Monday 30 March 2009

10 commandments for writers in 2009

Anyone who knows me knows what I think about this. But there are plenty of you out there who have no idea. So here’s a list of one sentence, unexplained points to sum up my views. Over the coming weeks I’ll expand on each, but I hope this is enough to get a teeny weeny bit of debate going.

Call it my ten commandments for 2009

1.There is no stigma about self-publishing

2.Marketing is something small groups of like-minded writers can in many ways do better than big publishers

3.By the time the recession’s over the publishing houses will be playing catch-up with the new literary business models that emerge in the meanwhile

4.The internet is SOO much more than just another way of getting the same old type of book published

5.Don’t be afraid to give your work away for free.

6.Modern technology cuts out the barriers between readers and writers and brings prose back to life

7.Writing is not a zero-sum game – far from making my success LESS likely, your success makes it MORE likely, so cooperation between writers is a good thing.

8.Money follows innovation

9.Networking is about looking for ways to do something FOR people, not get something FROM them.

10.Writers need to think like musicians and artists; we need to be showmen and women, to work in the public eye.

Over the next ten weeks, I’ll take these one at a time as the subject of my “how to get ahead as a writer in 2009” column.

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