Here is an inevitably incomplete list of seven reasons why now is the most challenging time ever to be a writer:
1. Writers face more competition than ever from other books, other media, and other ways that people can spend their free time and discretionary income.
2. The combination of an idea that is new and commercial enough, the craft to write a book, and the proven ability to promote it keeps making it harder for new writers to get published by big houses.
3. Big houses test-market books with the first printing. So even if a writer is published by a big house, books have a launch window that may be less than a month and is not longer than three months to build enough sales and publicity momentum to keep big houses involved with the book. Most books fail to do this, so big houses move on to the next likely prospect on their list.
4. More than 70% of books don't earn back their advances.
5. There's more competition for time and space in traditional media to publicize books.
6. We are witnessing the decline of the dead-tree culture. Because of the declining advertising revenue, newspapers have less space for reviews and less money to hire reviewers.
7. The continuing concentration of publishers and booksellers makes those that survive more powerful, but also makes it harder for new writers to break out. And as we see daily, power corrupts.
Next: Why now is the best time ever to be a writer.
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2 comments:
Hello Mr. Larsen, my name is Khaled Miller and you may or may not have heard it in the last few days. I am the idiot that sent in 3 chapters of my manuscript unaddressed to a specific agent. It was the one that came as an overnight package. I had previously spoken with your partner Ms Pomada and she told me what to send in. Being over exuberant about having someone actually tell me to send them a submission, I lost my head unfortunately.
I read your blog and understand the dynamics involved with buying and selling of a product. And regardless of the product the dynamic is the same. People have to want it, in order for you to make money selling it. Bottom line. My novel is a collection of moments from my life, or in publishing terms a memoir. Will it sell? Yes. Why? Because people will want to hear the other side of the story. People will want to hear from the three drill sergeants I had words with. People will want to hear from former supervisors to see if I really was the pain in the ass I sound like. People will want to know how my ex wife feels about my success. We live in a world of faux reality. Everybody want to be famous. Why not give a book full of people an opportunity to tell their story. How do you think people will respond when citizens of the gulf coast many of whom survived Hurricane Katrina, stand up and speak fondly of a black man from the inner city. And these would be citizens that don't match his skin tone. It's the kind of novel Oprah puts in her book club.
Mr. Larsen everything you are trying to do, is about change for a better tomorrow. I'm on that same path too. I shared this information with Ms. Pomada I'll share it with you. In the ant and bee communities there are members of those societies that don't reproduce. They are still fully functioning members of those environments, they just don't reproduce. When nature was creating human beings, because of our short gestation period, something needed to be done to ensure we don't overpopulate the planet, and as you can tell that is becoming a rising fear. So nature made some of those being born with a desire for their own sex. They are still fully functioning members of their communities. They just don't reproduce. I can be reached at 816-332-9764 or khaled_e_miller@hotmail.com Thanks fore your time Mr. Larsen
As old saying reveals, "What meant to happen will happen. Either try to make it happen by turning yourself inside out or do your job and see what happens..." Two choices. I tried the first one.
Erin
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