There\u2019s a lot of talk (and complaining) about changes in the publishing industry. The changes have been taking place since around 1996, but they seem to be accelerating. I reported strong evidence of the shifting publishing sands in yesterday\u2019s blog post. I just proofed the May issue of SPAWNews<\/i> and read articles reflecting the shifting tides that other professionals have observed. So what does this mean for authors?<\/p>\n
It means that we must put a lot of thought into the books we write before writing them. We must write well, identify our audience early on and write for those readers. We must be fully prepared to promote our books effectively in order to reach that particular audience. So what has changed from the author\u2019s standpoint? Nothing.<\/p>\n
As authors, we\u2019re still required to do our best work, know our readers and what they want\/need and understand the publishing industry so we approach the task of book promotion in the most effective, sensible and successful way.<\/p>\n
We should be open-minded, flexible and willing to take on the responsibility we signed up for. You don\u2019t believe you signed up for anything? Oh yes you did. As soon as you took it upon yourself to enter into the hugely competitive publishing industry and write a book, you accepted responsibility. Whether you live up to it, is up to you. Your decisions will determine whether you succeed or fail.<\/p>\n
My message to you today is, yes, the publishing industry is changing in many ways and yes there is still room to succeed. But you must be informed and well-prepared. Start by studying the publishing industry. As a first step, I recommend reading \u201cPublish Your Book,\u201d by Patricia Fry (that\u2019s me). It\u2019s at Amazon.com in print, audio and Kindle. Or order it from the author: http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/PublishYourBook.html<\/a><\/p>\n Think about it, you wouldn\u2019t enter into any other kind of business without knowing something about the industry, your product, your customers\/clients, suppliers, competition and so forth. Publishing is a business\u2014a highly complex business and you really ought to consider yourself the CEO of your book from start to finish.<\/p>\n For a heavier dose of writing and publishing reality, subscribe to my bi-monthly enewsletter: http:\/\/www.patriciafry.com<\/a>. Check out the archives here: http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/publishingblog\/?page_id=3081<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s a lot of talk (and complaining) about changes in the publishing industry. The changes have been taking place since around 1996, but they seem to be accelerating. I reported strong evidence of the shifting publishing sands in yesterday\u2019s blog post. I just proofed the May issue of SPAWNews and read articles reflecting the shifting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t