This ‘us’ v. ‘them’ mentality that comes up every time there’s an issue about RWA and epubbed?

I’m tired of it.

It shouldn’t be an us v. them.  I ranted over at Karen’s about it, but I’m reposting my rant/comment here as a blog post.  I’m tired of this mess. There doesn’t need to be a divide, there shouldn’t be a divide, and those who harp and persisnt in the US v THEM mindset, whether they claim they are for change or not, that mindset damages our cause.  So over at Karen’s, I commented this:

One thing that those of us who are in RWA and really do want to see a change might want to think about:

I seriously think that the more we make these debates into an ‘us’ v. ‘them’, some sort of ‘print’ v. ‘epubbed’ atmosphere, the more it hurts us.

All that does is highlight the differences and foster defensive attitude on the parts of those that don’t really understand epub.

It’s human nature. Most of us do get defensive when somebody takes a snipe at who we are.

Once we put people on the defensive, it isn’t going to be all that easy to get them to listen to our viewpoints.

I’ve said it elsewhere and I’ll say it here: We love to write. Most of us love romance, I assume. Many of us love RWA. Those of us most closely involved in the issue either already write or hope to do at some point.

We need to focus on our common goals and not get worked up over how ‘this’ works better for ‘us’, or ‘that’ doesn’t really work for ‘them’.

What we want, in the long run, are changes that will make RWA a better, stronger organization for the digital age we’re facing.

We’ll get there a lot sooner if we focus on the goal, and that goal is getting RWA to embrace/acknowldge epublishing are viable, right?

Insulting (and yes, it does come off as insulting a lot of the time) those in the print industry definitely isn’t going to help our cause.

Because those we need to get on our side are those who either don’t ‘get’ epublishing or aren’t aware of the issues. And quite a few of them are in print.

And this:

This ‘us’ v. ‘them’ crap is just that, crap. More, it’s tired, old crap and I’m sick of it. Besides, I guess if it’s going to be another ‘us’ v. ‘them’ dance, I’m out on the sidelines, since I’m an ‘us’ and a ‘them’.

Maybe Lauren can sit on the sidelines with and we can just have a drink, or two, or ten, while we watch it go around and then come to an abysmal end with no change.

If it turns into another one of those, I can guarantee you, there will be no change.

Epublished authors won’t get the the respect so many of us claim to want. Thorough, unbiased information and education on epubs will not be provided by RWA to the general membership. Nothing will change.

Frankly, if we can’t carry forward in this with some level maturity and professionalism, maybe we don’t deserve it. Professional treatment should be for those who display professionalism.

We’ll get our change when the majority of those pushing for the change present ourselves as professionals.