The Write Calling

Is writing your true calling? Here you'll find encouragements for writers, book reviews, publishing industry insider tips, and market news. Read musings on writing and publishing by Katey Coffing, Ph.D.: Life Coach for Women Writers.

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Location: Colorado, United States

Published fiction and nonfiction author who embraces her creativity and coaches other women to do the same. For information and prices, visit Women-Ink.com.

Monday, December 22, 2008

About publishing's failures...and the future

Music I'm listening to: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Loreena McKennitt

Some of you may have seen this already, but this article on the publishing industry by agent Richard Curtis is certainly food for thought:

E-Reads: Behind Publishing's Wednesday of the Long Knives

The future's nearly here, folks. I myself bought a Kindle last spring and loved it. I recently sold it, but only to prepare for the Kindle 2 (or another e-book device that will catch my fancy). Honestly, paper books now feel awkward to me. It's frustrating to have to hold them open (particularly since I'm often multitasking when I read--eating, brushing my teeth, etc.), and I hate breaking the spines of my books! Feels like a wee murder. I love the ease and practicality (no storage space needed!) of my e-books. They never yellow or get brittle, and I can lose myself in the story, instead of the format.

But DRM (digital rights management) is one thing holding me back from building a big e-library. I hope publishers and online retailers (ahem, Amazon) move to DRM-free books, or at least to ePub or another format that can be moved among the purchaser's devices of choice. I think Amazon will go that way eventually, based on its DRM-free .mp3 library and a strong hope that it smells the coffee, but we'll see.

Anyway, I do think big changes are ahead for the industry, for good or for ill. Let's hope for the good.

By the way, do you want to zoom forward with your writing? Could you use a support system for your publishing goals and a caring, personal guide to help you write and sell? Good, because now's the time. I'm running a half-off sale on book coaching for writers for the month of January! It's the first sale I've ever offered, and I may not ever do it again, but the new year is just around the corner and I'm inspired to help you succeed in 2009.

Go to Women-Ink.com/half.htm to read all about the sale, but remember--you must get in touch with me by December 31, 2008 and let me know you want the discount. Time's ticking. Go!  :-)

Dear readers, one and all, may you have the happiest of holidays and a truly magnificent year ahead.

Katey