Evolve or expire -- publishing

Where will the computer disadvantaged writer thrive?

Will they thrive? Will all the writers who failed to transcend foolscap pads to typewriter be the prototype of those who can not leap from typewriter to keyboard; and then will those who are perfectly skilled at technology miss the leap from the big publishing push to the "genuine" social marketing connection that makes all writing sell (regardless of the quality of the writing but based primarily on the connection)?

The current market for writing is one of both feast and famine; an unknown and inexperienced writer can quickly produce an 80-100 page "novel" and promote and sell it on Kindle (et al) for $0.99 and so long aas his "blub" and social marketing skills are well tuned, the writer will make good money in a brief period of time.

However, within the next three to six months, the social market that made it possible for him to sell a poorly crafted, ill-conceived and unplausible plot with unlikely dialogue and no character development will drop into the abyss of less than worthy slag on a reader's Kindle/Nook just as in the plethora of yard sale paperbacks that sell for 5 cents.

In twenty plus years of nurturing emerging writers, I have always been struck that those who possess amazing imaginations, natural ears for capturing meaningful dialogue, and fabulous stories to tell have ever been stymied by the best seller list. A best seller is not the best book. The best book is not even the one that wins the Pulitzer or the Booker or any other prize that applies to that genre. The best book is the book that no one could write as that writer has, the book that is both a mirror through which the reader discovers themselves in a manner they did not know before, and a book that is a window into a world the read is struggling to understand.

A finesse with social media will not achieve the qualities that a good book will. Write your best book. Then tell people about it and trust that they will tell other people about it. Yes, social media is key in building the relationships so strangers will earn about your book -- and it is also how you will meet strangers who turn out to be experts in helping you find your best book.

Evolve or expire,
Mary