. . . And the Walls Came a Tumbling Down

I’m headed into a new phase of my life. I’m transitioning from unpublished author begging agents to read a few chapters to hot, middle aged mama (hot is an overstatement of my general aura), boldly self publishing my novels for all the world to see.

I have spent the last ten years working the agent/publisher gig; writing, querying, attending conferences, reworking my synopsis, posting & reading at publisher and industry sites and generally immersing myself in an industry that equally prizes innovation, cherishes imitation (read sequels), is entirely subjective and seems unable to understand that their world is on the cusp of a change so large that they’d best soon schedule a meeting to address that change or someone may escort them out of their office when the rent goes unpaid.

Truthfully, I’m a little pissed off. It’s like a spent a boatload of time cataloging 8 tracks to find out the players are no longer made. I’ve been following this business for a quite some time, I knew change was coming. I remember when I found out about the first ereader and thought to myself, change is coming. But who knew when? And who could have predicted the depth and breadth and speed with which a centuries old industry was turned on its head.

Well the answer is obvious – the answer is now. Between 2009 and today the publishing industry has gone through drastic changes and with it some of their gate keeper power has been eclipsed. Brought on mostly when a convergence of events including inexpensive ereaders, Amazon’s drive to grasp the ebook market and the public catching up to technology, felled the walls between author and reader. What has emerged is a whole new array of choices for readers and the brand new industries that will help independent authors find their followers. Would a traditional agent and/or publishing house have been a better choice for me? Probably. But then I would have waited much longer or maybe never would have been fortunate enough to read a comment like, ‘I loved this book’ posted for all the world to see.