One of the key
components being a successful writer is being in the community of writers and
readers so last week I attended the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and
what a grand event it was, thousands of people, music, food and literary
workshops made up the landscape on the campus grounds of USC.
I attended the
workshop “Non-Fiction, Sounds and Visions” and I am so happy I went, there was
a publisher from Brooklyn, and he gave me so much hope. There was much
conversation about how the Internet has changed the entire publishing industry.
There is good, or great news for self-publishing authors.
The old boy network
is gone, and a lot of New York traditional publishing houses are suffering.
Well known best-selling authors are now self-publishing because they want to
maintain total control over their projects, and keep ALL the profits from the
book.
It was music to my
ears, in the world of traditional publishing, armed with many rejection letters
the author was made to feel like a second class citizen in the publishing
industry. It’s hard to get a literary agent, and the chances that you can get
your book in the chain book stores are slim to none. After all the big
publishing houses have to have the edge, right?
Wrong, NOT ANYMORE!! Yeah, we have
power! The field is wide open and all it takes is good solid writing, and a
business plan better known as a book synopsis.
In the world of
e-books, I concede that they have sold gazillions on the Internet, I’ve even
bought a few, but nothing, can take the place of the paperback book. You know the kind,
you hold in your hands, and turn the corner of the page down, the kind that you
highlight and mark in, the books in your bookshelves or your nightstand, that
product is not going anywhere.
So my fellow Writers,
keep writing and use as many avenues as you can to get the written word out,
such as blogs, and there are tons of websites, online magazines and newsletters
that are always looking for
content. Find the ones that fit your
genre because this is a great way to build a presence on the Internet. Besides, somebody needs to read your words
and it’s not helping anyone as long as it’s in the notebook or your
computer.
For those of you in
the Los Angeles area, we are starting another creative writing workshop in
June, and the goal of the workshop is to produce an anthology of the work that
is created in the workshop, thus you become a published author!! More info will
follow and I invite you to follow me on www.reflectionsph.blogspot.com
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