As we come to the end of another year, it seems only natural to look both back and forward. 2010 has certainly been an interesting year in publishing. When publishers finally woke up to e-books, they did so in a big way. The variety of e-book readers has expanded. First there was Kindle, then Sony, now Nook, Kobo, iPads, and others galore. Even Google has launched its own cloud.
As the paradigm shifts, the tone of the conversation about these changes shifts as well. Whereas in past years these changes made some publishers, writers, agents, and readers portend doom and gloom, in 2010, these changes brought a renewed energy to these dynamic conversations. As publishers embrace e-books, so do readers, with sales of e-books beginning to exceed sales of print books in several important instances. For example, some statistics show that voracious readers, like those who love romance, are ones most likely to buy e-books. As agents and writers embrace new media and formats, there’s a renewed sense of collaboration in the partnership to find the best outlet for writers’ work. It’s all rather exciting to be here as the paradigm shifts.
What will 2011 have in store? Sadly our crystal ball needs polishing and our psychic abilities have taken their leave on this subject. But what we do know is that those of us who love books will continue to love them. We’ll read them, we’ll buy them, we’ll collect them. We’ll treasure them. Those who love storytelling will continue to spin their tales. They’ll push themselves to write better and better books that more imaginatively bring to life their stories for the rest of us to read. Competition does bring out the best.
Here at the agency we have a marvelous group of talented authors who write great books. For 2011 we renew our commitment to work hard on behalf of the authors we represent. We look forward to finding new authors who also have wonderful stories to tell. And as we enter the holidays, we urge everyone to take a moment to find a good book and enjoy.
Happy Holidays! Elaine & Naomi
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3 comments:
Hear ye! O hear ye!! You a writer? Groovy. Here’s our (God/i) nine, insane blogz YOU may steal/plagiarize to thy heart's content, giving YOU thots and ideas you may have never thunk Bfor, brudda!! Be prepared, though, Upstairs in Heaven Above, my blogz of humble wisdom and avant-garde-efficaciousness will be attributed to moi, aussi in some kinda trilogy. I don't think you'll much care in the Great Beyond, though, fulla party-hardy, kick-some-assness. God bless.
New to your Blog and looking forward to getting to know your work. I am a Northern Virginian, relocated to Texas and in the final stages of preparing my manuscript. Please visit me at http://www.usaravelli.com
Your comments as to the dramatic changes in publishing were illuminating. Among other things, what the growth of e-books means is that more prospective authors will be published in light of the striking drop in publishing costs.
Prior to paperless, boundless books, the hurdles to new authors have been insurmountable. A writer could have written the greatest story of all time and yet, chances are, it would go unpublished unless he/she had some insider connection to an agent or publisher.
Now, the story itself has become more of the determining factor as opposed to who you know. It's a wonderful era and I'm looking most forward to the future.
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