Close on the heels of Fifty-Shades-of-pretending to being in love, when actually you just want to penetrate every orifice and any finer feelings of love be damned (apologies, but that’s how I think about it) comes another controversy over another novel, currently in the Indie form.
This time it’s in the land of science fiction. The debate triggered when Weird Tales Magazine decided to include an excerpt from Victoria Foyt’s Indie YA dystopia, Revealing Eden: Save The Pearls. A turn out the excerpt, and in-fact the novel itself, has extremely racist overtones. I have not yet read the novel but apparently from its very first page, people are segmented by colour. So those of the ruling, dark-skinned race are “Coals”, while the pallid under-class are “Pearls”. Apparently “Coals” are portrayed dirty, cheap, pollutant, plentiful, and fit only to burn. “Pearls” remain dainty, precious, lustrous, pure and rare. Asians are “Tiger’s Eyes”. Albinos – detested by all – are “Cottons.” As this article in the Guardian says, “plainly, she has no positive words to go with black.”
Reading this, I began to wonder: Does it take a controversy for an Indie novel to become a best-seller in today’s electronic era? Of course if your novel is provocative enough, and both the above are extremely so, it will rub many the wrong way, and I wager sufficient to generate that much-needed word-of-mouth buzz, which any marketer worth his/her salt will tell you is invaluable.
The thing with word-of-mouth is, it takes the message viral, helping the object at the eye of the storm gain that elusive share of voice in the media market, allowing it to build in volume to the critical noise levels required to cut through the clutter. It makes the message loud enough to be noticed and picked up by mainstream media, like, in this case The Guardian or bloggers like me.
One of the freedoms of being an Indie author is that we are free to write whatever we want and take things to the illogical extreme; enough for it to be controversial. For the above two novels this has certainly worked in attracting the media spotlight. I wondered albeit fleetingly I hasten to add if this is what I should be doing to simply get that much needed publicity push to stand out among the sea of words out there? Even among the mainstream novels those which stay top of mind of are controversial. Nothing divided readers more than Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses which ultimately challenged an entire religion, though the debate around it ultimately highlighted a core value which we Indies value above all—freedom of expression. More recently, The Hunger Games too, ultimately has a controversial subject at heart—that of young adults in a race to kill each other.
As I began to see a glimmer of accuracy in my own train of thoughts, I slammed on the brakes. Spider senses tingling, I realized that with the power of being Indie, came the responsibility of self-censorship. As an Indie it is doubly, no, triply important to be true to my voice, my words, my heart and soul. I can only write and publicize what I believe in.
Yes, I have the freedom to put out what I am truly thinking, and if my beliefs are risky then I have the autonomy to share them uncensored… but paradoxically this independence makes me even more answerable to my sphere of influence. I cannot be foolishly provocative or scandalous just to create uproar. Now more than ever, the buck stops with me!
What are your thoughts? Would you go so far as to be purposely controversial in order to catch media attention? What are your thoughts on self-censorship? I’d love to hear from you.
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Woo Hoo, awesome post. I'm so proud of you for sticking to your ethics and reminding us all that its more important to believe in your work than to make a big sale. It doesn't always feel that way, but it's true!
Thanks Pav :)
I guess it boils down to: What are you in it for? Is being wealthy and (in)famous all you care about? Would you sell your soul for the spotlight?
(Of course, that assumes that these people are deliberately controversial in order to attract attention.)
I do think every author has a choice; if its your original vision, and it just so happens to be controversial – fine… but for myself as an Indie, I can say that it certainly feel very easy to overstep the line and be controversial just to attract attention..(Especially when you see something like Shades of Grey do so well) I wrote this piece to remind myself as to why I set out to write in the first place – and that I had to write what I believed in, to be true to myself in my voice….
I actually interviewed the author on BTR but it's a YA book so it isn't on my radar to read. lol I'd want to read it now to see what I think of it since I'm a 'coyote' and all.
I don't think it's controversy but their must be a conversation around your story that gets and keeps people involved.
They say even a negative review is good publicity. I wouldn't deliberately pick a controversial subject to write about unless I was vested in it. I started a non-fic about twelve years ago and put it aside. I have heard of four other books on the same subject in the past three days. I wish I had their publicity machines.
I think "Good for the author" but I won't read Fifty Shades of Gray or Revealing Eden, not because of the controversy but because I am not interested. If I was I would not hesitate to jump on the bandwagon.
That's really interesting – well put. Yes there has to be a conversation – that's what the marketing is about. But it is so difficult to attract attention and sustain the conversation for an ongoing period of time – I think that's where it begins to get tricky. For myself – I can say that it certainly feels relentless to keep that 'buzz' around my novel going day after day – which is why I do have to then keep my eye on the real goal – which is to write the next book :)
I don't think it's possible to identify exactly what makes one book take off, while another that might have the same subject matter languishes in obscurity. I wish it were! Plenty of people have tried to break that code! It seems that even mediocrity in writing will sell today if enough people are talking about a book. I find it more than a little depressing! But we struggle on. :-) Great post.
Leah, I took a lot of inspiration from the Olympics athletes, who practice, day after day after day, with no idea of what they will win at the end of the rainbow. As someone remarked as a writer / just like an athlete its about finding the rhythm in ,the pattern, keeping at it day after day. minute after minute. Its about finding the joy in every single word – celebrating the talent that we have been give. Its a blessing (sometimes a curse :) but hey what they hell, live life vicariously right?