Writers’ Roundup

(Reprinted from the Globe & Mail Book Section July 4/09)

It used to be so simple to be a writer. Write a story, hand the manuscript to an editor, discuss what to fix and await the pub-launch. The manuscript was printed and bound, reviewed by the press; the writer did the media rounds, readers hit the stores and off flew the book. Later, a bit of money would arrive. The writer got 10 per cent or so. The publisher, booksellers and agent kept the rest. All parties were paid for their expertise in descending order, concluding with the writer. It wasn’t a brilliant living for anyone – writers particularly – but it was the respectable way to reach readers. Vanity publishing, the alternative, was as disreputable as the word implies. Continue reading

You walk up the street to your neighbourhood bookshop. It’s a modest little space with reading tables, a coffee bar, lined with bookshelves. Several of your neighbours are there, chatting over coffee and cake, waiting for their books to print. You notice that maybe only one copy of each book is displayed, cover out — a bit like your local DVD rental shop. Continue reading