Bias

One of my favorite blogs that isn't writing-related is Less Wrong, which is devoted to rationality. It's started me on a kick to recognize and eliminate as many of my own biases as I can, since I'm big on self-improvement. I'm not there yet, but I'm making definite, if slow, progress, notably becoming much better at noticing when I'm behaving irrationally.

Since I started with those biases that most affect how I interact with other people, I haven't even gotten around to thoroughly cataloging my biases as regard writing. These are what I do know I have strong feelings about:

1: Self-publishing is awesome. I attach no stigma to self-publishing that is done in consultation with an editor and graphics person. Self-publishing makes things available to readers that might become their favorite book, and would otherwise be left totally unread. As I finish a novel, I am considering whether to even bother sending it to traditional publishing houses.

2: More books mean more reviewers, and ones who read the genre you write are more important than the ones in the Globe and Mail, since they'll have readers in the same genre.

3: Reviews in major newspapers still kick lots of ass.

4: Medium is less important than story. I read webcomics as much as I read books, and love them.

5: Web presence is mandatory for the modern writer.

6: Creative Commons and publishing your work online for free are not bad things. They are, in fact, excellent, as they can reach readers who might not ordinarily pay for an ebook and you still make money on the dead tree format (physical) copies of the book. They mean more recommendations to friends and accessibility to educators.

I think that covers the important bases, those core beliefs I hold that may mean you want to disregard my posts entirely.