Erica Verrillo puts out a blog called Publishing. . . and Other Forms of Insanity. I like this blog. I look forward to it every month. As a writer, I appreciate this trove of writing and publishing information, updated regularly. I sold a short story last year thanks to a tip on Erica's blog.
But this month on page one, instead of publishers seeking unagented manuscripts or best places to have a crime novel reviewed, Erica chose to editorialize. (And why not? It's her blog.) As Erica prefaced in "Art Does Not Apologize . . . And Neither Do I":
Over the past three and a half years, I have gotten a number of comments regarding my critical stance on Trump, expressed mildly at the top of my blog with the statement: ". . . in the interest of protecting the 1st Amendment, she did not vote for Trump." I've been repeatedly admonished, sometimes with a great deal of anger, to "just stick to writing." Politics, I have been told, should have no place on my blog.
Erica chose to believe she was being told to mind her own business and not speak out. Erica then proceeded to speak out.
I think she may've missed the point her readers were making.
The cobbler who repairs your shoes under a banner proclaiming his political opinions is inviting comment. The sign outside might say, "Cobbler Shop. Shoes Fixed." It probably doesn't say, "Cobbler Shop. Shoes Fixed. Plus Free Political Opinions." You want your footwear resoled. The political opinion, then, feels gratuitous, since you entered the shop for one reason and found yourself subjected to question-begging statements that had nothing to do with your original business.
George Orwell wrote, "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
Erica is free to editorialize politically on a publishing blog.
Her readers are free to present their thoughts on such a mash-up.
If liberty is to mean anything at all.
2 comments:
I absolutely LOVE this post! Will visit Erica's site!
For a while now, I've been stewing about how much to say, in my blog, about an author, whose utter hatred for a character betrayed this reader and my ability to just read about the character she hated, because her poisonous bites against said character would influence how I saw the character. Maybe there are other readers who feel the same as I do. Or maybe not. Either way, I'm speaking up.
"GIVE A DAMN OR DON'T BOTHER!" has become my rallying cry lately, and your posting Erica's personal/political issues has added fuel to the fire.
Another statement by Orwell : "Freedom means the right to say that two plus two equals four. Once that is allowed, all else follows."
Good for you. If we don't stand up for free speech, there won't be any.
BTW: that said, as a writer, you will appreciate her site. Great stuff there - save a comment/post or two.
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