[Reading over this, it seems like all these paragraphs should be in a different order, but I don't care enough to change it. Read them in any order you like.]
Maybe it's a good thing I haven't snagged a publisher yet. It's an accepted fact that publishing is changing in ways we can't foresee. It's possible that when the dust settles the Kindle will be law and physical books will be a novelty item. Of course the dust may not settle for years, maybe decades. We are in transition, for sure.
I don't want to wait till the dust settles completely, but I would like to debut in a more stable marketplace than we have now. My goal for a long time has been to sign with one of the big sff publishers, like Tor (whose parent MacMillan just had a tussle with Amazon), DAW, Baen, etc. in book form, with electronic publishing secondary. I think this is still a viable goal, but in a few years it may be the other way around. Some of these little eBook publishers like Damnation Books/Eternal Press may emerge as the brass ring eventually.
But really, there's no reason for me to speculate because I can't control how or when I get published. All I can control is the book I'm writing right now and let the rest take care of itself.
Don't know if any of you noticed, but I haven't been interacting online much. I'm bored with all my usual things, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, and blogging, plus there has been an unusual development in my psyche, whereby the need/desire to write outweighs the distraction factor of the Internet. I'm still keeping up with what everybody's doing, but it's more out of habit. Probably twenty times in the past few days, I've typed out a whole comment and decided not to share, because I didn't want to be distracted by the ensuing discussion. What an antisocial a-hole I am!
Nah, not antisocial. I find myself wanting to email people instead of commenting with a mass of other people. I'm tired of the Internet with its constant barrage of other people's opinions. I'd rather be discussing things with folks one-on-one. This blog is a comfortable space for me, with a small circle of commentators, but then I'm forcing y'all to come here, and that's not fair.
Besides, I'm getting tired of the whole blogging scene. I've added very few new blogs in the past two years to replace the ones that folded, and my circle is shrinking. I'm in a rut. A rut I've seen before, no doubt, but a rut nonetheless. Anybody know what the next big thing is going to be? Because I'm ready to jump on it.
I'm not hiding and I'm not mad and nothing bad is going on in my life. I'm happy to get emails and comments and tweets from you, and I'm sure this isn't my final post. I'll still be around on Facebook, too, but I might stop announcing what I had for breakfast. Just slowing down on the info overload.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
I've been feeling the same way lately about being all Internetted out. But I haven't quite managed to shift my focus back to writing as you have. Instead, I end up reading a lot of stuff online and then wondering where my time went. I'm learning that I'm not great at multi-tasking, and I need focus to get things done. The Internet feels like one massive distraction, leading off in a zillion directions.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Next Big Thing won't be a technology or a platform but will be the book you're writing...
Well, I'm still interested in what's going on with you, and I've definitely noticed your absence.
ReplyDeleteThought you'd like to know that. :)
I actually kinda liked it when I was too busy to check Twitter, FB, et alwhen I went back to work after Squish was born. While I missed you guys (You, the Darcs, AlBruno3, and WIGSF), it let me focus on what I needed to at the time. Sounds like the same thing is happening to you.
ReplyDeleteI've gradually come back to posting on my blog again and am trying to keep up with others' on a regular basis. I've pretty much culled Twitter and FB from my life though. I can't tell you the last time I was on.
Keep in touch with me through email! :)
Yes ma'am! lol I know what you mean about the focus. Nobody focuses on one thing at a time anymore! It's a lost art, one I'm trying to revive. There have been studies done which show multitasking may get more things done at once, but you end up spending more time on the group as a whole than you would if you'd done them separately.
ReplyDeleteYou've been telling me you miss me for two years! lol You've always been way busier online than I have been.
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy! I've been feeling this way for a long time, like I don't WANT to be online. It's a mild addiction, though, and I couldn't quit till I was ready. That's why it's so weird that I want to write instead of checking Farmville or chatting.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I like that idea about my book being the NBT!(tm ;). Except if I go too far in that fantasy I won't be able to write for the pressure. lol
I've seen the same studies. We all get 24 hours in the day... it just depends on how well we organize them. I tried reading Knife of Dreams last night while Ben was watching some stupid Ghost Hunting show (no, not the original Ghost Hunters) on NetFlix. My brain got tired of trying to tune it out and the words kept getting blurry on the page. I ended up overtaxing my brain and falling asleep!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Knife of Dreams probably needs all your attention. I can't get my husband to get on board with turning off the tv when he's not actively watching. He likes it as background noise and it just causes me anxiety.
ReplyDeleteI go into information overload where I can't stand to even look at my computer much less "talk" to anyone on it. I think it is normal since we shut out people in real life when we are tired.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the facination of Kindle and eBooks. You tried to explain it to me once before, but I can't see myself reading a book on a computer. You have to buy the machine, you have to buy the books, you can't just throw the reader in your purse or backpack, the reader needs a power source...all I can see are the cons, I see none of the pros.
