Thursday, March 28, 2013

Thursday Thoughts - the Evolving Industry

I hope you'll join me today at Desiree Holt's blogspot, where she interviews me about my writing and Dylan's Song. Remember, I am giving away a Celtic necklace to a lucky winner who leaves a comment during the tour!

I was speaking with another author recently about the evolving face of the publishing industry - which will also be the theme for the next Book 'Em North Carolina event scheduled for February 22, 2014. Her position was that agents and traditional publishing are a thing of the past; that all authors should self-publish.

I respectfully disagree.

I believe that every author has a unique path to his or her career. I believe that success is spelled in different ways to different people. I am friends with authors who are with the largest publishing houses and they love it. I am friends with those who decided to self-publish and love it. And I am friends with authors who have taken one path or another and look for greener pastures.

The publishing industry is a complicated one. The largest publishers have lagged behind the times as computers and technology have created innovation in other industries. This has led to smaller, more flexible publishing houses forming almost overnight - houses that take chances on new authors, new genres and unique plots. They are beginning to wake up, albeit slowly, but I wouldn't count them out - not by a long shot.

I believe there is room in this industry for the largest publishers, for the traditional mid-size and smaller publishers, for hybrid publishers and for the self-published. There are advantages and disadvantages to each path.

What do you think?