Why the Internet is the Perfect Market for Writers
(Be sure to check out my guest post today over at Remarkablogger on When You Are Your Blog’s Brand. Big thanks to Michael for allowing me the opportunity to share my thoughts over there!)
photo credit: Luiz Castro
The thing about small business (which Internet writing is, make no mistake) is this: the guy that’s the best at what he does doesn’t always have the most success.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m a firm believer in the market. Of all the writers who have average business skills, the one among them who is best at what he does is going to rise to the top of the heap. That’s how the market works. But the one with great writing skills and no business or marketing sense is going to either need help or a hell of a lot of luck to succeed.
What does this have to do with Internet writing vs. print writing? It has to do with the barrier to entry. Print writing has a significant barrier to entry that Internet writing doesn’t have. To get published as a print writer, you’ve got to:
- Have a knowledge of the print publishing machine (i.e. understand the submission and query process, know which editors to contact, etc)
- Write to specific topics as determined by the publication to which you want to submit
- Wait for a publisher to decide if they want your work and when they might like to publish it
- Shop your writing out to additional publishers if it is initially rejected, which usually includes a rewrite
- Write material of longer lengths (2,000 words or more, on average, for a print magazine article)
In many ways, as a print writer, you are a cog in a well-oiled machine. If your marketing tactics are even slightly off, it can mean the difference between success and utter failure.
Contrast this to the Internet writer. To get published as an Internet writer, you need to:
- Understand relatively basic software (word processors, blogging software, article submission website forms)
- Write to whatever topic you want to
- Publish your work immediately or almost immediately
- Publish your material in any number of formats at any number of sites
- Write material of any length, (300-700 words is typical)
This all means that the Internet writer has the potential for success, regardless of whether they have an intimate knowledge of the publishing world, and that they have a great deal of freedom and license when it comes to their writing. It also means that great writers with mediocre business skills have opportunities they don’t have in the world of print writing.
So, while the barrier to entry is lower for Internet writing, long-term high-volume success requires as much, if not more work than success in print writing. The main difference is that your success as an Internet writer relies more on you than it does on the established print publishing machine. This is the second reason that Internet writing is the perfect market for writers: you rise or you fall based on your own merits, and mostly on your own writing merits.
Finally, Internet writing tends to be more stable and reliable than print writing. In the print world, let’s say you sell an article to a magazine for $1000. For the sake of the discussion, let’s say that the article might cover your budget for a week. In that week, you might write four other articles. That’s $5,000 a week, which means you can take the next four weeks off, right? Of course not. See, none of them will be published. In fact, none of your articles for the next two weeks might be published. Three weeks later, as you’re eating your last serving of mac and cheese in the dark in your cold apartment, you might get 3 articles published. The print writing market is a serious roller-coaster.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t ups and downs in regard to Internet writing. Rather, the hills and valleys aren’t as pronounced. And, with Internet writing, there are continually evergreen markets that you can tap into.
So, what do you think? What else about the Internet makes it a better market for writing than print? Or, take me to task: is print a better market, and why?
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17 Responses to “Why the Internet is the Perfect Market for Writers”
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On the plus side for print writers, they’re generally better accepted as authorities than internet writers. The balance is slowly shifting, though.
As someone who’s relatively new to writing online, I’m struggling to come to terms with the title “internet writer”. As you and James have picked up on, the work so often involves a wide range of other skills — editing, publishing, marketing et al. Perhaps “web publisher” would be a better (if slightly woolier) term?
Having just published my first eBook, I’m feeling quite a lot of pressure to put my follow-up title into print. Quite where the urge to do this has come from, I’m not sure!
Reassuringly, I spoke to a US publisher this week who told me to persevere with web-based self-publishing instead. “You’ll be better off in the long-run” she said.
@ Nick - Self-publish. I agree.
