The article takes an overly positive view. My friends who write books are all having a hard time making a go of it, whether they write novels or non-fiction. The money they make is being driven to zero by dilution fed by the large number of wannabes who self publish. It doesn't help that there is a lack of people who buy books.
While we have managed to make the publication side of things easy, we have not managed to increase the quality of the content. Good writers who don't write blockbuster books are lost in the noise.
Nor have we found a way to increase the number of readers. Most people don't read much. The Washington Post reported (2007)that one in four people read no books and that most people reported reading four books per year. Publisher's weekly reports that "A staggering 764,448 titles were produced in 2009 by self-publishers and micro-niche publishers, according to statistics released this morning by R.R. Bowker. The number of 'nontraditional' titles dwarfed that of traditional books whose output slipped to 288,355 last year from 289,729 in 2008. Taken together, total book output rose 87% last year, to over 1 million books, one title for every 300 people in the US.
Bottom line, writing has become a hobby, even for professionals. Don't quit your day job to write the great American novel.
While we have managed to make the publication side of things easy, we have not managed to increase the quality of the content. Good writers who don't write blockbuster books are lost in the noise.
Nor have we found a way to increase the number of readers. Most people don't read much. The Washington Post reported (2007)that one in four people read no books and that most people reported reading four books per year. Publisher's weekly reports that "A staggering 764,448 titles were produced in 2009 by self-publishers and micro-niche publishers, according to statistics released this morning by R.R. Bowker. The number of 'nontraditional' titles dwarfed that of traditional books whose output slipped to 288,355 last year from 289,729 in 2008. Taken together, total book output rose 87% last year, to over 1 million books, one title for every 300 people in the US.
Bottom line, writing has become a hobby, even for professionals. Don't quit your day job to write the great American novel.