Are you aware that Ms. Hively's books are all self published works, that none have been published through traditional publishing routes? You might want to check your facts on that. And are the Friends of the Crowder College library group wannabee writers? I must be mistaken because I thought they were friends of the library.
Updated: 2007-03-16 03:05:06

I think Ms. Hively, when she said that "self-publishing" was the way to go," was speaking to an audience of wanna-be writers who wouldn't otherwise get their work published. She was speaking in terms of the importance of chronicling history no matter how less than perfect the quality of writing is. Otherwise, she would agree with you that self-publishing in many cases is at least an offense to the grammatician if not to the reasonable intellect. :-)

As a writer and reader I don't agree with Ms. Hively that self publishing is "the way to go". It may work for local historical books that would have no interest outside a specific area but for writers of fiction or broad interest books, self-publishing is a cop-out and joke, not an accomplishment. Read about Publish America, a debacle or check out writers boards online!