[6stringmerc]

Okay I completely understand the concept of the post and get the sadness and humor all at the same time. In an era where attentiveness and long-form reading seems to be in distinct decline, distinctions within the marketplace losing meaning hurts. I'm sure customers will eventually adapt though...but this quote:

>I wrote this post because I’m tired of vanity titles and success without quality.

...just makes me laugh, because we're talking about an industry that most recently is probably the most guilty of "success without quality" by way of the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise and all the buckets and buckets of money it made. Self-help being a juggernaut of sales year after year. Obvious derivative slop like Pride and Prejudice & Zombies and the wish-fulfillment nostalgia collage of Ready Player One aren't bringing a new enlightenment to society, practically speaking.

>I hope my story illustrates that the best marketing tactic you can use for a book is to write a great book that actually sells over the long term.

Actually, it kind of illustrates the opposite, in that "a book uploaded every five minutes" isn't a signal-to-noise ratio that really makes much of any sense. The only reason to write a quality book is vanity at this point.

The day that an entity - a startup, a publisher, a legacy firm - can figure out how to intelligently and profitably cull 'good quality' new artists from the loads and loads of self-publishing writers, musicians, or cinema/visual creators out there on their own and bring viewers is the day artists and audiences probably start meeting the monetization in the middle.

[Outdoorsman]

>>The only reason to write a quality book is vanity at this point.<<

No, not always...the reason some strive to write a "quality" book, is not money, though for some that would be nice...a bit of fame, as well...

Money is not a god...it's a fungible thing that people can use to buy almost whatever they wish...things to play with, time to pursue interests, security for those they love...

Some are "driven" to write, and for such people writing well is the goal...this is because they see what can happen when a writer writes well...a great work can define a time, change minds for the better, illuminate otherwise overlooked aspects of life...and lives...

Writing is a passion, for some, just like coding or problem solving is to some of us in this community...or, like hitting a "home run" financially is for entrepreneurs...

They didn't choose this passion, it chose them...

I admire them...let's not sell them short...they're much like us...passions differ...