The market for books and scripts is changing like never before and at a dizzying pace. The biggest change,of course, is the move to digital, by both self-publishers and traditional publishers. Whenever you discern such a shift, it's important to pay attention.
For instance, what does digital do better?
That’s a question authors and publishers are wrestling with at the moment and one answer may be that it makes it easy to publish books quickly in response to social developments, in a format that’s longer than a magazine article but shorter than a book.
One example is “Discordia,” from Random House UK. It’s about 24,000 words and 35 sketches, and priced at £2 ($3)—low enough for an impulse buy. It was written by journlist Laurie Penny, illustrated in black and white (so that it would work for ereaders) by Molly Crabapple. They both went to Greece to see the response to the financial crisis and witnessed the protests and riots. They went in June, the ebook was released in early October.
This could be a genre brought back to life (it’s been dormant since the great era of political pamphleteering) and I could imagine it also would work for any skilful writer who has a niche market in his or her sights. For instance, if you were a big fan of a particular band, would you pay £2 for a well-written lengthy insider account of their tour, available a couple of weeks after the tour finishes? I’m guessing yes.
In the film world, the big development is that the major Hollywood studios are betting everything on a small number of blockbuster films each year. The studio mid-budget picture is rare these days. However, you'll find them on HBO, Showtime, and the like, meaning you may need to learn how the TV market works. There are also still independent producers making those pictures, and the low or micro-budget output is growing all the time thanks to digital distribution.
Whether or not these examples resonate with you, the point is that you must constantly be thinking how you can align your interests and skills with the new realities of the marketplace. The majority of writers (and publishers, and film-makers) will fight them for as long as possible. If instead you embrace them early you will be ahead of the pack.
(One way to stay ahead is to apply your creativity to marketing your work, not only to creating it. For that I have written two books that will help you: Creativity Now, which is full of methods for coming up with fresh ideas, and Marketing for Entrepreneurs, which will guide you through getting your work out into the marketplace. Both are published by Pearson, and both are available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)
