The Future of Publishing ? :)

You have to have been living in a cave over the past few years not to realize that there is - has been - will be - a major shift in publishing as we know it. This shift began way back when my head was still in the sand. I was never going to get myself one of those crazy ereading 'devices'. I am - was - a book 'purist.' (What if I'm in the bathtub reading and it falls in? One of ads had a girl sitting on the beach and reading her Kindle in the bright light of the sun - to which I snorted, 'So, what does she do when she wants to go swimming? Leave it on the beach to get sand in it - and worse - stolen?)

But, then after Christmas I got an iPhone and everything changed. Actually, my husband and I got two iPhones, and got rid of our landline. Now, I know the iPhone is not a perfect ereading device, but it does work, and I've read books on it, and bought eBooks for it. But, what it has done is to provide me with an introduction to eReading. I use it in church, I read my Bible and devotions from it, I read the morning news on it, I read books, play games, read and send my emails, work on Facebook and Twitter. Sometimes it even gets used as a phone.

Suddenly, I began paying attention. I re-read those old postings in my various yahoo groups of novelists and authors. I started following the tweets of authors who were making a good living - thank you very much - by re-publishing their OOPs as ebooks. (Out of Print). I began reading the blogs of people who had even shunned six figure contracts in order to 'make more' by epublishing.

If you don't believe me - here are some of the blogs I've been following:

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-will-book-publishing-look-like-in.html

http://amandahocking.blogspot.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703838004576274813963609784.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/15/technology/ebooks_beat_paperbacks/index.htm?hpt=T2

Oh - and that picture up there to the right of this post? Twenty years ago I wrote a series of three mystery novels set in Canada with an RCMP corporal as its hero. (August Gamble, November Veil and April Operation. August Gamble even won best book in the - then - God Uses Ink competition.) I am now in the process of completely gutting and re-writing these as ebooks. So much has changed since I wrote these books - police work, technology, not to mention my own personal theology and view of life.

The new and revised August Gamble will be going up shortly as an eBook - probably for the whopping price of .99! The two later books will be 1.99 each. I plan to put them all up together.

Yes, the world is changing. What has been done to music (I can't remember the last time I actually went into a store and purchased a CD. I buy all my music now on iTunes.), is being done to publishing, and TV and movies. Stay tuned.

Linda

http://writerhall.com