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We’re Number One — Between Reader and Writer

A Feral DarknessWell, we’d LIKE to be #1.

The truth is, right now, that’s hard for both of us.  Because, you know, the whole “how things change” gestalt.

Change is messy.

For writers, the ongoing technological change means increased uncertainty in an already uncertain career.  It means shifting responsibilities and skillsets and costs, as publishers push us to take up the burden of publicity.  It means stress beyond endurance, sometimes.

For readers, it means watching publishers fumble with how to best manage books/prices/formats.  It means falling in love with an author only to discover s/he’s been dropped/pushed to another genre/opted out.  It means reading partial story arcs when publishers decline to pick up book three of a trilogy because books 1 & 2 weren’t blockbusters from the start.  It means watching bookstores shrink and the struggle to find new sources–reliable sources–of quality reading.  (Clickie for some more thoughts on that.)

So now, I will reveal to you the answers to all of these dilemmas and more!

HA HA HA HA HA HA!

*coff*

Maybe not.

Maybe I’ll just point out the obvious. We’re in this together.  And in order to reach the best possible outcome, we need to stay in it together, with awareness and an understanding that our interests do, in fact, coincide.  We’re each going to explore different paradigms to fill our needs, but my gut feeling is that the ones that are successful will be the ones where we BOTH get to be number one.

And because I’m both reader and writer, and because I’m incorrigibly persistent (which is how the reader got to be a writer), I happen to think it can be done.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 04:00 and is filed under Behind the Scenes, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “We’re Number One — Between Reader and Writer”

  1. Lori Devoti Says:
    August 18th, 2010 at 09:56

    My favorite part about all of this, the part that makes me excited, is that it is about readers and writers. We have the opportunity to make it more about those two groups than ever before because authors potentially will be able to afford to write books that don’t have to have mass appeal. And readers will have the ability to find books that speak to them that weren’t written with the need to appeal to the masses.
    That could change everything. :)

  2. Doranna Says:
    August 18th, 2010 at 10:02

    Shatzkin talks a lot about vertical marketing–this is a perfect example. It’s okay to appeal to a niche in this new world! The challenge, I think, is finding the connection point.

  3. Julie Ortolon Says:
    August 18th, 2010 at 13:54

    These are exciting times to be a reader and a writer. But we aren’t the only winners. Yesterday, when I wrote my blog post asking if ebooks could save (bring back) the independent bookstore, I thought people would call me crazy. Then, this morning, I saw an article in Reuters saying, “U.S. neighborhood bookstores thrive in digital age.”

    My blog post: http://bit.ly/cUk8BX
    Reuters article: http://bit.ly/dwlm9t

    We have some challenges to overcome before readers can easily find the books that appeal to them among the mass of inventory that is growing daily, but good things are ahead.

  4. Doranna Says:
    August 18th, 2010 at 14:12

    Julie, most excellent!