It took me longer than is perhaps usual to understand the meaning of all those jumping squiggles in books. It took my parents and teachers even longer to realise that I suffered from dyslexia. This was the 1960s. Once I finally mastered the art, there was no stopping me. I absorbed stories like a sponge. Sadly however, there came a point in my early 20s when all the new books began to have the same feel to them.  I largely switched to reading non-fiction for the best part of the next 25 years until my wife bought me an e-reader. This prompted me to start reading fiction again when I download some of my favourite writers.

 

Then came a revelation when someone introduced me to Wattpad. It is packed with poorly spelt ungrammatical yet highly original stories. That set me thinking about why I had become so bored all those years ago. Publishing is expensive. It is resource intensive, there is huge competition for an extremely fickle audience and the commercial risks are high. As I said, publishing is expensive and publishers naturally enough seek to minimise risk and there lies a potential problem. Originality is risky. Even when you have a good original idea, by the time it emerges from the lengthy processes of assessing, editing, reediting and market testing, too often you end up with something that adheres to all the acceptable standards required to sell to the public, but… That spark has gone.

 

This set me thinking about my own preferences. Over the last couple of years, I have read dozens of books by self-published authors and the quality does vary. I have also read a large number of good and indifferent books published by house-hold name companies and I have come to a conclusion. I would far rather read an original idea that is a bit rough around the edges than a thoroughly well produced book that feels as though it has survived a processing machine.

 

Perhaps that is one advantage of the digital revolution. You pay the money and can make a choice. (Unless the book is free of course, but that is for another day.)  

 

Cheers