The future of book / publishing altogether

For some reason I am inspired to share my innermost thought to you listeners on a subject concerning books and publishing, especially when it comes to ebook, self-publications, and trade publishing. You've all heard this phrase before, "you can't judge a book by its cover," but in this new age of self-publishing, we as readers would to have to be open minded to skepticism when we see a low-budgeted/self-designed book, because this output presentation immediately tells us the nature of the author's seriousness, why he or she couldn't develop an eye-pleasing graphic in this new-age, technology savvy, world. This is not to devalue the literary quote (you can't judge a book by its cover), but this quote as many of us would agree, has aged, and perhaps expired. This is not to disregard the work of any writer of value, because there are many great writers out there who had fallen victim to the traditional-publishers'-controlled-environment of book publishing, at least until the introduction of ebooks and Amazon-like outlets in the 20th century. I have attempted to become to serious at times myself, and I gave it everything that I owned, including my budgets and full-times. If you are great, only YOU can convince the world, and that mean that you'd have to be persistent. In the end, however, the persistent becomes an hard pill to swallow for many writers. But thanks to Amazon and the introduction of eBooks, many writers dream can now come true, and together we can break the bondage forced on our literary talents by the refusals from the big publishing houses.

I can honestly say that many of my best-read books were written by indie (independent) writers, and I am not only talking about novice writers, but seasoned writers as well. Traditional publishers could not handle the workload of publishing every writers out there, and that is perfectly understandable. This is why the big publishers only choose to publish the 'one-per-centers', the ones with the greatest chance of achieving a mass appeal, even if the writing is mediocre at best. Yes, this practice is unfair to many rejected writers, especially those who spent their entire adolescent studying the art and styles of writing, with little hopes of being that new voice of the generation.

If you can find that literary VOICE, then nothing can stop you.

What is this 'voice' I'm talking about?

Well, if you are still listening/reading this article right now you may not realize that you have just read a whole page of writing without pausing. The voice is that fluent deliverance that naturally comes with every seasoned writers who have perfected the art of writing and can delivering exactly what is in their mind, usually in one take, with the utmost clarity. Many writers like myself practiced on creating scenes, surroundings, dismantling and composing the scenes  like a broken pottery, to see if it can be perfected once again. Many writers would never find this voice, and would become stuck with imitations of what they'd read, hoping to make it unique with some tweaking. In order to achieve the 'voice', you would have to practice writing a lot, and with different styles. Big-publishers can immediately sense your nervousness (immaturity) through your query letters and sample chapters if you submit your work to them unprepared. A good editor can almost immediately sense what type of style you are writing with, and YOU DO NOT WANT AN EDITOR TO QUICKLY  IDENTIFY YOUR WRITING STYLE, CONSIDER YOURSELF DENIED.  Your presentation have to be unique, something never achieved, like Michael Jackson with the Pop-music, Picasso with his absurd arts, and that book 'Crime and Punishment' with its flawless deliverance.

A writing style is not something you build by chance, it has to be developed, honed, and mastered, and an editor reading your sample work can feel the story if it is good. If you want to become a world famous writer, unfortunately, you'll still have to go through a big publisher to gain that reputation. So good luck, and don't forget to practice tirelessly before approaching them.

I personally do not believe that traditional publishers are putting out the best books out there, and that their books are mediocre at best, except for a chosen few. I think that the book publishing business is going the wrong direction, and this is why the businesses altogether were loosing money before the introduction of eBooks, and the unfortunate downgrades of bookstores; Borders, Powell's etc

I think what ought to happen is individual franchising among big-money-traditional-publishers and independent writers if we are looking to expand literature through a diverse list of great talents. Big publishers franchising with indie-writers is not something unheard of. In the year 2005, Simon&Schuster acquired a small-press publishing business called Strebor, from Kristina Laferne Roberts, an author who is now famously known as Zane. Zane was a successful self-published author of many erotica books before Simon&Schuster approached her books and bought her publishing house. Now, Strebor is the largest producer of African American trade-mark books in the world. Another example is that of rapper 50 Cents, who is the owner of G-Unit Books, another imprint of the Simon&Schuster company. Oh yes, how about the shocking $119 million payout made from Penguin to to Author Solutions, the self-publishing company behind iUniverse and AuthorHouse, in the year 2012. Not bad. Another is that of Author Vickie Stringer, the CEO of Triple Crown Publishing, one of the largest urban novel publishers in the world despite its refusal to become an imprint of any big publisher. The story goes on and on.., and this leave a lot of hope for us indie (independent) writers / publishers.

Signing to a big publisher is not the only way you can achieve greatness. You can do it yourself if you are willing to put in the effort and time. Author Amanda Hocking is an example of the many independent greats who had sold million of ebooks. Time is money, and the big-publishers have a lot of them to budget out to make their chosen writers successful.

In my next article, I will show you some effective ways you can use to make your ebook widely noticed and climb to that bestsellers rank whether through Amazon or BN. For us indie writers, the struggle is real, but if you study the market, you will see that the opportunity is endless.

Tell us what you think of this article, sign-in and leave your comment for everyone to read and reply. Thank you.

P.S. If you find an error in this article, that's because it was written out in one take. I will recommend that you writers practice the same and just write. You may submit your composed article to me at, http://indiewritersupport.com/blog and I will approve it as a blog for all to see and read if it is properly written. 


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