A Future for Authors
Many pundits have voiced and written opinions about the future of the book. The past few years have made many people revise their definition of that very word. What is 'a book'? More than one definition is possible, especially now that digital appliances for storage and reading of eBooks are rapidly becoming commonplace.
What about the future for authors, though? How many readers - or authors themselves - have cared to document what they envisage about what the future might hold for those who write books?
That the publishing industry will change has never been in any doubt: it constantly evolves with technological developments and demands from the reading public. It changes with the prices of paper, diversity of audiences and demands for different materials to read.
The author is caught between what the audiences demand and the industry's responses. The author must develop and evolve too. How do you see that going? What do you think authors must take on, examine, and incorporate into their future writing?
Is it just writing? Authors are rapidly discovering that a lot more than writing goes into what it takes to be a modern author. Promoting, examining markets, understanding new technologies... it's becoming more and more complex.
Give us your point of view, and your notions of what might happen in the next five or ten years.
Written by Rosanne Dingli