For those of you who have been reading this blog, you must know by now that I think Writers' Digest is the authors' equivalent of an antichrist. From its vanity press to continuous offers for overpriced webinars, this company has made preying on writers an even more lucrative industry than writing itself, and those who promote it are just as bad. That's why I'm singling out Donald Maass as the epitome of scum because of his strong affiliation with such a despicable organization.
Having worked as an agent for years as well as owning his own literary agency, Maass is all too aware of how difficult it is to find one's way in the publishing business, yet he holds that dream in front of people like a worm on a hook with his poor-quality guides and columns. Why does he do this? Could it be because he wants to help writers achieve their dreams? No, it's because of how many zeros are on that check.
For most serious writers, guides to "writing the breakout novel" are irrelevant. We already know what's necessary in order to write a book that people will want to read (btw, my sales are doing quite well at the moment). The only "guides" we rely on are dictionaries, thesauri, and Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style." We don't waste our time with inflated trash written by Maass for WD. People who are most likely to buy such guides probably don't have enough talent to write a decent novel. After all, it's a difficult thing to do, and I've downloaded lots of amateur efforts on Amazon to prove that they're exactly that, amateur.
As far as my opinion goes, Maass is just another guy who is tapping into the market of would-be authors by selling his advice and offering zero promises. The publishing world is changing and people like Maass are rapidly becoming dinosaurs. So, go ahead and buy Maass's "writing" guides. Attend WD conferences where he is giving a "seminar," and see what all of that gets you other than a lot of money wasted and little results. For anyone who makes money through WD couldn't care less about the integrity of the writing or publishing industry.
