CNN has posted an article detailing the experiences of novelist Lisa Genova, who spent almost two years writing her book, only to have the difficult subject matter remain unpublished, with agents scared away. Flash forward three years, and her book about an Alzheimer’s stricken Harvard professor is in its twelfth week on the New York Times Best Seller’s list.
After numerous rejections Genova, against the suggestion of literary agents, submitted her work to an online self-publishing company. For $450 she was able to attain an IBSN and the ability to sell on amazon.com. After exposure and good word of mouth on Amazon, her book was picked up by a bigger publisher and now she is an NY Times bestseller.
What does this mean for the future of publishing? Well, just as what the digital revolution has done to film, publishing will go through a similar process. Anyone with $500 can buy a high definition digital camera and make movies at as high a quality as David Lynch or Robert Rodriguez, two filmmakers who have embraced digital filmmaking. Self-publishing sites like Lulu.com or AuthorSolution.com are able to start printing novels for first time authors for as low as $19, and many larger publishers are scouring these kinds of sites for fresh blood. Writers like Genova just have to trust in the quality of their work and wait for publishers to catch on.
The downside of these kinds of sites is that when the marketplace becomes oversaturated, the quality of writing goes down. This will, however, create a freedom that writers have never had before. Unlike the vanity presses of before, these new sites can help a writer get real distribution and some even include a marketing package. Good or bad, writers can now be their own editors and publish material when they want to.