@ Bob - If I didn’t have a corporate administrative background covering various departments and positions, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’ve had to rely on my smarts, my skills and my knowledge in business management over and over and over…
If all I could do was write well, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and our business wouldn’t be at the level it’s at today either.
But as Nick mentioned, being taken seriously when you’re a web content writer (that’s the term I use, Nick, though “web publisher” is slowly coming into my lexicon) is a real tough one.
Hey. It’s not a REAL job, after all.
Mmhm. Right.
Bob,
With the exception of a short time as a cube dweller, all of my work has been in small business and I have always been in the position
to have to do my own marketing and self-promotion.
I agree that in any trade, talent will only take you so far. If you are the only one who knows about your talent, what good is it as a business? It is just a hobby.Also, the work ethics of being in business for yourself could be a whole other topic. Without someone holding you to a deadline, self-discipline becomes very important, even critical.
I hadn’t given any thought to the print business being less stable than Internet writing. ( I like that)It makes a great deal of sense. However if someone is just starting out, I would guess there is still going to be some mac and cheese in the future and I imagine some instability no matter which route up you choose to take. I am a believer in sweat equity and find it hard to believe that except for a few, that there is an easy way up the ladder beside the magic three of hard work, talent and good business sense.
I like the post, it gave me a lot to mull over.
One of the things about writing in general that has always fascinated me is the way a writer’s style and command of the medium generate their authority. Your reliance on their information is a direct result of the way they present it to you.
The amazing thing about internet writing is that, with such a low barrier to entry, any intelligent and motivated person can establish themselves as an authority on a certain topic, at least to whatever people happen to find their page in the search engines.
For me, the internet takes the magic trick to the next level–and I can do it in my spare time
@ Wendi - Any entrepreneurial career has its mac and cheese days, you’re right. I like your trinity, too, of hard work, talent and good business sense. I’ll be using that, for sure!
@ David - Isn’t it odd that, as human beings, we are more likely to grant authority to someone we like, or of we like the way it’s said? In so many ways, the facts are less important than how they are presented.
My blog is still pretty young, but I have found it so easy to gain readership. I have had people contact me from all over the country because they enjoy my topics and opinions. Without the help of the internet it is extremely unlikely that I would have this amount of exposure as a writer this quickly.
I think this is why internet writing is so valuable - you get a huge audience and there is no time delay.
@ Bob: I really enjoyed this post a lot. For me, I think what would make the internet a better market is what you said in a nutshell: more influence and control from the writer.
To parallel the “old-skool” workplace, I love your quote:
“the guy that’s the best at what he does doesn’t always have the most success.”
That’s a pretty accurate picture of where I work right now. Without any jealousy, I’d say that in a lot of cases the smartest and most talented people do *not* rise to the top. If you are really good at something, they keep you there. Managers are dime a dozen. A talented researcher/computer programmer/souffle chef can’t be replaced and is held back.
So some people quit, and come back as contractors…
@ James: from my (non-experienced perspective) I would agree with you about self-publishing. For you, what is it that appeals about this route? For me it is mostly having more control, but is there something that you have experienced beyond this?
@ Brett - to me, published through a large publishing house (Del Rey, Tor, Ballantine) is all about credibility. I’m going to take anyone with a book published by one of these much more seriously than anyone else - unfortunately.
Why? Because my perception is that it’s difficult to be accepted by these publishers, that they only accept well-written work and that they have a quality control editing process.
However. I believe that these publishers are out of reach for most people, and there are many, many writers deserving of having their work accepted in print. The publishing industry (again, my perception) seems to be about who you know and involves lots of games.
So… while I feel major publishers are more credibly, I’m also aware that they may not be as credible as they appear.
Self-publishing is widely accessible to all, affordable, and has proven to give good results. The downside? Authors must be crack marketers, have a plan and campaign to market and be prepared to do lots of legwork.
Another downside? While I myself think self-publishing is the way to go and may go this route with our collaborative novel, I don’t take self-published authors seriously simply BECAUSE anyone can do it.
