After reading yesterday's GalleyCat item about the plans for Crystal Mangum's forthcoming memoir, Brian Halley had some thoughts on the decision to publish independently:

"What piques my interest is that [Vincent Clark of fire! Books] seems to be developing this niche that could be just plain exploitative or it could be legitimate, in trying to publish voices getting maligned in the press who are problematic but are also, to some extent, in a position in society in which [they] are marginalized. They responded perhaps in an unhealthy way but that does not make their voice worth silencing, and they could offer an interesting perspective on a story we all, as a nation, know due to media hysteria."

Halley goes on to observe that this publishing strategy isn't necessarily any more opportunistic than, say, scooping up a book by Michael Phelps as soon as he's won a bunch of gold medals—or, one might add, rushing a book for or against Barack Obama to market so you can capitalize on his presidential nomination. "Trying to jump on a media sensation and capitalize on it while the iron is hot, knowing that many of those million books you print will end up on remainder tables and/or in used bookstores for years to come... must be hell," he muses, "You are just producing crap over and over."

For now, Halley's reserving judgment, to see how effectively Clark is able to present his clients' stories to readers without resorting to exploitative promotional tactics. But what do you think: Is a desire to "tell your story" by putting a book together really all you need to succeed, or will you ultimately have to put more of yourself out there than what's on the page?