There has never been a better time to be a writer.
Sure if you are pressed for a final analysis, the original business model was and still is completely absurd. However, new technology empowers writers, helps us prosper more for our hard work, gives us more freedom and flexibility, and perhaps the biggest gain, allows us to connect with and communicate with each other.
When writers view publishers (agents, publicists, and everyone else involved) as partners and not meal tickets, then we can maintain 100% responsibility for our careers. But as soon as we start to think that a publisher is going to take care of everything (or take care of us), we are in trouble.
I asked a small Independent bookseller last week how business was going. He said September was his best month in fourteen years. A clerk at Borders told me that sales were up for the quarter this year from last year.
So, yes, it’s a good idea to be informed about how the book industry works before you jump into the pool with the thousands of other authors. However, for some of us, swimming in this rather crowded pool is exactly where we can execute a perfect kick-turn and push off the wall back into the throngs.
Publishing a book is not for the faint of heart. Trust me, the weeks prior to your first book’s release, every insecurity you have ever known will come roiling up. Ditto the first few times you speak, teach, or dare to do anything that moves you beyond your comfort zone.
But don’t demonize the publishing industry. The folks who work in it are doing the best they can with the rather crummy legacy that they were stuck with. And typically, the folks who work in publishing are smart, articulate, book-lovers just like writers.
Whatever you think you know about the book publishing industry, it’s never as black and white as some people paint it because those are people who work for those corporations. Just like people write books. Just like people read books.
So when you hear about the demise of the publishing industry and the death of reading or other doom and gloom stories, don’t believe them. Don’t believe them for a minute. There has never been a better time to be a writer.
*This post originally appeared in the Get Known Before the Book Deal Blog.
Photo by Johnia!
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Excellent post, Christina. VERY true and great to hear. 🙂
I appreciate your positive, can-do attitude regarding getting published. I have a tendency to walk through Borders or Barnes and Noble among the mass of books and get somewhat discouraged, wondering how anything I write hasn’t already been said. Thank you for the encouragement regarding the industry.
The longer you hang with the publishing folks, the more you realize there is to say! Sure, some of it has been said already, and said well. But there is always room for more. Always room for a dynamic, responsive writer with a depth of interest and curiosity. 🙂
Hi Christina,
Couldn’t agree more, on both counts. It’s never been a better time to be a writer and the publishing folks, in many ways, are doing their best. Back in October I had lunch with a VP from a major publisher. I loved hearing him explain things from his perspective. Though I think self publishing is at the very least a viable option, and growing more so each day, I don’t see publishers as the enemy.
I in no way regard anyone in the publishing industry as an enemy and as an agented author I know that there are some awesome people doing their utmost to progress and publish quality writing.
But, again, as an agented author I’m also less than convinced that there has never been a better time to be a writer. Certainly not a first-time writer of literary fiction.
Great thought-provoking article mind!
Your post is very encouraging.
And, I love your reminders to stop pointing fingers, that it isn’t Us vs. Them:
“When writers view publishers (agents, publicists, and everyone else involved) as partners and not meal tickets, then we can maintain 100% responsibility for our careers.”
If this is true, it means my novel isn’t very good. Oh well. I’d rather think my novel isn’t good enough than believe it’s just not possible to get published anymore.
Thanks for the positivity.
Sean, I think you bring up a good point: self-publishing is certainly a viable option when folks know what they are getting themselves into and are prepared to take that much responsibility and produce themselves.
And Iain, oooo, you bring up a good point about first-time authors of literary fiction. This really is a tough time for them in general but exacerbated by the fact that so often these are folks least willing to market themselves.
Is there a classy way for debut literary fiction authors to market themselves? I think Kristin Bair O’Keeffe is a great recent example for literary authors to follow.
Thanks for the comment! Keep ’em coming…