>> RANTS > FROM THE PEN OF THE MASTER GEEK

It Is a Business, Deal With It!

Sitting around the gaming table or the television watching some cheesy horror flick my friends and I used to dream of the day when we could start our own company and take out the evil corporate powers. We didn't know squat about the business world. All we had was the romantic notion of running some hip and Geeky office with life size cardboard cutouts of Captain Picard and Emperor Palpatine. We would toss the dice or play video games until the wee hours in the morning, waking long after sunrise to dazzle the world with our amazing and terribly creative product. Damn shame stupid real life got in the way and hosed all our dreams. Well, not really, the dreams are still there but with a more honest understanding of how the real world works.

However, it doesn't look like everyone feels the same as me.

"I don't know how you could give that book such a glowing review knowing that Monte has such a huge ego and takes credit from others authors."

The book this anonymous person is speaking of would be Iron Heroes. I found it strange that the person who made this comment didn't seem to have any issues with the book itself, but simply the person producing it. Doing a little digging on some various forums (of which I am a notorious lurker but try not to get involved cause...arguing on the internet is like...well, you finish the tasteless joke). I did start to see an interesting trend that has been plaguing rising bands since the dawn of time but it relatively new to gamers and writers in general. Fans believe that you cannot become famous or successful without turning into some cheap corporate whore. Take the full title of Iron Heroes as an example, Monte Cook Presents Iron Heroes. To some, this is an egotistical expression only glorifying that person and takes away from the hard work done by the author. You'll forgive me if I think that is a load of crap. Which is worse? Having to share your name on the book cover with the name of the person who fronts the money for your work; a person who is also known in the industry and thus can insure excellent sales. Or, just slapping your name on a book and hope that words spread all on its own so that people will want to drop their hard earned (and ever dwindling) dollar.

It’s all about marketing.

Having the name of the person who produces your work or owns the company who fronts the money for your work is fine. In fact, it is probably better then simply having your name alone. It is all about the marketing. Anyone who thinks that a person can survive on simple artistic skills alone is deluding him or herself. It doesn't matter what your chosen art form is, you still need to pay rent, eat food, and lessen the massive student loans that you acquired to hone those stunning skills! It is strange that people find it insulting that Monte Cook places his name on a book and yet fans are completely fine when they see at the beginning of every single issue released by Marvel opening with the line Stan Lee Proudly Presents. Hell, to my knowledge, Stan Lee hasn't touched an issue of Marvel in years and judging by the sales and quality of the few books that he has penned recently readers should be glad for that fact. I have nothing against Stan Lee, he is a living legend. I can only hope for a 10th of his fandom success, but that’s the truth. (In fact, I would love to see an Aaron Duran book that opens with Stan Lee Proudly Presents, so no hate mail claiming I dissed Stan "The Man" Lee). Some fans see the addition of a name as a marketing ploy as selling out. Some believe that it is the first sign that you have become the very thing that you set out to change.

Whatever.

Let me break it to you delusional fans who think it is fun being the underdog. It isn't. It never has been and it likely never will be. In fact, it downright sucks! Do you know what being the underdog really means? It means having to work full time at other jobs while spending what little time you have in writing, rehearsing, sketching, or perfecting your art. It means begging friends, family, and complete strangers snatched from the Yellow Pages for money in the hopes that you can make a few copies of your product. It means putting everything at risk on the slight chance that someone, anyone with real money or contacts notices your work. I realize this may come across as bitterness from one who hasn't quite made it and in a way, it may be. However, your friendly neighborhood Geek knows how the game works. You gotta’ pay your dues and I am totally fine with that. What gets my cape all bunched up are people mistaking hard-earned success as selling out. Selling out is Smokey Robinson selling frozen red beans and rice over the Safeway Satellite Network (of which I will rant about a later date). Busting your butt and getting a well-known company to risk their money and name on your work is not.

Think back to those dreams of yore.

Think long and hard about those memories. Of when you dreamed with your friends about taking down TSR (or Wizards of the Coast to your youngsters), or talked about becoming the next Lucasfilm. Did you ever once say to your friends, "Dudes, won't it be awesome? We'll struggle every month to pay rent, we'll have to float our electric bill checks to pay for printing costs and we'll give up on regular lives to pimp our movie at every backwards film festival in the world." No, of course you didn't. You wanted to be the next big thing. You wanted to be the one who stood upon the ashes of the company that you felt had sold out. (After you acquired the rights to all your favorite products first of course). Okay, so maybe this is coming from bitterness, but it is not directed at the people who have made it. It’s directed at the people who are angry because they haven't.

You keep whining. I'll keep working.

Then, you can call me a sell out too...and it will be sweet!

Until next time...I’ll cut back on my caffeine intake.