Image from: http://it.coe.uga.edu

Take a good look, folks.  See that writer’s latest blog post in your feed?  Soon, that smilin’ mug will grace a book jacket.  We are the next generation of book authors.  Glorious times, my friends, glorious times.

In the last six months, I’ve had several writers in my blog circle announce the securing of agents or the impending publication of a book that they have been slaving over for months (years).  I’ve also seen familiar names bylined in articles in at least two different writing magazines.  It occurs to me that we are all riding the same wave.  Some will reach the shore long before others and some will get caught in the undertow and be carried back out to sea, only to start their journey anew.  As I contemplated this wonderful scene, I realized that we live in amazing writing times.

This generation is and will be different from our contemporaries.  The process is different, the options are certainly different and it is possible the very results will be different.

The Then And Now Of It All

The physical act

Then – Manual typewriters.  Or IBM Selectrics for that matter.  Great machines, but no delete key, darn it.  Heck, some writers probably even tapped the keys on these puppies.

Now – People are writing the next NYT bestseller on their freakin’ iPhone while they ride the subway to their day job.

Correspondence

Then – Stamps, reams of paper, plenty of manila envelopes, white-out, SASEs, address books with outdated editor information.  Waiting.  Long periods of waiting.  Crushing weeks of checking the mailbox for a thin envelope or a fattie.

Now – Geez, you can get rejected in less than twelve hours if you got the editor’s email address correct.  Now  THAT’s service.

Platform

Then – Endless local writer’s groups, posting flyers, making full use of the “pest as a platform” philosophy.  Hey, once the pub deal is inked, now it’s the Publisher’s headache.

Now – Blogitty blogitty blog.  Post the posts to make the most of who you be, to sell your novel-ty.  Also known as author marketing.  Go Feed your Friends through your Facebook while Twittering the latest Google Buzz.  Yup.  We have got it soooo easy to get ourselves marketed.  The more you can get your name out there, especially in writing and publishing circles, the greater your chances of success.

The Book

Then – Hardcover? Size?  Paper grade?  Decisions to be made but the end result was always the same:  A book!

Now – Hardcover?  Perfect bound? Size? Paper grade? E-book?

Publish

Then – For the love of God, any publisher will do.  Just get me a physical book!  Vanity publish? – Pshaw!

Now – Traditional find an agent/editor send queries to the big houses.  Publish as an e-book only.  Hmmm, Apple or Amazon? Maybe a shotgun approach and publish in all ebook formats.  Publish the first few chapters or the whole thing?  Post a chapter at a time on the blog and then consolidate into an ebook?  Take it to a POD and get the physical book in time to stuff those stockings at Christmas?

Okay, that’s probably enough silliness.  You know, I started this post as a serious opinion piece about how lucky we are to be writing in this age with all of the tools that early writers could never imagine.

I took a left turn somewhere and landed right in the middle of Sillyville.  Dang, I need to upgrade the GPS app on my smartphone.

Oh well.  That’s how it goes sometimes.