A friend said to me: “Writers who don't adapt to the changing
environment won't survive as professional writers. If the bookshops go, the
publishing houses may go. No more advances or royalty cheques,
however small.”
When you indie publish, you don’t get an advance on your work. You pay up front, either the capital costs of
producing print copies of your work (not insubstantial) or the smaller costs of
publishing directly to a digital format.
What if there were no more hard copies?
What if tree books became obsolete?
I don’t see this happening in the near future, though who knows where
and how we will be in fifty or a hundred years’ time.
Of course, if books were only available
as e-readers, they would only be available to people with a computer/e-reader
and an internet connection, which would exclude people who don’t have access to
these. So it actually removes choice for many and divides and
marginalises. It only widens options
when those choices are available for everyone.
As a writer, one needs to keep on top
of the constantly developing changes and developments in the world of publishing
– adapt and survive.
