Digital vs Hardcopy
The Economist recently published an interesting article discussing the current trend of consumers purchasing e-books as opposed to hardbacks, the gradual disappearance of the shop window and IKEA’s plans to introduce a new, deeper version of its ubiquitous “BILLY” bookcase to house ornaments instead of books, is both exciting for authors yet sad for those that are still nostalgic about reading real books.
The Economist recently published an interesting article discussing the current trend of consumers purchasing e-books as opposed to hardbacks, the gradual disappearance of the shop window and IKEA’s plans to introduce a new, deeper version of its ubiquitous “BILLY” bookcase to house ornaments instead of books, is both exciting for authors yet sad for those that are still nostalgic about reading real books.
In some ways the transition from paper to digital distribution is a boon. E-books currently have high profit margins, and are free from many of the drawbacks of print… In the first five months of this year sales of consumer e-books in America overtook those from adult hardback books. Just a year earlier hardbacks had been worth more than three times as much as e-books. Amazon now sells more copies of e-books than paper books.
For new authors wishing to bypass the traditional route of finding a Publisher, to self-publish an e-book and piggyback on the new found phenomenon that is all things digital, may get you that foot in the door or may in fact hinder your writing career if the book is not professionally edited prior.
Certainly e-books are the way of the future and who can argue with the fact that to be able to download thousands of books onto one device only slightly larger than a novel and be able to read a Mills and Boon without people knowing, is a bit of a delectable thought, for some.
Personally I love the real thing and have no qualms about people seeing that I am reading Dostoyevsky, Bulgakov or my writing muse; for me the hardcover book cannot be replaced by a digital one.
Granted, digitisation has given new life to old books and you can now purchase many titles that were out of print in the traditional sense, so some authors will welcome the arrival of the digital age as those royalties start coming their way again, but what about those that enjoy rummaging through traditional bookstores and admiring new releases in windows, not to mention the marketing of those new releases.
Publishers rely heavily on bookstores to bring new releases to customers’ attention and to steer them to books that they might not have considered buying. As stores close, the industry loses much more than a retail outlet. Publishers are increasingly trying to push books through online social networks…but nothing replicates the experience of browsing a bookstore.
Perhaps the publishing industry should take a closer look at the pricing structure of hardbacks, then stores would not be closing and consumers could have the best of both worlds should they choose.
Reference:
Digitisation may have come late to book publishing, but it is transforming the business in short order. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/21528611
Intro...
So, you have decided that you want to write a novel as apparently inside every single person is a great literary work just dying to appear. I have been writing my whole life, I have books that I started as far back as 23 years ago but I have put them aside when something else crops up, so it is amazing when people learn I am writing, they say, I didn’t realise you could write, when did you decide you wanted to be a novelist and the other is, oh I too want to write a book but how do I go about it!
But is it really that easy and if by some chance you do manage to create a work that is deemed publishable, what do you do next?
So for all those ‘one day I will write a novel’ people or those that have actually started and wish to know what to do next or even what sort of things they perhaps might like to think about as writers, keep reading and you may pick up the odd tip that could be useful in your journey.
It is amazing how many people have an idealized romantic notion of what it is like to be a writer but the gap between the fantasy and reality can be a rather large one. Who doesn’t have the fantasy that they will be off researching in exotic locations, sailing down the Nile with notebook in hand emulating Agatha Christie or writing by the Library fire with a male muse who is of course also a bestselling author.
Ahhhh...well one can dream…but back to reality and the reality is, that writing can be a long, laborious lonely task but one that can also be extremely fulfilling.
You need to have complete motivation, dedication and patience to write and then you have to have the skin of a rhino and perseverance to keep trying no matter how much rejection you may receive, until you start to close the gap between fantasy and reality.
So, be prepared my friends for a long lonely adventure that can be emotionally heart wrenching yet exhilarating at the same time. Take time to learn your craft, read widely, listen and learn from fellow authors, be prepared for all eventualities and if you feel you still wish to be a novelist then I applaud you and wish you well on your writing journey.
Why???
So why of all the topics I could choose from, did I decide to blog about Tips for Novice Writers, I now ask myself?
Could it be that I am hoping in my research I will uncover the elusive key to writing a fabulous novel, being picked up by a Publisher and finding myself on the Best Seller list? Well if I don’t dream and create aspirations for myself, I will never know if I can achieve the dream.
My desire has always been to write fabulous novels and over the past 20+ years have started a Novel or 7 but then life got in the way and I chose various other paths.
Fate arrived earlier this year; I moved from Melbourne to the country and it was there I met a fabulous published author (ironically from Melbourne) and we became friends; he gave me the inspiration to pick up one of my novels and write, write, write.
So now I have my Muse (lol!) and my novel is around a quarter of the way through and I need to start thinking about how to find those fabulous Publishers and Agents in New York, London and Melbourne, as there is no point in doing things by halves, especially when I will be the next JK Rowling.. :-)
When I said that very same thing to a friend, he said, If you shoot for the moon and miss at least you will land among the stars, which is still not a bad feat.
So with the goal in mind to be the next new Publishing darling, any tips and information I am blessed with along my journey may also be helpful to other would be writers who have dreams.
So with the goal in mind to be the next new Publishing darling, any tips and information I am blessed with along my journey may also be helpful to other would be writers who have dreams.
Writing is my therapy; I can bare my soul on screen, the keyboard tapping away at a million miles an hour to place my emotions into the characters, which saves the social media world knowing what’s really going on in my head :-)
How this blog will pan out and what I will discover along the way will hopefully be an exciting journey in itself, another Chapter in the Book of Life to devour and enjoy!
