Krakatoa erupting
Michael A. Stackpole has another great Swimming Lesson post called You can’t make a living swimming that answers the most common myths being pushed today about self-publishing, that writers can’t make a living at it. As a full time writer with decades of experience and a willingness to accept change, Mr. Stackpole does a standup job of answering the myth.
The seismic changes happening in the world of publishing are throwing many current and future writers into dismay. The changes are coming fast and just keeping up with them can make for a full-time career.
The publishing industry is going through the same upheaval the music industry did a decade ago, when digital distribution threatened the comfy models the music industry had adopted and became entrenched into. After a decade of resistance they’ve finally been dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age and reaping the benefits of that acceptance. Not wholeheartedly, as they still have lots of archaic systems to purge, but they are now at the table, albeit reluctantly.
Well, publishing is just getting started with its digital transition, so I expect a decade of churn until the new models equalize into something a writer can depend upon. For now, writers face a lot of uncertainty, but not in a bad way. If you’re the type of writer that stuck his/her head in the typewriter and only came up for air between writing projects, never had any interest in the business side of the industry, and were happy placing your work outside your control, then yes, life could be very unhappy for you right now. If all you want to do is write, then these are turbulent times.
To quote Robert Heinlein, “Specialization is for insects.”
However, for writers that are also interested in the business side of publishing, want more control over the content and distribution of their product, and, dare I say it, seek more direct contact with their readers and fans, the wave of self-publishing is wide open with possibilities. You have more choices today than at anytime in the past. Choices over publishing, production, marketing, design, and well, everything. For those of us interested in those choices, it’s a very exciting time.
Not everyone is comfortable with all the choices available, and that’s all right too. Before digital self-publishing there was no real choice. You sold your work to a publisher and lived with the contract and their efforts to sell you work. Nowadays it’s a buffet where you, as the writer and the one in control of your own destiny can choose how your work is published and distributed. New businesses are popping up daily to help independent self-publishers bring their vision to the market. Hire someone to do the cover. Need an editor, look over here. Don’t want to deal with it all, sign here, we” do all the setup and distribution work for you.
Your writing destiny is now more firmly in your hands than ever before. Don’t you think you should grab it and see where it takes you?
