The End Of An Era

Last weekend I attended a writing conference sponsored by ANWA. It was a fabulous weekend filled with wonderful speakers and even more amazing writers. I love the lessons learned, but even more, the sisterhood that is felt when you are in a room with women who love what you love.

Had a blast with this crazy group at lunch!

A lot of the conversations at the conference seemed to be centered around how the “industry” is changing. No longer do the publishing houses rule, and no longer do you need to go through typical avenues in order to be a successful author. This is all in thanks to the E-book. Is this a good thing, yes, yet, there seems to be some definite trade offs here.

            Before we know it our bookshelves will be empty and our kindles will be filled. I admit I very rarely read actual books anymore. But, just recently I stopped to realize what we are losing. For over 600 years we have been blessed with printed books. Soon that time will be gone, gone! I hope we can all realize the significance of this. It is HUGE! I am all for technology, but man, this makes me sad.

            Another thing that worries me is this idea that the author is the brand and the book is the product and that for some reason the brand is more important. I know I am old school but this idea breaks my heart. If the craft is not as important as your ability to sell yourself, are we losing something here? What happened to writing a great book, a book that changes lives? Books have changed my life plenty of times. I remember being 11 and reading “A Summer to Die” by Lois Lowry. This was the year after my brother had died of cancer. That book changed my life! That book allowed me to feel what I had kept bottled up for over a year.

            Now, I know you have to built your platform and sell, sell, sell, I just feel that your writing should still hold supreme.

            Well, this is all coming from a struggling author, so, what do I know, right? It is just something that has been clinging to my mind for a while and I thought I would share, and hopefully get your take.