Be sure to read Paul Greenberg’s essay, “Bail Out the Writers!” in The New York Times December 9, 2008 edition. I’d be interested in your comments. How many of you are part of the 185,000 who claim writing as your primary career? I’ve been doing so since around 1973. Would like to invite you to chime in on Greenberg’s perspective. Here’s the link to the story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/books/review/Greenberg-t.html
Things are definitely slow for freelance writers and authors right now, but they always are this time of year. When I was doing a lot of writing for magazines, everything would start to slow down in the second half of November and come to a halt in December. It happened that way every year. There was no (or very little) communication from editors during this time. Clients stopped sending me their chapters, publishers ceased responding to queries or inquiries.
This year, add to that dire holiday report the fact that consumers are not buying books. I think the only thing people are happy to spend money on these days is gas. Since the prices have come down, it’s almost exciting to fill your tank. Everywhere I go, people are gleefully bragging about how much money they saved at the pump this week. Now, those thieving oil company execs are pretty good guys, right?
Well, I’d spend more time with you this morning discussing the future of publishing or encouraging you to keep writing despite the forecast, but I think I’ll go dig out my cat story book and start preparing it for publication as an ebook. This is something I’ve been putting off only because I’ve been so busy all year. It’s a pure labor of love project that I’ve been eager to return to. Besides, we all know that, in times of fear and uncertainty, we gravitate toward anything that’s warm and fuzzy. After 911, sales for comforters and cozy blankets and pillows rose, as did chocolate candy sales. When things are looking bad, people want to read what makes them feel good inside—stories that cause them to smile. Of course, we are also looking for answers. We want to know what to do next, how to proceed, how to protect ourselves should things turn even more ugly. Keep this in mind as you ponder what to write next.
If you want to become more deeply embedded in the publishing field, you’ll want to invest in my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html
If you have a book that is stalled or lagging as far as sales go, you might be able to revive it by reading my ebook, The Author’s Repair Kit. It’s only $5.95.
http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html