With the economy as bad as it's been, the last thing anyone seems to be hopeful for is the book industry. Especially with eBooks and eReaders and iPads 1, 2, and 3 being as popular as they have been--  what hope is there for the physical book? There have been some wildly successful eAuthors who have published a million books (and therefore earned a million dollars) without a publishing contract, setting the stage for what seems to be the new publishing Way. In light of this new phenomenon, with crime and western novelist John Locke selling as many-- and probably more by this point in time-- books as James Patterson and Michael Connelly, but with no agent or publishing house or marketing budget, the future has been looking rather grim for the traditional means of publishing. Emma Barnett of The Telegraph wrote on John Locke that his "remarkable achievement is being hailed as a milestone of the internet age and the beginning of a revolution in the way that books are sold."

Now, I did a study last year on eBooks, ePublishing, and eReaders. The study itself was conclusive even as it was inconclusive. The fear that the book is dead and that technology killed it is utterly overblown. If anything else, technology is helping books to be read more. Now, is it helping books to be more economically profitable or protected for the publishers and the authors?

That's another story altogether.

It can be argued that technology killed the music business. People don't buy CDs or Albums or Records anymore. At least a large number of them don't-- why spend the money when you can find a way to download it somewhere for free, legally or illegally? And thus the music business is rocking. Not in terms of the big tycoons who are already established. No, they're fine. But any up and coming or hopeful or small music business, school, or band is going to find things much more difficult than they've ever been.

The same can be said to be happening to the publishing industry. New authors are going to have to fight to have their books published in the traditional way, even more so than usual. It's frustrating-- you can see all the new books coming out every year, you can argue that your book is better than the smut found in airport lounge (not all of it, but some, and I'm exaggerating on a stereotype here, so go with it), but you're still going to struggle after those agents and publishing houses, day after day, week after week, possibly even year after year. How are we going to manage?

Because not everyone can be a John Locke with a million dollars in eBook sales. My author mentor of this last summer gave the eBook thing a whirl, and while her poetry selection was free, she had an outstanding audience. However, as soon as she put a price tag on her work, even of .99 cents, her audience dropped to practically nothing. I am by no means saying that Mr. Locke had nothing but a lucky break. But he had something in addition to the fact that people wanted his books. Perhaps he caught the wave of eBooks right on the cusp of the wave that then crashed down and is settling out into a great ocean, now. I couldn't say.

Until the publishing industry finds its balance in the wake of the new technological evolution we're going through-- and we are certainly going through that-- things will be hard. But Sarah Hoyt of PJ Media addresses the topic from a better standpoint than I, as from the view of someone already out in the freelance and writing world of today.

In her article The (Publishing) Times, They Are Achanging, Hoyt addresses the different models of business that some agencies are going through-- of essentially opening up their own digital printing presses. To put it simply, they think that the publishing industry is so far gone that in two years all the big publishing tycoons will be as fallen as Rome is, and they'll have to already be able to stand on their own two feet. Unfortunately the model that they're embracing is not exactly the most...I shouldn't say 'ethical' with my limited knowledge of it. But I read Hoyt's article and my nose starts to wrinkle. I can smell a rat on my own when I see the words 'upfront costs' and 'conflict of interest'. Just like when I get letters from subsidiary publishers saying they 'found' my book in the Copyright archives. Oh yeah. Sure I'll pay them to put their hands on my brain child.

...Just in case you haven't been told, that is a bad idea. You are never to pay anyone for the privilege-- not for them to read your work, not for them to publish it, not for them to edit it, nothing. You are selling your work, and they are paying you for it. Rule number one. Don't forget it.

In any case, Hoyt sees this transition as no bad thing. There will be those big houses that "will pull back from the abyss. They can still offer value, or at least some of their imprints can, if they uncouple from the conglomerate and develop highly individualized selections and a community that’s loyal to them – say, like Baen. Then they can put their imprimatur on newbies and offer beginners a ready-made public they’d not otherwise have."

Ahh, now that is music to my ears. So the changing times are going to open up opportunities for the rest of us new authors. I like it. And you know, it shouldn't be all that surprising. The same can be seen in the  job market today-- even though things are really bad now, we're about to get through the Baby Boomers. The number of people retiring in the next five to ten years is going to be astronomical. And who is going to take their place in the job market?

Excuse me. Here's my resume. Oh, and here's a copy of my book.