It’s Never Been a Better Time to Be an Author
Literary agent Nathan Bradford recently shared some intriguing ideas about the state of publishing. In his words:
In essence, it’s the best of times and the worst of times. If you’re an enterprising author there is a world of opportunity out there. Never before have we had a book publishing world where truly anyone could publish and potentially find their readers. Before there was a fundamental obstacle: distribution. That’s going away. Anyone can publish. It’s a massive, groundbreaking shift! I suspect soon there will be even more opportunities for collectives and online communities to boost sales, build brands, and become real players in publishing. Out of chaos comes order.
Note that last sentence. It’s true that chaos appears to reign in the halls of traditional publishing these days. The old order is being shaken to its very core. But equally true is that after this period of turmoil, a new order will emerge. It always does. It’s just that none of us are 100% clear yet on what that order might look like.
In the meantime, the future of publishing is being vigorously discussed, debated, and shaped at events such as TOC and BookCamp, in online communities such as Twitter, and on blogs all over the web.
And I agree with Nathan. It’s never been a better time to be an author. With the industry in flux, there are a wealth of opportunities for those with the acumen to recognize them and the moxie to do something about them.
Tags: changes in publishing, publishing industry, the future of publishing