Monday, December 18, 2017

PLUS ÇA CHANGE, PLUS C'EST LA MÊME CHOSE

So. The publishing business has undergone a sea change. You can get published without a publishing company. You can buy or sell books without a bookstore. Literary agents are going the way of the dodo. New business models have turned the business upside-down, and old-fashioned publishing is dead. Right?

Not even close. The business has not changed as much as you think. And the things that have changed, have little to do with what you need to know and do to succeed as a writer. 

Here’s what is truly new: Ebooks, POD, and online sales. That’s about it. Yes, they’re huge. Yes, they move a lot of books. No doubt, your buyers have more options for how to buy and read what you’ve written. But it's just that: it's about consumer choices. The real impact for you as a writer, is far less than you may think. In fact, these things can make your task harder, not easier. We'll get back to that in a moment.