E-Publishing- The latest overnight sensation

One of the "Hot gifts" for Christmas this year was the Kindle, the electronic book reader from Amazon. From the buzz going around, one would think this was the first year anyone had tried to write or sell an e-book, or offer an e-reader for sale. Predictions and dire warnings of the print book's demise and the disappearance of the neighborhood books store abound.
For those of us who have been at the forefront of the e-book revolution and on the bleeding edge of the change, it's almost humorous. I've been a published e-book author for 14 years. Back in the day (Nov. 1995) I signed a contract with an e-book publisher and jumped off the cliff into the abyss of the unknown world of internet publishing.
For the record, I have always been published by royalty paying, non-subsidy publishers. I have not paid to have my books edited, or published. I have had cover art done by my publishers and/or chosen to have my own cover art done. It was my choice.
I do file and hold all my own copyrights and retain all rights to my books. My publishers don't require that I assign all rights in all media to them.
The basic difference between my publishers and the "big houses" is that my publishers were small, start-up businesses that could not pay advances against royalties as, say, Harlequin does.
However, my first book, published in April of 1996, has been represented by three different publishers over the years, has been available to book buyers all that time and is still earning royalties nearly every quarter.
I've written five romances in the past 14 years. All five of them are available in multiple formats, including the new Kindle format. My novels can be read no matter what your favorite device happens to be. You could even read it on your IPod Touch.
But I know, I shouldn't ignore the elephant in the living room. Why would I ever want to take such a step? Wasn't my stuff good enough for the "big time"? Surely others make far more money than I do?
I came to writing late in my working career. At a career reassessment center, during a downsizing debacle at the phone company, I decided that one thing I wanted to do before I died was write a book. It was just that simple. Over the next few years, a story idea germinated and I wrote the book of my heart.
Then I decided to get it published (totally wrong order in today's market, according to the "folks who know such things"). I did not target my market first, I just wrote the story I wanted to write. That caused me all sorts of grief.
I got wonderful rejection letters and even a phone call encouraging me to write something else, something that would fit their line, because they liked my style. But a story with a heroine older that the hero, the father of the bride perhaps also being the father of the groom, with a possibility of a little incest between brother and sister was just too much for them, back in the mid-nineties.
However, I have always been a free spirit and have always done things my own way. Since my book had now been labeled a "non-traditional" romance, I decided to find a non-traditional publisher.
Sometimes serendipity happens. I found a small clipping from a start-up e-publisher in a newsletter for freelance writers. This publisher was looking for new authors. I thought, why not? And away we went. That publisher has long since folded, but I've moved on and landed with Awe-Struck Publishing, an imprint of Mundania Press. I'm very happy with them.
I've never thought I would be able to support myself writing in this way, however I have total control over what I write and when. It works for me. My editor has waited patiently almost two years for a sequel to my last book. I've been very ill over these years. But there's a spot in the lineup for that sequel, whenever I get it finished. A big publisher rarely does that.
I make enough the IRS is interested in me, but not enough to worry about. Some e-authors do. Unfortunately, there is a dark side to e-publishing that has emerged in the last few years. The people making the most money seem to be the folks writing the darkest and most erotic material. Not my cup of tea, but they do seem to be successful for the time being.
I belong to a group of e-authors that has been organized since 1997. We have more than 600 authors, from all over the world; certainly not a group who have just "appeared" this year. We're more of an underground river, running just under the radar, gathering strength, pushing closer and closer to the surface. We're not going away and we're not this year's hot item. E-publishing isn't the reason for the imminent collapse of the big publishers; their antiquated business models are doing them in. However, we are helping them along.
You know, the Luddites had a point. They saw industrialization as the destruction of their way of life and their ability to make a living. They were right. But by fighting , obstructing and denying the need to change, they sealed their own doom.
That's what's happening now. The publishing industry has to change. The next ten years will be even harder that the last ten. But we will get through it. And e-publishing will be the future, not the past.

CONNIE'S BLOG