Traditional Publishing (R.I.P.)
Dear traditional publishers, editors, agents et all:
You are obsolete. Defunct. Done like dodos.
You're like someone who's been slashed with a sharp razor--you don't know your throat is cut until the first time you go to nod your head.
Remember what happened with newspapers? First there were twenty-four hours news networks, then on-line editions...who reads a physical newspaper nowadays except commuters and people who remember them as fond relics of another time? An aging, non-renewable demographic.
The problem is you're moving too slow and trying to predict niche markets, fulfill some twisted idea of what you think, you hope the reading public wants to buy. You've stopped developing writers, you're searching for media darlings, instant blockbusters, faces with harrowing stories to tell (whether they're true or not is another thing).
You gave up on me so I've given up on you. After twenty-three years of playing your game, I've virtually stopped submitting to magazines, won't send any more novels out to rot in slush piles for two years. To hell with you.
These new technologies are amazing. I have my own site devoted to my work. No editing, no censorship. A direct and intimate link between me and my readers.
I don't need you any more. I can find my own readership, release what I want, when I want. No constraints or market expectations.
Other writers have also discovered the advantages of going on-line. A potential readership in the millions, many of them affluent, well-educated, literate. Geeks and misfits and pop culture junkies. Exactly the sort of audience my work requires.
So long, traditional publishing. I've decided to explore other avenues. Already I'm seeing the benefits. A host of new readers, folks eager for a well-told tale, populated by characters they recognize and care about.
This way, I'm master of my own destiny.
Beholden to none.
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