Will the author go extinct?

[Neil]

I’ve been contemplating the future of the author in today’s high technology society. What will become of us and the books we write? Will the paperback go the way of the compact disk and disappear forever? Will publishing houses dissolve into nonexistence the way most record labels have? Will a paperback book become a rare object of antique art? I don’t know. But one thing I do know is that there will always be authors and there will always be stories.

What is uncertain is what medium will sell those stories? Something we can all agree upon is that ebooks will replace traditional books to a large degree. People will carry libraries of their favorites in nearly weightless ereaders the size of a sheet of paper or less. We all know how easy it is to pirate a book and place it for free all over the internet. So, how will an author make money?

As I see it, the traditional book industry of buying through a bookstore will soon become ancient history. An author will become writer, publisher, and marketer of their works (a lot of us already are). There will be no middleman between author and reader which opens a whole new world of getting the author noticed. Blogs and websites will allow fans direct access to their favorites which will generate a much closer bond between storyteller and reader.

I see a new kind of literary relationship evolving in which the populous will decide what they want to read by their own selection and not just books pre-approved, stripped down, and ground out from the corporate publishing paper mill. I find it exciting to think that any one of my fans can literally reach out electronically and ask me a question or just send a little note. I can read it and respond as if we’d known each other for years on a personal level. It is this inter-connectivity that will sell books in the future; by word-of-mouth.

To read more about me and my books please check out my blog: ALWAYS WRITING

Click here to read my blog!
http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

[Justin]

As long as there are still libraries there will still be paperbacks and as long as theres still paperbacks there will be authors.

[Vardan]

as long as there are stories to tell, there will be people who will tell them... after all, storytellers are a product of their respective eras and just as leaving the caves and no longer being able to make cave paintings never stopped people from finding something else to draw on, the change of medium cannot and will not stop an author from telling her/his story.

[A.L.]

I agree. The medium may change but the art of story telling won't. Books have been around in one form or another for centuries, why would it change? Yes it may be true that e-books are beginning to take over but there will always be people who like to buy printed books.

[Vardan]

Alexandra wrote: "I agree. The medium may change but the art of story telling won't. Books have been around in one form or another for centuries, why would it change? Yes it may be true that e-books are beginning to..."

Even today we see the rebirth of vinyls and cassette tapes so I foresee a strong comeback for the printed books at one point or the other. At the same time, the electronic medium has a very strong advantage especially for us the indie authors. Ten years ago it would be practically impossible for me as an indie science fiction author from the small country of Armenia to present my work to the world for the simple reason that I do not have the financial capacity to cover that kind of marketing and publishing expenses which would simply be a gamble anyway. Yesterday, I was checking the KDP reports on the sales of my two novels and it was amazing not really in terms of sales, which are still quite far from bestselling status but in terms of the countries from where the purchases have been made. From all the Amazon outlets, it was only Brazil where I failed to sell a copy and that is just amazing in terms of being able to reach out across the globe and be able to tell your story beyond geographic borders. That was my five minutes of praise for ebooks. As for myself, I still enjoy the feel of the printed book more but it never stops me from digging a story that is on my Kindle.