Are Books Dead and Can Authors Survive?

[Stephen Palmer]

Originally Posted by RJM Corbet

You submitted directly to the publisher, then?

Yep! I was one of a tiny, tiny number who got picked over the space of 5 years. They were getting 2,000 submissions a year. So I was very lucky indeed, although Tim Holman did love the novel...

Thank you, Tim.

[Stephen Palmer]

Originally Posted by Anne Lyle

From what I've seen and been led to believe, debut authors are attractive to publishers because there's a chance they'll hit big. The real crunch comes when you're looking for your second contract, because now you have a sales record, and if that's not good enough, the publisher would rather take a chance on another newbie - who will probably accept a lower advance than you to boot.

It's why some authors have so many pseudonyms...

(later to be revealed!)

[Anne Lyle]

Ironically, those pseudonyms often only exist to fool the computerised ordering systems. Everyone knows who the author really is - sometimes it's right there on the cover!

[Teresa Edgerton]

That's why I started using a pseudonym.

Bu you have only to go into a bookstore to see how many debut authors are being picked up these days, rather than going by hearsay on the internet.

[Anne Lyle]

If you can find a bookstore that stocks more than the latest bestsellers

A better bet, in SFF at least, is to look at magazines and online review sites, and see how many of the books being reviewed are debuts. Or take a look at the (not insubstantial) "Books Sold" list in Locus magazine - bearing in mind that this only includes the larger presses, and there will be lots of small press debuts not listed.

And back to the anecdotal - you can't toss a lightsabre at a genre convention without hitting a writer who's celebrating their first book deal

[J-WO]

Originally Posted by Anne Lyle

Ironically, those pseudonyms often only exist to fool the computerised ordering systems. Everyone knows who the author really is - sometimes it's right there on the cover!

See, I'm no expert on the industry but its symptoms like that that suggest a system is on the verge of ossifying unless its shakes itself up or some new element comes along and creates a new equilibrium. You see similar things right throughout history.

[Stephen Palmer]

Originally Posted by Anne Lyle

And back to the anecdotal - you can't toss a lightsabre at a genre convention without hitting a writer who's celebrating their first book deal

Just like you at Eastercon!

[fleamailman]

("...me, I'm a realist..." went the goblin, having read through this thread now, adding "...isn't it rather obvious that by the time I had got someone to read even one line of my blog or downloadable pdf file ebook, just think of how many more people will have turned up on forumland as reader/writers in their own right, so yes, I too, could do yesterday's way for yesterday's market, marginalized under a law of diminishing returns, or I could somehow adapt my writing style to what readers are actually reading and where they are too, but what are they actually reading and where are those readers then, well actually they're here you're reading it, so welcome to your new readership, where before you dismiss me or it or them out of hand, remember that you level that dismissal at yourself in doing so, for you are just one of us MYAHAHAHA...")

[Anne Lyle]

Originally Posted by Stephen Palmer

Just like you at Eastercon!

Moi? C'est vrai! But now I have to give way to friends who were but hopefuls only a few months ago, like Louise Morgan (now boasting a book deal with Solaris). Seriously, all my convention buddies are either debut authors or just venturing into said waters - we're everywhere!

[Scarfy]

Makes me wish I'd stuck around and approached AR myself, now. Still, I did approach a few publishers at Eastercon 2010, but without any luck

Maybe I was aiming too high...

[Stephen Palmer]

Always aim too high. Every single time.

[Ian Whates]

Originally Posted by Stephen Palmer

Always aim too high. Every single time.

Exactly, you can always adjust your aim downward.

[Anne Lyle]

AR go to most of the UK SFF conventions, Scarfy - you have no excuse!

[Scarfy]

Well, sadly when they had their open month, I was disqualified because I'd already self-pubbed the first book in the series, even if I was offering up the rewrite.

Not to worry, will approach them over something else

[indiewordsmith]

The article tackles an interesting insight with the advent of digital revolution and how it is affecting the writing world. This fact poses great challenge to writers, I must say. However, I don't think writing, as a profession, will be at the brink of extinction. The industry will still balance out. There would still be room for brilliant writers and a market for their literary pieces.