What's Happening to Publishing?

This week I heard about a successful writer who has not been able to sell her latest trilogy based on a proposal although she has been trying for nearly a year. She's gone ahead with writing it but has no idea whether it will ever sell. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a beginner but to hear it about an established author was, to put it mildly, unnerving. Even more disturbing, as I discovered in trawling the net, it appears she's by no means the only one in this situation.

There's more happening out there in the publishing world. On her blog, Pub Rants, Agent Kristin has something to say about Random House's recent decision to change the way it calculates royalties.

Then, as so often happens, I came across this on Nicola Morgan's blog, Help! I Need a Publisher linking to a post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Both are blogs I look at frequently because they are full of practical good sense for surviving in the writing world. It seems there's a lot to worry about if you want to be a writer these days but while Kristine Kathryn Rusch tells us quite bluntly about all the problems she also offers some good advice about how to survive this period of turmoil.

Have a look at what they have to say but try not to fall into despair. I don't know why others choose to write but I started because I had stories to tell and share and that will not change. Yes, the writing world is in a state of upheaval but the truth is we don't know what will emerge out of the present situation. All we can do is keep our heads down and have faith that story telling will survive. It will because it always has. It may have a different form but human beings have an insatiable thirst for stories and it will need to be satisfied. At the same time we need to keep up with what is going on in the industry and adapt to those changes. Hard? Maybe but writers are imaginative and creative. We can do that.

It's going to be a bumpy road but I'll see you at the other end.

Edit: apparently the page isn't showing from the link to Pub Rants. I'm not sure why. Here's an alternative option. This link takes you to the blog. If you go to her post of June 29 and scroll down past the details about Courtney Milan's Unlocked, which she is justifiably excited about, you will find the part on Random House. The previous post about Harlequin is also interesting.