Entering into the world of published writing isn't just about the writing. I am no expert in the world of publishing or even literature, but I like to think I have a little more knowledge than the average person. It comes from experience and doing your homework, and right now my experience is quite minimal- but, I do a lot of homework!
I have spent countless hours reading about publishing and writing in general...and countless hours on ways, sites, groups, forums, et cetera, to promote and gain exposure for my book, and for future works. Hours I do not get paid for, and may never really ever get reimbursed for in sales-dollars, but hopefully in other ways that will be just as good as cash.
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| Harper Collins CEO Barnsley, from the Guardian |
I was reading this article from the U.K.'s Guardian, it caught my eye with a quote from Harper Collins' CEO: Victoria Barnsley: "We can't think of ourselves as book publishers any longer. We have to see ourselves as, you know," Barnsley hesitates to use the cliché, "multimedia content producers." As well as her commenting on the relevance of where traditional publishing is and what traditional publishing means today, with the revolution of the self-publishing industry and e-publishing market.
It's always been known that writing a book and getting a publishing deal, and finding some fame and fortune was something that didn't happen to just Anybody. The idea, the industry, was not so unlike that of say the music and film world. Some people had to pay their dues for a time, and then they reaped what was sown. Others maybe got a little lucky, and we all loved and dreamed of such fortune, right? Well, just like the music and film industry, only a select few rose from the masses to be household names and to be seen and sold upon the bookstore shelves...However, when sales would dip, authors would get a cold shoulder, and often found themselves looking in from outside, while new hopefuls were still being denied because they maybe they didn't appear to stand up to the same potential as said previous authors...who were more or less dumped down into the little leagues of publishing. It's all been rather hypocritical and it all comes down to money. True the industry fronts and spends a lot of money to make money, but they have done so like betting on a horse race, running the running horse to near death and then putting it out to pasture for the next new thing.
Reading the Guardian article and what Barnsley had to say really made me stop and think a bit, about what I am getting myself into. While I have no delusions of grandeur, I have hopes and dreams, I have drive, I have talent, and I'm not afraid nor shy away from working towards my goals. I am self-published...and proud of that. I am published. That's all that needs to be said, really. I spent time writing, and working towards an achievement, I was at the right place, at the right time, among the right people. I wrote. I Published. I don't have a lot of money to promote and market my book, I am operating under a mantra of "more for less"! I'm okay with that, because in the end I can truly say, "I did this." It wasn't money, it wasn't other people whose only investiture was money, it was Me. I have hopes that my work will one day pay off and I will have some success- at least to the degree that I can continue to write and publish, without the need for anything else; I'd be happy with that.
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| Author G.J. Lentz |
The article, mentioned before, has me thinking about what I am getting into- mostly what will I define as success, what perspective will I carry with me, and what will define me as a published writer in the world of books and e-books, the world of being published...? If it wasn't for the self-publishing industry, for forces like Amazon, and the revolution of e-books and e-readers, would I be at this moment of time as I am today?
The Old World of Publishing (the big houses, the distributors, the big chain stores) have long held the power: what and who will be "Published", and thus what and who we the masses would have to read, so readily. A New World has dawned, and it is about High Noon. I wonder how long of a day it will be. The publishing industry is slowly accepting a new way to do business, because of the monster that self-publishing has grown to be...people are flocking to alternative authors for a cheaper price and the readily available medium of the e-world. The publishing world created this revolution, it is their bastard child. Their own greed and model gave it life, and now they are scrambling to stay relevant. However, they may be embracing the newer way of things- but I wonder if there is even really going to be change at all? Before long the big houses will follow suit with the likes of Amazon and Barnes & Noble...they will (it is already starting) have their e-publishing "self-publishing" markets to suck in writers only to spit them back out like a piece of gum after its lost its initial flavor. They will probably even have their own e-reader devices and apps just as Amazon has Kindle and Barnes & Noble has its Nook.
I can see it all now...for the chance to be associated with a well known name, authors will "self publish" under the e-umbrella of this house or that house, they'll probably have a taste of success, but they will be among a mass of those doing so, so that the big houses can get their slice of the pie through quantity. It would appear, at first, to be a fantastic idea and opportunity, but I think the same old dynamic will be at play, just gift wrapped: reel them in and throw them back out, unless you happen to be a particularly big fish- one out of who-knows-how-many-thousands to be one of the next big things.
Wouldn't I jump into that lake, you may ask with a look, you know the one. I probably would...but I would be doing so with some caution and not so blindly as many undoubtedly will. It's going to be like American Idol with a splash of Shark Tank. Just wait. You'll see.
