There’s nothing quite like an old-fashioned literary smackdown to warm one’s heart this holiday season. In this corner, new guarders Joe Konrath and Barry Eisler. In that corner — well, not really, since they haven’t answered the challenge — OWDOTers (read the post) Scott Turow and Richard Russo. What’s the beef? The Authors Guild’s plea for members to rejoin.
Could be dull, but Konrath and Eisler tag-team on the Authors Guild in this brilliant dual liveblogging rant. I’m not sure which side I’d land on, but this post had me laughing my you-know-what off.
Highlights:
Joe:
As 2013 draws to a close, we’re fortunate to hear from our good friends at the Authors Guild, who share with us an earnest attempt to get members to rejoin.
Which, if you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know is a TERRIBLE IDEA.
The Authors Guild under Scott Turow’s leadership has done an awe-inspiring job of trying to maintain the antiquated status quo, where publishers coveted their power and treated most authors poorly; technology is considered the devil’s sorcery; and Amazon is Satan himself.
Barry:
Richard and Scott, you’re trying to sell authors on the benefits of membership–membership that will cost those authors money–and you can’t point to even one single concrete success you’ve had (in over a century of existence) in supposedly defending author interests?
I’d be shocked at the poor salesmanship. But I’m not. Because those successes don’t exist. And in the absence of any successes to point to, what can Russo and Turow do besides bloviate?
Ahhhh! It’s simply delicious from the get-go. So give it a read. And tell me, what do you think?
