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Creative Writing – - Why Write an eBook? – 1
By Deb Gallardo
By Deb Gallardo
It is patently not true that everything that has been said has already been written. Since that unfortunate axiom came into use, the whole universe has changed. Technology has changed, ideas have changed, and the mindsets of entire nations have changed.
And then there’s all the talk that’s out there. Who in the world is transcribing everything that is currently being said? The fact is, no one.
Furthermore, things that were written, say, a century ago and are out of print, are currently accessible only to antique book collectors. Some wisdom is ageless and should be made available to people of today.
So the fact is, this is the perfect time to write an ebook. What the publishing industry needs are people who can tap into the world as it is today – innovative thinkers who have made the leap into the new millennium and can figure out how to solve old problems in a new way. Ebooks are a new and powerful tool for original thinkers with fresh ideas to disseminate information to the millions of people who are struggling to figure out how to do countless different things. You’re a writer — write!
Let’s say you already have a brilliant idea, and the knowledge to back it up that will enable you to write an exceptional ebook. You may be sitting at your computer staring at a blank screen wondering, “Why? Why should I go through all the trouble of writing my ebook when it’s so difficult to get anything published these days?”
If you’re thinking this, then you’re not thinking big enough. Publishing an ebook is entirely different than publishing a book in print. Let’s look at how the print and cyber publishing industries differ, and some of the reasons why you should take the plunge and get your fingers tapping across those keyboards!
As a fiction writer, you know that submitting a print book to conventional publishing houses or to agents is something like this: wearing a pair of shoes one size too small while doing your weekly shopping at a warehouse store where you have to traverse every aisle at least twice before you’re found everything on your list. And you always (this is a universal truth) discover you’ve forgotten something you absolutely need, and it’s on the opposite end of the store. But your shoes are cutting off the blood flow to your brain. For a lot of people, that’s exactly how it feels trying to get published offline.
We all know that no matter how good our books are, or how many critique services or mentor writers have said, “You’ve got what it takes,” our submitted manuscripts can keep coming back to us as if they were boomerangs instead of valuable mines of information.
Perhaps, in desperation, you’ve checked out self-publishing and found out just how expensive a venture it can be, even with today’s small presses that will do smaller print runs than what you could negotiate less than 10 years ago. But that just takes care of printing and binding. Add in distribution, shipping, and promotional costs and – well, you can do the math. Even if you wanted to go this route, you may not have that kind of money to risk.
I’m not suggesting doing a fiction ebook, although there is nothing to stop you from trying it. I am suggesting that by writing a non-fiction ebook, you are creating a product. If you do it correctly, you will create a product of value to others. And people are attracted to value.
In the next few posts we’ll continue to explore this topic in depth.
Copyright © 2007 Deborah K. Gallardo All rights reserved
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