The recent news that Amazon.com will soon be publishing books, in the digital and also traditional paper format, has evoked mixed reactions. Publishing houses are a worried lot and agents are running scared; but authors on the other hand are thrilled. When Amazon.com began selling books online in 1995 no one, least of all booksellers, turned a hair. Then big bookstores went bankrupt.
Publishing firms are worried that the same will happen to them.
But consider it from the author’s point of view. Unless you are one of those high-flying bestselling writers or a celebrity, you are a lowly creature in the food chain. Agents will not see you and if they do, they will demand a hefty cut. Publishers have no time for newbies. Even J.K. Rowling kept on getting rejection letters because no one thought a book about a child wizard would work in today’s day and age. As for self-publishing, it boosts the ego but costs a lot of money. Amazon is shaking that environment up and is picking up completely unheard-of authors, chiefly because its business model does not involve heavy investment.
So all of those out there who have a story to tell — about your life, your friend or your dog — start writing and send it out to Amazon or any of the other digital publishers. And if they don’t accept, you could put it online yourself and wait for readers to buy it. And if even that doesn’t work, then you may be no good anyway. In which case you can always become a critic.