I am so thrilled to post this. I have to say, being a part of LitSisters has changed my life in the most amazing way. And we are starting 2010 off with a bang! Not only did our boutique publishing house, LitSisters Publishing, launch today, but we also were featured on the home page of [...]
Every now and again an expert sounds the death knell of some item or other that we mere mortals can’t imagine living without. Inevitably they’re wrong. This week the object in question is the book. Frankly, I just don’t see it.
There were several stories in the trades this past week that draw the reader to an inescapable conclusion: the paper book is antiquated. The new way to read is with an e-reader. If there’s anyone out there who is still unfamiliar with the term, e-readers like the Kindle, Sony Reader and the Nook are hand-held electronic devices with very readable screens, adjustable font sizes and a glow similar to a back-light.
They are available for purchase in the $200-400 range. For around $10 you can download most any book onto it. In fact, many classics are available for free. E-readers hold about 1500 books and some have expandable memory beyond that. This way you could load your entire summer reading list and then some onto a hand-held device the weight of a mass-market paperback. Given its convenience and portability, digital books are a clear winner, right? Maybe.
Certainly there is room for e-readers in the book world of tomorrow. In fact, the fastest growing purchasing demographic of these devices is 55 to 65, likely because of the font and lighting features I mentioned earlier. There are prolific readers who are happily freed from toting numerous books on vacation and frugal readers who are tearing through Austen and Dumas gratis or enjoying the lower, paper-free price of a download.
But for all that, there are people like me. I love the feeling of a book in my hands. The smell of it. I like to curl up with it on the couch or stretch out on a chaise in my garden and smell the bougainvillea. As I sit in my office writing this, I”m surrounded by books. They’re my friends. In this new world, what would be on my shelves? I have a first edition of Tess of the D’Urbervilles that’s 120 years old. It doesn’t matter if I can read it on a Kindle. Solzhenitsyn can’t sign my Nook like he signed my copy of The First Circle.
No, paper books will never die. We readers become attached to them as children and that’s a love affair for the ages. As a writer, I celebrate the concept of making literature more available to people and I am happy for their ability to get it in whatever medium they want. But you’ll find me forever haunting the stacks, looking for the next paper-bound adventure to strike my fancy.
It has been thus since Gutenburg invented the printing press. Once they printed their fill of bibles, publishers began printing books based on their love of literature. They weren’t in it for the money, which was just as well because they weren’t going to get rich in publishing. In fact, they knew that the top ten percent of their list would support the other ninety percent, thus assuring, hopefully, that they wouldn’t lose money. These publishers believed in the work they did. And they believed that bringing new voices to an eager audience raised the level of all human discourse. And so it was.
In the second half of the twentieth century two things happened. The first was that multi-national conglomerates took over every company they could leverage, including publishing houses. These corporate titans didn’t read great literature, they read spreadsheets. And they weren’t interested in new voices. They were interested in dollars. Suddenly, the ninety/ten rule was out the window and profit was the new king of New York. It became harder and harder to enable new voices to be heard and literature began to suffer for it.
Now the second thing that happened began, slowly, to negate the first. In the second half of the twentieth century technology began to take off at lightening speed. From the B movie sci-fi scenarios of the fifties we wound up in the nineties, where everyone had a computer in their house, to the new century where many people carry one in their purses or bags. And the playing field began to level.
These days, with traditional publishing only willing to take a chance on a known quantity, writers are looking to technology to give them voice. And technology has responded in full force. Welcome to the era of the Indie Author. Writers are now taking their destiny into their own hands, eschewing traditional publishing for methods they can control. The Indie Author movement is spreading like a wildfire through the west and traditional publishing has no hope of putting this fire out. Newer writers as well as established authors are exploring the opportunities that technology and pragmatism have joined together to create. Publishing 2.0.
A librarian friend recently expressed concern on this issue, citing Barbara Bush is an Alien as an example of why the Indie Author will always be viewed skeptically. But I don’t think so. The market will shake out the silly, the irrelevant, and most importantly, the badly written. But for those who are looking for the next frontier, this may be it. And to them I say, “bon chance.”
What the heck is this all about? So glad you asked, reader!
Let me introduce myself. My name is CL. I’m the founder of LitSisters. What is LitSisters? Well, we’re a group of women. We write. We love wine, tea, coffee and the occasional pastry. But mostly, we write. And we believe that the term ’self-publishing’ is a four letter word. We’re writers with a strong business sense, empowered to do this publishing thing on our own.
We’re Indie Authors. We’re Writerpreneurs.
And we’ve each got our own poison. Aud, for instance, writes heart-warming stories about families, love, and strength. Terri will make you laugh until you pee yourself, but then smile when you realize that you’ve learned something in between your giggle-snorts. Christine’s literary-noir style will suck you into her sepia-toned world and keep you hooked until it’s 4am and you’re wondering where the night went. Robin’s slow, romantic style will make you swoon, like you’re holding hands with your loved one, taking a walk in the park in the middle of an Autumn day.
As for me? I write about hot guys, smart girls, glitzy parties and fabulous clothes.
So, what is our goal here? Well, in business terms, here’s our mission statement:
To encourage and empower writers to complete, polish and market publishable commercial print and electronic creative work. To provide technical, artistic, emotional and social support. But above all, to be kind and honest.
We support each other in a way we believe all women should, writers or not. We focus on creating quality work that we believe in, and will all stand behind. We’re a family. We’re sisters. And we hope that this site will help you, with your writing, the way we help each other. By providing useful links, interesting articles, and letting you into our worlds.
I hope you’ll come back soon, reader! You’re always welcome to join in the discussion in the comments, send us an email or two, and let us know what you need help with.
Because, just like in our three-dimensional meetings? We’re here to support you with your writing business, too.
