How The Publishing World Has Changed (For The Better?)

It certainly can't be denied that the publishing world has changed in the last 15 years. The internet brought with it instant communication on a level we never could have dreamed of just a few years earlier. As with all new technologies, traditions that existed before them changed. The publishing world is no different—everywhere you look you see reports of failing book store chains, struggling authors, and even the largest publishing companies are feeling the financial squeeze. Does this mean the publishing world is in trouble? Of course not.

Popular belief would love to say that the world of books and the world of writing is in trouble thanks to the major changes—but since when is popular belief right? Mark Twain once famously said “Any time I find myself agreeing with the public, it is time for me to reevaluate my position.” And he had a very good point. People love doomsday theories, and people have been predicting the end of many forms of popular entertainment and technology for a long, long time. The radio was supposed to go out when television came about, television was supposed to go out when the internet came around. Theater, poetry, radio, television, the internet and even (to a lesser extent) old fashioned records are all still out there. Some of these things aren't as popular as they used to be—but there is still a place for them. And writing? Writing is something that is never going to go away so long as people keep on reading. And studies show that people read far MORE today than they did 15 years ago. The difference is only in the mediums.

Not to mention, the doomsday publishing theorists overlook the fact that any time a traditional system is in upheaval it's only because the playing field had changed. As a result—they don't look at the major changes that have occurred right before our eyes and they blind themselves to the numerous new opportunities that have presented themselves. Despite what some will say, this revolution is actually a good thing for writers—in fact it's a GREAT thing.

Are publishers going through a rough time? Sure they are—at least the ones who aren't being smart and savvy about the changes in the field. But for individual authors—the time to be born couldn't be better—for one major reason. Authors are no longer dependent on anyone to put their writing out there. The options they now have are literally unlimited. They can still choose to go with a traditional publisher if they are more comfortable—but for the overly ambitious poet/fiction writer/essayist, the world is theirs for the taking. Self publishing, or small press work has never been easier. And more importantly, marketing for the individual author or small press has never been easier either. It is true that more than a few of the great books were originally self published. (Leaves of Grass and Ulysses to name a couple.) But for a long time, especially with the development of giant publishing companies, the way to success for authors was almost monopolized. They required permission from editors or owners before they could get their work to the general public. It was harder for the average person to have access to printers, artists, promotion, radio interviews, and do all the things that authors took quite a big fat royalty out of the author's pay for many years for. Now, all those barriers haven't only been lowered—they have been OBLITERATED.

Authors are freer than ever to put their work in books and have them printed ON DEMMAND with no extra copies stored and no major financial hole they have to go into to take a risk on it. Blogs can promote poetry to thousands of people around the world—and the poets can take a nice chunk of advertising money from adsense and other programs in the process. These authors can put up their own websites—hand out business cards with the web address to attract people and use videos on Youtube to show interviews and back story extras. And the best part about it? They don't have to share their profits with anyone.

On top of that, a new wave of small presses have come about who share most of the burdens of production with the author while taking much less of a chunk of the royalties from them. Some traditional publishing houses would give the author royalties as little as 8% of the profits from a book. These new small presses go somewhere closer to 70/30, 60/40 and sometimes (although rarer) even 50/50. More importantly, there is no limit of the mainstream markets as thanks to the internet there is now a niche market for literally ANYTHING one can think of. Mixed media outlets allow authors to reach more people than ever before. Books on tape? A simple as the audio recording program on their computer. The options are literally endless for those who are willing to go out there and take them. So stop listening to the gloom and doom theories—start to believe the (true) fact that in the world of new and thriving technologies comes new and thriving ways for authors to make a living. And that's what we are going to explore together.