As the economy languishes in limbo and many of us wonder what comes next, I have made several observations as an author, one of which is that the Internet has become an important meeting ground for both industry and consumers.
That I am an author makes me part of the publishing industry. The Internet offers a matrix wherein for me to connect with readers.
My work as an author also establishes me as a consumer. This would seem to evidence what an author colleague of mine continually says, “Industry feeds industry.”
Writers and authors provide entertainment and information. To write we must consume knowledge, and research the topics on which we provide additional information, and around which we craft stories. We gain much, if not, most of this knowledge through reading.
The Internet serves as an important, quick and economical source for gathering information, if not pointing to the way to gain the facts we so desire on an infinite number of topics.
In so many ways the Internet has become the author’s best friend, if not greatest resource for practicing our craft and trade.
Yet the challenge facing most writers rests with learning how to best enter and utilize cyberspace such that we gain energy to fuel our passion, and not sit overwhelmed by the exponential number of opportunities that lie within the confines of a milieu that has yet to clarify its boundaries.
Adhering to the old standards of publishing, and those fiercely clung to by established writers can prove daunting and confusing, if not downright disheartening.
No one likes change. And yet some of the greatest discoveries have emerged during times of great upheaval.
As industry feeds industry, the writer/author of the 21st century would do well to accept that while the rules for crafting entertaining and engaging fiction have yet to change, the methods for making readers aware, and getting them to notice the stories created by our words have shifted greatly.
These new rules require that we find ways to draw consumers, rather than interrupt their daily activities. Two avenues through which to we can do this are to write blogs and craft articles for dispensation on the Internet.
In this way we not only provide information from which the reader can benefit, but the reader gets to see and experience our wares, our writing styles, what we have to say, our take on life. Doing so they can then make a more informed choice as to whether they will purchase a book we have written.
And unlike bookstores that have the ability to return unsold books to publishers, the educated consumer is less likely to return a book they buy.
How do you use the Internet?
What’s your greatest business challenge as a writer?