by Kevin G. Summers
T
oday I'm going to write about something a little off topic, something that is near and dear to my heart, but that is only peripherally related to the submarine cable industry. I'm writing about the massive changes in the publishing industry that have occured over the past few years.
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Still with me?
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First off, I want you to know that I've been teaching a creative writing class at libraries and the local community college since 2007. Back then, just 6 years ago, the long-standing tradition in the publishing world was that only hacks and nobodies self-published their work. It was also customary, even in the 21st century, that all manuscripts were typed in 12-pt Courier font and snail-mailed to the publisher. Only once your work was accepted was it appropriate to send a digital file. Fast forward to the present, and the world of publishing is undergoing a massive sea change. Authors like Hugh Howey, Jason Gurley and
Michael Bunker are proving that you don't need a third party publisher to be successful. Thanks in large part to devices like the Amazon Kindle and Apple's iPhone, readers can purchase books for virtually nothing, affording them the opportunity to try new authors. Now, the teacher in me and the part of me that was first published through Pocket Books is somewhat skeptical. I have to say that the authors mentioned above all put a lot of time into their craft. Their manuscripts were not only well-written, they were well-edited. The stories they have to tell are compelling–with a hook, memorable characters, a beginning, a middle and an end. In other words, they are professionally crafted and not amateur drivel. And after the writing is done, they put in the hours required to publicize their work. These are some hard-working folks–writers that might have easily gone unnoticed by the traditional publishing industry. Now, this isn't to say that traditional publishing is bad. They do a good job at what they do, which is identifying books and authors with the potential to sell a lot of copies. But some
stories take time to build and audience, and only through self-publishing can some of these authors slowly find that audience. I've observed this effect with some of my own writing. Stories that are long out of print are still selling as e-books, and I've been quite pleased with the sales numbers for my newer work. It's not quit-your-day-job money, but my audience is growing. None of this would be possible, of course, without the internet and its reliable backbone of submarine cables. Just think of that as you are out there installing cable or selling bandwidth or developing upgrade technology. The work you do is making it possible for artists to live their dreams and change the world. We're all in this together afterall.