Adam Shepard in ‘Word Slingers: The Story of Self-Publishing’
“Isn’t it amazing what we accomplish when we step outside of our comfort zones?”
Directed by: A. Brooks Bennett
Featuring: Barry Eisler, Giles Anderson (Andy Anderson0, Adam Shepard, Mark Coker, Bella Andre, Rob Hart, Dan Poynter, Ron Pramschufer, Rick Gualtieri
If you’ll allow me a personal anecdote, my experience with the Internet first came in 1994 as a college-bound freshman. The World Wide Web, which is what most ascribe to when they think of the Internet, was about six months off. In the meantime, we had email accounts as students, but I didn’t make much use of that account until my second year. When the likes of Netscape and Internet Explorer first hit campus, I looked with wild-eyed abandon at what was possible, but I didn’t do anything with it.
A Brooks Bennett’s “Word Slingers: The Story of Self-Publishing” brought out the wild-eyed abandon once again, both personally and professionally as he follows two struggling authors respective paths to finding success in a world that wasn’t ready for people to break away from the tightly-held conventions of the publishing world.
The documentary suggests that the age we live in right now, that of the self-publisher is not new. Think of Paul Revere and Benjamin Franklin, two pioneers of the press – machinery, not the people – and with it, the tightly held convictions that limit potential many years later.
Adam Shepard is the first of two subjects that “Word Slingers” focuses on. Adam is a very driven individual, something Brooks latched on to in telling Adam’s journey, who took a year off and traveled the world, the ultimate basis for his novel. Adam is struggling to find the right way to get the book in front of readers.
With Adam, we understand his core values very quickly on, which makes watching his journey unfold all the more difficult, yet rewarding because he recognized his failures and built on them. However, his personal life, that of his émigré wife, Ivana, becomes secondary as they try to legally obtain her Green Card.
Brooks balances the two stories with professionals, like Dan Poynter and Barry Eisler, who have gone through the process and understand the struggle and the impact the Internet has had on commerce today, publishing and competition today.
Giles Anderson, or Andy as he likes to be known is the second subject of “Word Slingers.” His goal is the same as Adam’s, but he is a much more down-to-earth author, with much more realistic expectations out of the process. The subjects his books cover are non-fiction and along with his young family, he seeks more local in-roads and social media awareness as a form of marketing.
“Word Slingers” finds two common grounds in each of Adam’s and Andy’s journeys: the first is that they have a strong support network, even if it causes dissention between them and their respective partners. This builds on the foundation that the professionals expound upon – change is not easy and not everyone wants it, but it is omnipresent.
The second is how we measure success. Adam ultimately finds success in stepping out of his comfort zone, anecdotal evidence that supports my own personal journey. For Andy, it is knowing that his stories are finding an audience; something that he can build on slowly, but surely.
At the end of the day, “Word Slingers” reminds us that success isn’t necessarily a pocketful of money, but of finding oneself through life’s journeys and sharing that with the world.
Adam and Andy are a testament to that ideology.
3.75 out of 4
