Edinburgh Book Festival Speaker: The End of Writers

Here’s a cheerful way to start your day, fellow writers: grab a double latte before you read this decidedly bleak view of the impending death of the book and the ultimate demise of the entire writing profession by a speaker at the 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival, novelist Ewan Morrison.

Be forewarned: it intentionally reads like a moaning eulogy.

Click here to read Are Books Dead and Can Authors Survive if you wish & then come back for a counterpoint or two.


Remembering that a good speaker always aims his speech at his target audience (this is a book festival, after all), his prognostications for the publishing industry at large are spot on; can you imagine the atmosphere at this year’s “festival”? A Scottish (not Irish) Wake, indeed.

While Morrison makes valuable and cogent points in this condensed copy of his speech, I think his view of both the present and the future for writers as a whole is actually quite a bit bleaker than the reality (the reality being that very few writers of the last 20 years have benefited from either cushy contracts, steady employment, or big book deals). It’s a jungle out there and has been for quite some time.

Granted, many writers WILL suffer from this shakeup, but much more of the suffering will be done on the printing, distribution, publishing, and marketing end (which, to many professional writers, actually lifts a heavy weight from their profit structure, as Mr. Morrison has pointed out).

I think the people who have paid the biggest price in the publishing industry for the last five years or so have been the printing presses. It’s been an absolute bloodbath for that industry as demographics shifted, papers failed, and book demand decreased precipitously. And, unfortunately for them, they really can’t simply re-calibrate their business to serve the digital publishing needs of their customers. They just have to go out of business, willingly or otherwise, as the demand for their services continues to wane. This is a tragedy repeated from the past (wagon wheel makers, harness makers, etc. never believed the notion of a car would go anywhere, either). We still need our presses, but fewer and fewer will be servicing the market, no doubt, simply because the market has shrunk. Permanently.

This shift in the publishing industry parallels the restructuring our society is undergoing now: autoworkers, pensioners, public employees, bankers, tellers, realtors, EVERYONE is living through a seismic shift in the workings of the world. And everyone is still trying to calculate the value of every profession. Some will make it, some will not.

I do disagree with the notion that paper books are dying or dead. Paper books will continue to exist, simply because some types of books don’t easily lend themselves to contemporary ebook formats (research publications, cookbooks, any type of “thumb through” book) and some readers just HATE ebooks, although, in my opinion, they’re a quickly dying breed. But there will doubtless be a move to “publishing on demand” rather than conventional book printing and marketing, which, as Morrison argues, will ultimately reduce writer’s incomes.

In the longer term, there will be more demand for skillful writing in this new atmosphere and I think the negative view of the perceived economic impact is a little too provincial, neglecting the tsunami of globalization. But the days of the writing hack are numbered. No more economic free rides for the “I can write faster than anybody who can write better” crowd. Competition is increasing dramatically and writers MUST educate themselves on how to protect the value of their various print rights as the sands shift.

IF a writer is willing to put in the time to learn the ins and outs of digital technology, it’s now possible to be your own writer, editor, typesetter, publisher, and marketing department, whether your books are digital or conventional paper. And we are profoundly blessed, as writers, to have a direct line to the consumer market through the miracle that is Amazon; no agent, publicist, publisher, or printing press needed, thank you very much.

The digital revolution has also opened exposure for writers in ways never before possible, granting a voice and a publication forum to writers who, in the past, would have continued toiling in actual obscurity. The modern writer may continue to toil, but today, he’ll at least have a CHANCE at an audience before he dies. And the better a writer is at navigating this new digital world, the greater his economic opportunity. It’s simply Darwinism in action.

Just remember that the price extracted for any freedom is a heavy one; the support structure has been pulled out from under the contemporary writer, just as it has from innumerable occupations. Today, to make it in the writing profession, you’ve got to be strong and multifaceted. You must be both a creative artist AND a skillful businessperson. But you also have virtually unlimited OPPORTUNITIES in this Brave New World. Gird yourself and go for it; the future has arrived.

