Offline vs. Online Author – The Duell
I’ve got this acquaintance, a woman who used to be a published writer in our local newspaper. She was covering rural information; everything from cattle auctions to the plight of farmers in rural Australia. The one feeling I always got when speaking with her about writing is that she genuinely believed to be superior to me as a writer because she was published in print.
Oh, let me tell you how much bull that is! Do you seriously think if you get published in an offline publication you are better than the writer who gets published online? If you do, then I suggest you come off your high horse right away! The last time I checked, the Internet has a vaster reach than most offline publications can ever hope to have, and chances are you are seen and read by far more people online then you’ll ever be in your local hickey-dickey newspaper.
Where does the belief come from that offline publications carry more weight for a writer than online ones?
In the age of self publication anyone can become a print author, regardless of their talent, the reach of their book in the marketplace, or the level of demand for the topic at hand. I ‘guestimate‘ that most offline authors are never even read, except by their family and friends. I even had a well-known online personality tell me that his offline book was a total flop. If you would base your judgment about his writing talents on that fact alone, you wouldn’t believe that he actually has a large online following.
I’ve always been an avid reader. I love books and yes, I certainly prefer to read a physical book to an online eBook. There is something self-luxuriating about snuggling up on the couch, pillows stuffed underneath me for optimum comfort while I nurse a hot mug of tea or coffee with my nose stuck in a book. I can’t do this with the computer. Despite the practicalities of netbooks, you can’t cuddle up with a computer, or even fall asleep with the machine in your hand.
There is no dispute why books are still in demand.
However, I’ve seen my fair share of crappy written books. Seriously, these guys must have employed 1st grade school buddies to edit their prose because they were so badly written, I think a 12-year old could have done a better job. And yet, dare to make a few grammatical errors as a blogger and the whole fucking blogger police is at your doorstep.
A good author/writer is not one who grabs the coveted job at the big print media. You are a writer, regardless whether you are published offline or online. Once you can make a difference in a reader’s life – when you manage to touch your reader on a deep emotional level – and the reader carries that feeling with him for days or weeks, then, only then are you a good author/writer.
If you can make a positive difference for one person at the time you should be celebrated as a writer who has the power to influence others with their prose. Who cares if you are not the next John Grisham! Not every writer can be celebrated as a top rated New York Bestseller List author. So what!
As far as I’m concerned, if you’ve got a blog and the blog has many regular readers who read your work, then you are actively leaving a legacy to the world. How else would these people come back to your publication if not to please their cravings for your information.
To finish this rant, I’m also willing to bet that many of the top celebrated offline authors can’t actually write a book without making a fair few grammatical errors here and there. I stand by mine. I am not the best editor, far from it, but I’m a damn good writer, despite making grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. So, stop worrying about the small things of your craft (despite them being important at times,) and start enjoying the fact that YOU are making this world a better place – one blog reader at a time!
Whew! That’s my rant over, feel free to take over!
Monika
About the Author: I'm a passionate freelance writer and problogger. To further build my business I'm also in the process of building my own niche empire which pays me residual income.
Chris Anderson | Aug 12, 2009 | Reply
I was just thinking about this the other day. There is some kind of stigma to writing offline being better. For some reason. But I think you can make just as much of an impact with writing online as offline. Or you could just do both and end the argument right there lol.
LuSabal | Aug 13, 2009 | Reply
I believe the reasons exist as a “traditional” way of reading and expressing yourself. As you said:
“There is something self-luxuriating about snuggling up on the couch, pillows stuffed underneath me for optimum comfort while I nurse a hot mug of tea or coffee with my nose stuck in a book. I can’t do this with the computer.”
Reading online content can be very informational; however, reading a book is another level of being “pampered” while you take in information. While a certain comfort level is there for a computer, the interaction isn’t the same.
Mary | Aug 13, 2009 | Reply
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Monika | Aug 13, 2009 | Reply
@ Chris Anderson: True, many of us do write for offline and online clients while others prefer one medium to the other. I’m inclined to say though that the stigma remains, regardless if a person is published in both. The minute a person publishes a book (offline,) people are all over them because of the achievement. Is it the fast-paced world of online writing that makes it less ‘worthy’ to mass appraisal?
I don’t know. But what I do know is that offline writing does carry more weight with most members of the non-writing public. Why? You tell me.
Monika | Aug 13, 2009 | Reply
@ LuSabal: I totally agree with the fact that handling an offline book is more satisfying than scrolling through an eBook, there is no detesting this. But this doesn’t justify for the fact that offline writers are seen as the ‘better’ craftsman, does it?
The stigma is here and I doubt it will disappear soon. The whole idea about this post is to make people aware that there is a host of online talent that matches published (in print) authors. So why are many clients only prepared to pay a pittance for a freelance writer’s work? See, this is not ending right here… it forms the basis of the general conception that online freelance writers don’t deserve the accolades, pay rate… etc. of offline ones simply for the fact that THEY are not famous. It’s crap.
For the same quality of work I do, I can fetch several hundred dollars offline while fetching less than $50 for an online client. It’s madness.
Thanks for stopping by.
Monika | Aug 13, 2009 | Reply
@ Mary: My pleasure. Someone’s got to stir up the $hit at times.
Brett Legree | Aug 15, 2009 | Reply
Here’s the way I look at it, and I know you see it the same way (as you’ve said it above hee hee)…
Some of the best writing I’ve seen, has been out here.
Some of the worst… in traditional print.
‘Nuff said.
Monika | Aug 15, 2009 | Reply
@ Brett: Thanks Brett. I couldn’t agree more. There are so many talented online bloggers and writers who never get noticed and it’s just a shame for the rest of the world. I have been to people’s sites and wondered why these guys don’t have a larger following and you know what? Unless one busts their butt to network, people don’t take notice. It’s kind of who has the biggest brown tongue… oops, did I just say that? *shock, horror
Brett Legree | Aug 15, 2009 | Reply
Brown tongue hee hee isn’t that the truth everywhere?
Of course, in traditional print there are people who can do that for you, once you’re famous
I suppose that’s true online too, or it is getting that way (people re-tweeting you and so on).
As you said, you have to do a *lot* of work when you’re starting out, or no one will notice you.
Cath Lawson | Sep 18, 2009 | Reply
LOL Monika – I wonder if cattle woman reads your blog?
The thing that annoys me is that online writers have to write much faster, because they get paid far less for their work.
So it’s tough to compete with the quality of some of the stuff you see in glossy magazines. Some of those writers can afford to spend a week writing 1000 words.
That said, I don’t know how anyone can make a living writing exclusively for offline publications anyway. You would die of starvation waiting to get paid.
A few years ago, I wrote some fillers for a weekly magazine. Almost a year later, I received a cheque – I didn’t get an acceptance letter or anything. And I never got to know what date they were actually published.
Avery | Nov 17, 2009 | Reply
I must admit to finding myself making this assumption at times and I think the reason for this comes from the simple fact that online anyone can create their own blog whether good or bad since it can potentially come at a low cost (also I recall a few years ago there being a concern over the credibility of news found online which certainly helped feed this idea for me and others I’m sure). With print, someone had to believe in the writing enough to justify the higher cost that comes from printing and getting the product delivered to homes or retail (not that this is any guarantee of quality) . Also professional writing has always, until more recently, been primarily in print form and so one could then assume (out of habit) that print is where the pro writers are. It’s not fair but that’s just how it is for now but I’m sure this view will be corrected much sooner than later.
For what it’s worth, I can name a few bloggers that I read on a regular basis. I don’t know a single name of any writer from The Chronicle which I’ve read for years.