Simon Drake – Writer

Yesterday, June 29th 2011 to be exact, I made a new discovery that has completely changed my life, yes, changed my life. In one day I finished reading two books. Yes, finished reading two books in one day.
Some of you will be arching your eyebrows, or if you have only one eyebrow, just humping it, and musing, “My god, how did Simon Drake finish reading two books in one day.”
What’s more, in just wasn’t one day, it was a period of 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours.
So, here’s how it works:
I’d bought a copy of Remix by Lawrence Lessig a few years ago. Don’t ask when, I can’t remember. And I’d been reading bits here and there, forgetting about it, moving countries (UK to Germany), and finally, forgotten about it.
Fast forward to two weeks ago, I picked up my wife’s edition of Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, and started reading that. I finished both books in the space of 4 hours.
Now I know you’re waiting for the secret, and some of you will be thinking, “Oh my God! He’s found a new exciting way of speed reading that also helps you lose weight, drink beer without getting fat, and reverse the ageing process!” but no, it’s quite simple.
I am currently in the process of moving from Germany to Australia. Many of my little family’s belongings have been packed up and shipped away, including the television. Now many of you can’t imagine a world without television, well suckers it is very possible. For most of the world, up until the 1950s and 60s, it was reality. And as of lately, without any television, I’ve noticed that I can read a lot, without even making a conscience effort of it. Oh my god, I hear you say. Yes, Oh my god.
But what happens when I am re-united with my television on the other side of the world. Yes, what really happens when the large flat screen is bolted into the wall and I’m sprawled on a sofa. Who will win that battle for my attention? Crap TV or classic books? Interesting documentary or crappy but addictive airport novel? And you know what, I think you know the answer. Yes, you know the answer.
However, what if my TV never ever arrives? What if the container ship it is on is hijacked by Somali pirate and my TV (and 28 other cartons of my life’s assorted junk (including many great books)) ends up in the mud hut of some needy family living on the exploits of Somalia pirates. Well, if they can get electricity, and they can tune into something, then let their brains be dumbed down. Not my problem. Yes, not my problem — but it is your problem.
Stay tuned!

The eBook has grown up and arrived. The Amazon Kindle is selling. eBooks are selling. Publishers are getting onboard. All along the driving force has been the audience, so what does this mean for writers?

Now that eBooks are gaining momentum, there’s no going back, there’s more innovation to come, and this will lead, not just into new tricky reading platforms, but newer audiences, even genres, and a New Wave of Writers. Change is happening, but first, step back in time, not far, let’s say 6 months ago… Call it the Pre-eBook era, or PreB, for short.
PreB was the age of the long, hard sell. The process of having a book published was like this:
1. Writer has an idea. Amazing. Not the first idea, though, but one deemed worthy enough of drafting and crafting and betting his or her career on. Let’s say it takes 1 Year to write the book.
2. Writer finds an Agent or a Publisher. Depend on who you know, ‘they’ say. Or, depends on how willing you are to push your precious little torrent of words into the unforgiving publishing industry. Let’s say it takes 1 Year to pitch and find a publisher or an agent.
3. Publishing company has a back list, a list for next year, but they give the green light and the book goes into the pipeline and will be launched during a convenient window in 6 months.
4. The book is released, very modestly, 2.5 years since inception. Miraculous, because things usually take longer, given that most writers don’t have a year in the south of France to write to their little heart’s content, scoffing down croissants in the morning and drinking fine wine in the afternoon, and in between dreaming up and shaping characters, scribbling it all down and having the notes typed up by a Creative Writing student on work experience.  Also, finding an agent and a publisher takes a lot of hard work and scheming. Let’s be serious, it is a buyers (Publishers) world because they control how the book buyers, the audience, viewed the product in a book shop. And, given the explosion in word processing and increased living standards, a lot of people feel they should write, not that they have much to say, but because they can. And they will. And they’re encouraged. But the buying public don’t feel the need to read all that is out there –they’ll browse for hours but at some point they want ease of purchase, they pick a genre, and for a long time they’ve been happy. But, curiosity gets the better of all of us. You like a genre, you want to explore a niche of it. You then want to indulge in a fraction of that niche, but the publishers can’t explore that far down the line, because it wouldn’t be a profitable market. Publishers have enough trouble predicting what the market will be like by next year, so they manipulate the audience into mainstream trends, and pray the books in their pipeline will meet demand. Forget the little niches.

Fast forward to the now. eBooks. Readers can explore those little niches. Here’s the process:
1. Let’s say, depending on the quality and writer’s work/life/writing balance, it still takes 1 year to write a book.
2. Self-published, the eBook can be available a few weeks later.
3. Release by a reputable eBook Publisher can be done in weeks or years, depending on backlog.
The difference is time, physical constraints and cost, meaning whatever whets the appetite of the audience, writers can now meet it, fast than ever.
My prediction is that a New Wave of Writers will come of age, and the type of writer who fits the bill is:
- Appreciative of the benefits of eBook technology
- Pro-actively pre-empting the audience demands, dreams and desires,
- Not afraid to risk writing a book for the niche of the niche markets,
- Willing to write a quality book, and,
- Has already built a relationship with a Traditional Publisher or eBook Publisher.
Being a writer is completely different to what it was ten years ago. You have to run to keep up.
Note: There is a difference between the people who read eBooks and those that don’t – Age. If you are old and weary, you don’t want to read off a screen because you never had to, and now your eyes are losing resolution and focus and there’s nothing you can do about it. As for the young, it’s probably only in the worlds of eBooks that they can relate to the real world – writers, step up to the challenge! However, it’s the audience that drives this market. Always was, always will be. |