Snobbery? Could be. It is what it is. I’m grateful for the lack of barriers that let me do what I do for a living. I also resent the lack of barriers, because a lot of fools appear to think that anyone can do what I do. There is no quality control. I do is for ev
@ James: yes, I understand exactly what you are talking about, logically if someone is published with a big company they have credibility. A lot of the material is very good, a small portion of it is not.
And then, as you say, anybody can get a blog and just start blathering away. The trick I guess is to separate the wheat from the chaff, to stand out. You and Harry have done some great posts on how to do this.
And also then, as you say, you guys do some hard work and along comes a copycat to steal it.
Like many things, a double-edged sword it is.
@ Courtney - you’re correct, for the most part. Still, there’s a learning curve when it comes to finding an audience, but there’s much less randomness and luck involved and more hard work.
@ James and @ Brett - For me, there are some other downsides to self-publishing, at least in regard to a novel. Novels are one of those areas that most folks still prefer to read offline. They also like to walk into a bookstore to buy their novels. When you self-publish, there’s not much likelihood of your book winding up on the shelf at Barnes and Noble. The marketing and distribution channels available to the publishing houses can’t be underestimated, and they can’t be replicated by small businesses. At best, you’re going to sell 20,000 copies of a self-published novel. If you’re lucky, after that, you might get on the radar of a publishing house.
In my mind, when it comes to fiction, you’re almost always better off with an established publishing house. That’s all about how it works from the author’s perspective and less about how potential readers perceive it.
Note, also, that we’re talking about a decidedly print genre - I’d never recommend choosing a print publisher for your how-to book.
@ Bob - That’s an incorrect perception. You’re lumping ebook and self-publishing together. ebook is a book designed for electronic distribution, and as such, rarely comes in offline format.
Self-publishing means you do not have the services of a publisher and do the publishing work yourself. Many, MANY self-publishing options create print versions of manuscripts. So you can get offline books through self-published authors.
Marketing and distribution is another story. You won’t get that when you self-publish, I agree. I think I mentioned that earlier.
However, you sell less copies but have a higher rate of return. Publishing houses leave very little in the way of royalties to authors. Self-publishing means you cut out a lot of loss and keep more money.
20,000 copies of a self-published book might actually earn more than a great book on the shelves at Barnes and Noble.
Wasn’t trying to lump, but I did. I was trying to draw some parallels, and thinking about self-publishing in the context of print vs. Internet. I wasn’t especially clear, though. Actually, I was completely unclear now that I reread it. Not enough caffeine yet, I s’pose. Thanks for helping to draw out the distinction, and you’re spot on in that part of it.
The ROI of self-publishing is a hotly debated topic. If you can sell those 20K, you’re going to do fine, that’s true. You’re probably talking about six figures in profit. But how many self-published novels sell 20K?
If you have the choice between an established publishing house and self-publishing, you’re almost always better off taking the house deal. For the most part, it’s money in the bank. Yes, they might screw up the marketing. Yes, your payout isn’t going to be what it is per book. But then again, you might screw up the marketing worse. Making $7 profit on a book is great until you only sell six of them.
I’m torn about this. I’ve thought seriously about doing a self-published book and I just can’t seem to convince myself that it’d be worth it. I’d rather continue to shop my manuscript around. Now, if I’m still shopping in three years… it might be a better option.
I hope you do go the self-publishing route with your novel, as I’d love to watch and see how it works. Hell, it could go gangbusters, and I’d love to watch it happen. The rest of us could learn a lot if you did (and shared your story, of course).
That’s what we are - everyone’s guinea pig
I’d PREFER to go publishing house for the credibility factor. But I won’t waste years making applications, either. If that doesn’t work out for us, we’ve already decided self-publishing will be our route.
And yes. Go have more coffee
@ Bob and James: the dialog back and forth here has been seriously enlightening, and should help give me a bit of guidance down the road.
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