Back on March 15, Cliff Burns took matters into his own hands when he couldn't find a publisher for his dark fantasy novel So Dark the Night by releasing it as a free e-book on his site. To that I say "Kudos to you" for taking matters into your own hands. Then, there's today's ugly rant:

"The fact that I've been forced to publish it myself to my mind reveals something seriously fucked up in the publishing biz. How could they let this one slip through their fingers? It's got everything going for it: funny, attractive leads, supernatural demon spawn galore..."

As we've discussed on Galleycat time and time again, agents have what they're looking for and editors have what they're looking for and it's not always what the public wants to read or the author wants to sell. All authors have met with this frustration, but not many have lashed out as fiercely as Burns.

"So when you hear me say what dumb motherfuckers editors are, know this isn't merely a bitter, frustrated writer lashing out; my views are based on nearly a quarter century of dealing with airheads, folks in position of power and influence who possess the I.Q.'s of lower order marsupials."

"That's why I embrace the new technologies, the freedom they give creative artists. It means I never have to deal with such dumb cunts ever again."

Ouch! Well, Burns, if your intention was to burn bridges with the publishing world, I think you have done just that. What I would have suggested instead was to use the buzz and reviews generated by your free e-book to garner interest from genre publishers and approach them with your grass roots effort. Oh well, too late.

And while your headline ACCORDING TO CANADIAN STANDARDS, I'M A BEST-SELLING AUTHOR!!! Smacks of self importance, the fact that your "site has received over 2500 hits and [your] occult thriller has been downloaded hundreds of times," it is not enough to make you a bestseller. First of all, your book is free so no sales can be reported to the Toronto Star. Second, free downloads don't equal cash sales in the real world, so had it been published there's the possibility that only 25 copies would have been sold in the past month.