaries.

So this is how we do it: adoption and critical mass. Via flipping the bird at the establishment until the establishment is respectful or gone. Via not giving a damn about legitimacy.

Because we already have it.

E-book self-publishers need to take themselves seriously and keep plugging away at creating their own community. Don’t worry about the naysayers. They don’t matter.

The thing every author wants more than anything else is to be read. But it’s a two way street: we have to read, too. If we want our self-published e-books to be legitimate, we need to legitimize other self-published e-books by giving them our time and responses. There are some great sites out there that are already doing this, as well as other options, like blogs and twitter, for building a community.

So read each other’s work and review it on your site. If you don’t have a site, post about it on twitter, or facebook, or scribd, or wattpad, or bookoven, or however else you can get the word out. If you read something good, beat the digital pavement, signboard in hand. Trade reviews with people, but be honest about what’s quality and what isn’t. Build your name as a valued member of the community. Think of yourself as a professional and act like one, even if writing is only your hobby.

The only real way to give self-published e-books legitimacy is to make them legitimate ourselves. We need to write quality books, compose balanced reviews, and keep building our community.

Thank you very much for reading. Keep on keepin’ on,

-m.

P.S. To prove I’m not just a talker, if you send me a PDF of your quality self-published e-book, I’ll review it on my site. I know there are other writers who are willing to do this as well. Just remember, it’s a two way street, so help build your community and review someone.

7 STAGES OF ACCEPTING TECHNOLOGY:

Stage 1: SHOCK & DENIAL: “YOU MANIACS!” Of course a cat is morally against creating “tweets” The very name is repulsive.

Stage 2: PAIN and GRIEF: This step is usually filled with a haunting nostalgia for a less tech-enhanced day when things seemed simple and pure.

Stage 2: ANGER & BARGAINING & GUILT: Paired together because I cycle between them.

• ANGER: “YOU MANIACS!” Reflective of Step 1, but with greater realization. “Don’t you humans have  a soupçon of decency?! Is it no longer the fashion to fake humility?! Now you need to send out a series of overly self-indulgent and mundane status updates and overwrought nonsense in hopes someone will find you interesting!”

• BARGAINING: ”I’d give all the tuna in the world to be able to go back to those good ol’ days.”  This is usually the most pathetic of steps where I try to live inside wishful thinking.

Stage 4: DEPRESSION: On these days I spend an even higher percentage of the day sleeping.

Stage 5: THE GLIMMER OF HOPE: I begin to dip my paws into the patch of sunshine to gauge the temperature.

Stage 6: RECONSTRUCTION: This is mostly a learning process, a forming of new habits, a rewiring of my brain.

Stage 7: ACCEPTANCE: “What did I ever do without this wonderful new technology?”

So it is likely, based on my past experience, I will be starting my own twitter account. However I am currently in Stage 4, so to HELL with your TWITTER and don’t ask me AGAIN!

(You can probably expect some regression as well. It is a slow process.)