It’s amazing how the sun sets on the publishing world and then rises again in a different galaxy, complete with creatures never seen before, and moons in the sky larger than a football stadium. We suddenly live in a completely different world. The economy does that, you know?
I’ve said it before: the book biz is changing rapidly and drastically. Just talk to agent Nathan Bransford again. He’ll tell you. HarperCollins announced a 25% drop in sales in this last quarter–compared to last quarter. Nathan has asked us to let that sink in….
(Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinking Iiiiiiiiiiiiin)
And boy is it depressing.
Major publishing houses out there are really struggling. The only real money for them are the bestsellers and celebrity books. YA is still doing well, but that’s about it. Everything is struggling.
The real issue as to why, unfortunately, is that powerhouse rise of the Amazon, the sexy, sexy, leggy hottie carrying around a Kindle and the capability of self-publishing any would-be author for literally NO COST.
That’s right, people–ANYONE can get published. Anyone. It’s not the same world anymore.
Many times before, my friend and colleague L.B. Goddard, super-cool editor of “The Monsters Next Door” and super-sweet short story horror writer has dry-humped me to death on the prospect of me self-publishing THE CAIN LETTERS. That woman can be persistent 
(sorry, Linds, I just had to plug ya).
So if you need any proof that self-publication is rising high (thanks to Amazon and other services out there within the publishing industry), you’ve got it.
What’s interesting to me is the state of my life as it will be in a couple of months. You see–this is what I’m getting at–
A year ago, two years ago, three years ago, I wouldn’t even have considered self-publication. For one reason–
I DID NOT HAVE THE FINANCES FOR IT. OR THE TIME.
It’s a risky business, self-publication. The legwork belongs to you. You do the marketing, you do the planning, the distributing, the everything. It can consume you more than an army of fire ants. Moreover, POD (print-on-demand) makes it that much harder to land your book on a shelf in a bookstore (even less with the popularity of e-books these days).
The career path I (hopefully) will be in MIGHT allow me the chance to pursue self-publication–that is, if agents or editors don’t take notice before that happens. Amazon and the internet these days really do make it that much easier to promote your book and to stimulate sales. And, ironically, POD actually does grant you the power of controlling just how many copies you might want to produce.
My faithful, beautiful, plentiful readers–you may someday soon see what a copy looks like of THE CAIN LETTERS (and possibly the sequel)–traditional publication or self-publication, it doesn’t matter.
It may happen soon.
Until then, though, I’m still waiting–waiting on the two agents that have my manuscript. I’m still waiting to see what’s next over the horizon of publishing. I’m waiting to feel the winds shift.
But more importantly, while I wait, I will WRITE.