Ah, but you CAN throw the reader in your purse! It's the size of a trade paperback (as I've heard, have never actually seen one). And the batteries last many hours between charges. If I were a traveler, I'd probably get one. I'd miss paper, though.
ReplyDeleteEventually, we'll cave and get a kindle or nook or some such gadget---probably in time for it to be on the way out. I can see some pros, but I love paper. Reminds me how at work some teachers don't understand why I prefer the chalk board over the white board. Call me crazy--I like the chalk.
ReplyDeleteAll things come and go. Facebook has lost its novelty. I'm still there, but it makes sense that you're tired of it. How much is there you can get out of these things?
And how much can anyone say on any one blog without saying too much or making stuff up? I've had a harder time blogging since running out of stories. You know, I used to do true stories--but I've only got so much life history to go through. And writing topics repeat... ho hum.
Writing a real book--now that is work you can feel proud of and get long term satisfaction in. Much better than the transitory nature of the internet.
You can ignore me all you want if you are getting your novel done! Well, you have every right to ignore me whatever you're doing, but I won't feel too bad if it is for the novel.
Keep writing!
I like the chalk better, too. And I wouldn't have any reason to ignore you, even when I'm working on the book. Gotta take a break sometime. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's ironic I chose today to say how bored I am with the Internet, because I was online all freakin' day.
Boy, I'm late to THIS party, huh?
ReplyDeleteI think most of us who can't see you in person miss you when you're not around. But then, the Interwebs has moments when it's simply too much. I've found being away from it a lot has reintroduced me to my other mistress ... TV.
That's right, I'm still not writing fiction. Why should I? No one gave two sh*ts about it when I did, and now the non-fic thing is calling me. I have work there. So no, I'm not writing. There, I've said it. *Whew*
But giving all these things up might BE the next big thing. I don't know what will replace blogging -- frankly, they're replacing newspapers and such -- but I have a feeling these eReader things are going to go south all at once. Technology's too shifting to have something stay too long.
Books, though? Books're forevah.
I know I'm not the only one with info overload. I think the regular person may end up eschewing the plugged-in route and let the geeks keep it, eventually.
ReplyDeleteNon-fic is calling...Does that mean you're getting another SSRLP? Email me if you get the chance.
I don't know what the next wave will be, but I do know you can't write based on that - you have go with your own personal wave, know what I mean? I don't think books will ever go away entirely. People love them too much - their convenience, their portability, their tactile sensation. So you write because that's what you do and who you are, and before you know it this one will be finished and you'll be thinking about the next one. And if you need to step back from all things Internet, well then we'll miss you while you're away but we'll be here when you get back.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you need me, you got my #, right? Darc's too?
I hear you. Of course, I only lasted on Facebook a few weeks before I'd had enough. The whole world is changing so much right now - no telling what the next big thing will be. But if you keep writing, you'll be in the right place at the right time. You're too damned talented not to. Thanks for still visiting ER! You are so sweet!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and her college friends are using a site called tumblr, to create blogs that are essentially images with a few quotes or sentences thrown in here and there. Very visual. She says that large blocks of text are less and less popular with that age group, which I can easily believe. I love visiting her tumblr, because I can get insight into what catches her attention, see some photos of her friends, etc. (they are more "arty" and less "party" oriented, unlike FB!), without feeling like I'm invading her privacy. They also all copy images from each other's and other random sites. You can follow a list of all the sites the image has appeared on- sometimes hundreds of sites, increasing the sense of a visual community. And get this: no comments section! Just a list of who reposted your post, or who "liked this". Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteWell why wouldn't I? lol You're the sweet one, with your encouraging words. Thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's the danger of the next big thing...I may not understand it. I was surprised to learn that blogging is now considered old fashioned. I'll go check out tumblr.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere else that blogging was old. So what does that mean? I wonder how much longer I could have anything to say, but I can't think of anything else--and I don't want to lose touch with the people I've met through blogging--like, you know, you.
ReplyDeleteI took a look at tumblr and am not sure I see the difference exactly or if I'd want to ad yet another thing to my life. I went to the shewrites site and started a profile, but haven't done anything else with it.
ah, what to do? what to do?
I'm on SheWrites, too, but it hasn't really caught on with me. I'll go find you and we can be friends. I know most of my commentors are on Facebook, but I also feel a responsibility to keep the readers who don't comment, so I don't know. I also like the idea of having something exclusively mine. Right now if you google Sherri Cornelius I'm the first three entries, and that can't be a bad thing while I'm trying to impress a publisher.
ReplyDelete