College is for Knowledge, the Internet is for Information
I have had several people ask me about how they can get published. I guess they assume that I am an expert in this area because I am a Music Minister. My first question for them usually is why do they want to get their item published: is it for educational purposes; to make money or for fame; or just to share with others?
I have had over a dozen various things published with LifeWay (part of the Southern Baptist Convention), but all of these except one were things that I had written for use in a local church. My intention when writing them was not to get money or fame, and I certainly did not. My skits, articles and one song were published just because I already had them and thought "why not send them in and see what happens." I have probably had more than 100 refused and just over a dozen accepted.
Again we come back to the reason for wanting to be published. While in college I realized that professors would willingly share with you from the vast storehouse of knowledge that they had garnered through their years of studying, but that they were very secretive with information that they were including in a future book. College was a place to gain knowledge from books in print. If you really wanted information, you had to research it yourself. College was supposed to be a place to encourage you to think for yourself, but in reality I found that it was a place that discouraged free thinking and the sharing of information.
Then along came the Internet. Yes, I know I am dating myself by admitting that I can remember a time before Al Gore invented the Internet. At first, the Internet was a great place to find information, but there was an expense associated with putting your own information out there. I chose to purchase my own domain name (classicalscore.com) and pay for a domain host so that I could share the Music History and Hymnology Timeline that a group of us worked to organize while we were in Seminary (religious grad school). I felt that the information we had gathered along with further work that I put into it was something that would be valuable tools for other music students.
The expense to be "self-published" this way was less than paying professional fees to be a member of some music society or organization, so I was happy to eat the cost myself. Then another piece of technology came along: Google ads. Now I generally make enough through the ads on my website and blog to cover the expense for my domain and hosting fees, so go ahead and click on those ads and maybe even sign-up or buy something.
Being self-published was not a bad way to share information that I felt was needed. My site is in the Top Ten on Google when you search for "Music History Timeline" and number one when you search under "Hymnology Timeline." I have had schools and universities from all over the world contact me to request permission to use my site in their course work and have even had the Atlanta Symphony ask to use it for their educational series for children. But even with all of that I still only get about 10,000 unique views a year.
I guess it comes down to this: if you want to share your hard work and knowledge with others and get paid for it, then publishing is the way to go; if you want to protect the work you did so that nobody else can get the credit for it, such as writing a song or story, then publishing is the way to go; but if you simply want to share information with others because you believe that something you know could be of use to them, then use the Internet. If you are not concerned about getting the credit, the fame or the money from your work, then post it on a blog or website and repeat it over and over again through twitter, facebook, stumbleupon, etc.
I have had over a dozen various things published with LifeWay (part of the Southern Baptist Convention), but all of these except one were things that I had written for use in a local church. My intention when writing them was not to get money or fame, and I certainly did not. My skits, articles and one song were published just because I already had them and thought "why not send them in and see what happens." I have probably had more than 100 refused and just over a dozen accepted.
Again we come back to the reason for wanting to be published. While in college I realized that professors would willingly share with you from the vast storehouse of knowledge that they had garnered through their years of studying, but that they were very secretive with information that they were including in a future book. College was a place to gain knowledge from books in print. If you really wanted information, you had to research it yourself. College was supposed to be a place to encourage you to think for yourself, but in reality I found that it was a place that discouraged free thinking and the sharing of information.
Then along came the Internet. Yes, I know I am dating myself by admitting that I can remember a time before Al Gore invented the Internet. At first, the Internet was a great place to find information, but there was an expense associated with putting your own information out there. I chose to purchase my own domain name (classicalscore.com) and pay for a domain host so that I could share the Music History and Hymnology Timeline that a group of us worked to organize while we were in Seminary (religious grad school). I felt that the information we had gathered along with further work that I put into it was something that would be valuable tools for other music students.
The expense to be "self-published" this way was less than paying professional fees to be a member of some music society or organization, so I was happy to eat the cost myself. Then another piece of technology came along: Google ads. Now I generally make enough through the ads on my website and blog to cover the expense for my domain and hosting fees, so go ahead and click on those ads and maybe even sign-up or buy something.
Being self-published was not a bad way to share information that I felt was needed. My site is in the Top Ten on Google when you search for "Music History Timeline" and number one when you search under "Hymnology Timeline." I have had schools and universities from all over the world contact me to request permission to use my site in their course work and have even had the Atlanta Symphony ask to use it for their educational series for children. But even with all of that I still only get about 10,000 unique views a year.
I guess it comes down to this: if you want to share your hard work and knowledge with others and get paid for it, then publishing is the way to go; if you want to protect the work you did so that nobody else can get the credit for it, such as writing a song or story, then publishing is the way to go; but if you simply want to share information with others because you believe that something you know could be of use to them, then use the Internet. If you are not concerned about getting the credit, the fame or the money from your work, then post it on a blog or website and repeat it over and over again through twitter, facebook, stumbleupon, etc.
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