E-Book Sales Top Paperbacks For First Time

On April 15, 2011, CNN Money reported that sales of E-books outpaced those of paperbacks for the first time.

The growth of e-books is stunning; sales rose 202% from February 2010 to February 2011, and Amazon reported in January 2011 that its sales of e-books surpassed those of paperbacks.

Good news for trees, writers, and Amazon. Bad news for traditional book publishers and traditional book stores.

The PACE of the shift is what is so stunning to analysts. And this pace spells doom to bookstores who are unable to accept this new reality and make quick and nimble adjustments to their business model. The world has fundamentally changed.

Welcome to WordPros

WORDPROS’ BLOG Celebrates Great Writing. It’s also filled with tips and tricks to help you improve your own writing skills. Whether you are a professional writer, a blogger, an Executive Secretary, or an English Major, a few basic tips can take your writing from bland to WOW.

OUR MOST BASIC ADVICE for the beginning writer?

Keep it simple, keep it active [voice, of course], and keep it real. And, if you want to be rich and famous– STUDY ACTING.

BEING A REAL WRITER
is like having a term paper due every day of the week.

IF YOU CAN’T TAKE TIME PRESSURE,
can’t meet a deadline, and you don’t just really LOVE to write, then remember these three words: “DON’T DO IT!”

You’ll find some great quotable quotes for your speechwriting projects & lots of web-based tips; check the categories on the sidebar for more info!

Geek Out: Google Domestic Trend Charts

Here’s a cool resource for economic freelancers (or for anyone who is interested in real world charts and graphs): America’s past economic performance, as demonstrated by trends in Google searches, adjusted for search volume.

The first page shows a couple of fascinating charts: the first is the “Google Retail Index and Clothing Store Sales” and one called the “Auto Buyers Index.” Actual retail sales figures are added on the Retail Index chart–interesting trends here.

It’s also obvious from the Auto Buyers Index that Cash for Clunkers had a dramatic effect, as was widely reported by the news media.

You can generate all types of charts by clicking through the lists on the left sidebar. Google also invites you to download the data, search for trends, & report back your results. You can learn more about this resource here.

There’s even MORE info about this project on the Google Research Blog.

Book Review: Googled by Ken Auletta

Googled: The End of the World As We Know It

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* * * Interesting in Parts, But Reads Too Much Like A Corporate Dossier

(Snapshot Review by Kerri Elders)

Without a doubt, Ken Auletta’s Googled is thoroughly and expertly researched.

However, it took me numerous ambivalent weeks to read it (BTW, it is not at all unusual for me to read 3 books at once and be finished with them all in two days and I am most positively interested in technology). Unfortunately, this one didn’t “grab” me like I thought it would, given its topic: the most brazen, upstart Corporation in the History of the Universe. The Anti-Microsoft. What I call “The God Box,” otherwise known as Google.

Although I can say I learned a lot I didn’t know before (like the incredible level to which we have all been contributing personal data streams to cable, satellite, internet, and phone companies for YEARS; the commercial value of this information; the fact that My Favorite NerdHero, Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, is one of the original angel investors in Google; AND that Amazon’s search technology is based on an offshoot of Google’s), it felt like those nuggets of wisdom were buried in a lot of unnecessary background noise.

I think if you personally knew some of the people covered in this book, you would find it more engaging than I did. For me, the first 2/5ths of the book read like a corporate dossier, reciting the degrees and digital pedigrees of individual employees and associated boardmembers, etc.

What I really wanted to read about was what the title promised: how Google transformed the world and how it would build it anew. I also hoped it would delve into how Google might be addressing the problem of Search Engine Optimizers who are gaming Google’s algorithm and degrading the quality of search results.

I HATE to criticize a talented writer who has obviously poured so much effort into a project, but this book just fell short on delivery of its promised “sizzle,” for my tastes.

However, if you are fascinated by all things technical, the final 3/5ths of the book offer some interesting insights into Google’s worldview and its current domination of the advertising marketplace (yes, it has morphed into an ADVERTISING and data collection behemoth). Worth reading, if you can slug your way through the corporate biographies!

[Review First published on WordPros blog 12/9/09]