I’ve been thinking a lot about the publishing industry today. In fact, since the widespread use of digital everything, artists no longer can make a living in music, film, and television. Sure there are the few people who are making tons of money. But they are the key holders. The owners of the vehicles for art. Pandora and Spotify give away music and pay pennies. Commercials have a very short shelf life and actors no longer walk away with a fistful of dollars because either the commercial has a very short run or it runs on cable where they really get nothing–a one time buyout and the commercial can run indefinitely.
In the book world, it’s even worse. Everyday, I am bombarded with sites wanting my marketing budget to be spent offering my book for FREE. We have the most users they claim. Give us $200 and we can get 2000 people downloading your book–for FREE. Today readers expect all books to be free. And they usually are free at one time or another. When I advertise, I lower my price from $2.99 to $0.99. Three bucks is too much for a book? In the dark ages before digital books, a person went to a bookstore or library and got a book. We held it in our hands. We paid $12 or more. When we moved, we packed up boxes and boxes of books. When an author became a best seller, that author got rich. And maybe in some cases not deserved, but in most cases, books transported the reader. Books gave meaning to life.
In the digital age, the roadblocks to publishing have been torn down. There are no gatekeepers keeping writers at bay. Preventing writers of low worth from being published and also unfortunately some good writers as well. But that’s all gone. Anyone with a computer can self-publish. But no one can make a living at it. Of course there are the special cases. 50 Shades was on the cusp of what women readers wanted to read. Erotica had become a genre in demand. But this book took it to the next level of depravity. Some online bookstores stopped selling erotica that crossed the line into porn but not before 50 Shades had sold millions. Now there is a whole sub-genre of billionaire sadists. So the phenomena of 50 Shades won’t be repeated. Perhaps Beastiality is next?
That’s what happens on this wonderful Internet. A vehicle for instant communication devolves into porn sites, naked chat rooms and the like. But I digress. For the indie-author and I suspect even traditionally published authors, writing has become more of a hobby. Advertisers might be making money but more and more sites with mailing lists are getting into the game. So the underlying question is: Why would I pay good money to give my book away for free? What’s the point? But now no one wants to pay for their books. Oh, I don’t like this book–hit delete. Now when we move there are no boxes of books. Now when we want to read something, we just carry a library around on our readers full of free books, we may never read.
Making money on writing is now like winning the lottery. Even a meager amount of money. All the advice sites tell you, “Buy my book and it will tell you how to market yours.” Oh? Well, that’s a selling strategy for that book anyway. All I can do is be thankful that I’m able to enjoy the process and I don’t need to worry about paying the rent or buying food. Writing has been reduced to being a hobby not making a living. But writers aren’t alone. The next time you listen to music on Spotify, you have also made that musician a hobbyist.
