Want to know what the future of books is going to look like? Just look at the music industry. In the old days, if you started a new band, you had to hope that someone at Sony, RCA, or one of the other big record labels would sign you. They controlled access to the radio waves and record stores, where music was heard and bought. Then came the internet, and musicians everywhere began creating their own audiences by posting their music online. Technology transformed the industry. Instead of buying an entire record or CD to hear the one song you really liked, Apple’s iTunes made it possible for you to buy one song at a time, load it on your ipod, and create your own personal playlist. What could be better than that?
Or worse.
On the one hand, this change in the music industry is good news. Instead of being controlled by record executives at the top, music has become a grassroots movement, driven by individual musicians from the bottom. Because of the internet, more musicians than ever have the opportunity of building audiences for their music. The bad news is, their chances of making money are rapidly dwindling. Those old-time music executives may have ruled the industry with an iron fist—but they also knew how to squeeze money out of it. Nowadays, as music gets shared—legally and illegally—over the internet, the profits, and royalties, are lost. Bands sell T-shirts and posters at concerts to make money. Their music, for all intents and purposes, is free.
What about books? All you have to do is look at recent publishing news to see the writing (ha!) on the wall. For the first time ever, an electronic reader, Amazon’s Kindle, is beginning to take off. Sales of electronic books are still a small share of the market, but they are rapidly growing. With the help of major libraries, Google is scanning every book available to it onto the Web. Readers have come to expect that what they read on the internet is free, so don’t be surprised when they view books the same way. Even the value of books themselves—those paper and ink objects writers adore—is being driven down to zero. Why pay full price for a new book when you can buy a used copy on Amazon for as little as a penny?
What’s a writer to do? Well, you could do what I do and be brave—or foolish enough—to start a brand-new publishing company. Kind of like deciding to breed carriage horses just as Henry Ford’s first Model T rolls off the production line. I still believe in the value of books—but it’s not money that I’m talking about. It’s the value of personal expression, and of connecting with others. I don’t expect to make much—if any—money from my writing, but I’ve already experienced the joy of hearing from readers who were moved to tears by my work, who stayed up late at night reading because they couldn’t put my book down. It’s the same joy, I imagine, musicians feel when they play their music and watch people dance to the beat.
So get out there. Xerox your book at the closest Kinko’s. Post it online. Stop thinking of writing as a way to make you rich. If it’s money you’re after, there are certainly easier ways to earn it! Accept yourself for what you are: an artist. Your readers are out there, waiting for you. All you have to do is blow your own horn, and let them know you are there.
