“

After years of my-way-or-the-highway rhetoric, we’re starting to hear more nuanced messages from the author corps at last. The smartest minds in publishing know that it’s not a contest between two paths to publication but a long, daunting journey in a beleaguered market.

“

As self-publishing adds so many more books to the marketplace — and as digital publishing means that nothing goes out of print — can we continue to dodge the issue of what talent might mean in the potential success for writers?

“

“It’s time to back off a bit on the arguments for self-publishing,” says author-activist Hugh Howey. “It’s over. We can coexist now.” And with that, one of the most prominent of the indie authors in self-publishing today calls on his followers to hold their fire. The most important points, Howey says, have been made and understood.

“

While the self-publishing leadership looks for accord — or continues chewing each other’s legs off — questions will be waiting.