Portal Stories and Crowdfunding

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

There's a discussion about editors summarily rejecting portal stories, and so I wrote a critique of why that's a bad thing to do.  My readers have spoken up for diversity and breaking the bottlenecks with quotes like these:

That's why I love crowdfunding, from both sides. As a reader I get beautiful stories I probably never would have seen because some gatekeeper would have stopped it and as a writer I can write stories people want. There's no one to tell me that what I'm doing is too like someone else's, or it won't sell, or I can't have gay characters. -- moonwolf1988

+a-bazillion on that last graf. Gay characters, kinky characters, characters of colour, characters of colour that don't get whitewashed on covers, stories that don't necessarily end tidily but lead you places... this is what small press, self-pub, crowd-funding, and all this new hi-zoot stuff is *all about*. One- and two- and ten-person shops aren't beholden to risk-averse shareholders, they're beholden to the *fans*.... and as long as the stories are good? Portal schmortal! Does the tip jar go cha-ching? then, more, please! -- technoshaman

Crowdfunding means that you, as a creator and/or a consumer, no longer have to put up with someone else deciding what you get to do.  You decide.  Write, draw, read, buy, or otherwise interact with whatever you like.  Is there a gap?  You can fill it, or get someone else to help you fill it.  Is the mainstream being stupid about something?  No problem, you can do something smart instead.  And while the mainstream is busy annoying people and losing money hand over fist, crowdfunding is over here growing like mad.  Wheeeee!