In an article in the June 2007 issue of Wired magazine, CBS President Les Moonves (left), is interviewed about the future of media. There were a couple of things he said that make great advice for writers about how to think about the new media (or media in general):
"You have to look at it in two different ways. One is content that you will get paid for directly, and the other is promotional content. Our attitude is, either pay us for it or give us promotional value that will eventually lead to our getting paid for it."
For writers, this could involve a blog like this one, that I hope will eventually prompt you to buy my new book, "Your Writing Coach," or my ebook about time management for writers, or one of the trance downloads at www.timetowrite.com. It could also be a podcast that reinforces your credibility, or a website, or articles for other people's websites.
Asked which distribution channel is most valuable, Moonves gave an answer that probably applies equally to writers, too:
"There're all good. We don't care how you get our content--over the air, over cable, satellite, the Internet, or on your cell phone--as long as we get paid for it."
