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The New Literary Economy

by Patrick LeClerc

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I foolishly let myself read some of the traditional versus indie publishing debates on a writer's forum that will remain unnamed, but which rhymes with StinkBin.

I oughtn't to have done that.

But it did occur to me that there a huge misunderstanding among many writers. And it's one I feel I should address.

Economics is not a zero sum game.

While there is a certain logic in the belief that there is only so much money and resources out there, and my gain must surely be your loss, it simply isn't true.

The poorest person today is richer than the most well to do Neanderthal, and a person of average means in twenty first century America is has more real wealth, and lives better than the King of Spain did in 1600. That could not happen if we were just passing the same limited amount of wealth around.

Technology and success creates more wealth. That's how economies progress. And success in metallurgy lead to success in agriculture and in building and architecture through better tools, which resulted in more productive crops, etc.

The point of all this is that advances in human endeavor often have far reaching stimulating effects on other works. Most people grasp this. Economists, scientists, even some politicians.

Lagging behind the field, bringing down the grading curve and throwing spitballs from the back of the class is the publishing industry.

There is an irrational but deeply, nay fanatically held belief that there are only so many readers and only so much money to go around, and that if I sell one more book, somebody must needs sell one fewer. We see this terror disguised as contempt for anything that doesn't fit the current needs of the market, and it is a cornerstone of policy of the established houses. That only so much quality can possibly be out there, and opening the gates will dilute and destroy literature as we know it. This is the reason they oppose independently published fiction, and why they crank out the same sequels in the same settings by the same handful of authors year after year.

So, we see that the large publishing houses are backing the safe horses, and leap up on tables when the new venues show themselves, but they need to be concerned about the bottom line, and that kind of thinking has never been good for progress or for art, so let's move on to the next point, namely, do new emerging authors and cheap ebooks take bread from the mouths of existing authors?

Well, let me pose a counter argument. If there were a finite amount of money to be made in s/f and fantasy literature, then J K Rowling would have it all. The Harry Potter series would have eaten up all the available fantasy book buying cash and Brooks, Martin and Jordan would be a three piece string and percussion act on a subway platform.

Instead, the success of the Harry Potter series has drawn more young readers to fantasy and to reading in general. Combine that with the recent film adaptations bringing Tolkien's work to new legions of fans, this is a great time to be in the fantasy biz. Younger readers are coming into the fold, and the genre is gaining mainstream acceptance.

Rationally, this is exactly the effect that new media such as the ebook and POD can have. The short story is dead in the world of the big publisher. The novella is dead. The average fantasy book that they want to look at today is pushing a thousand pages. But the Internet, the ebook and the independently published book is the perfect home for the short story, and it is in these short pieces that the genre has its roots. Let's push the field forward in its oldest form in the newest venue. How more s/f could you be than that?

Now, do publishing houses go broke? Do ezines fold? Well, yes. But not because the field is saturated. Because some of them are really bad. I stopped buying new fantasy books for years, because they were all the same. I started all the big fat series, but after a thousand pages, if you haven't got to some resolution, I really can't be bothered. Nothing wrong with the epic, but many series don't even feel like they're working toward a conclusion. Just riding the wave of popular support and royalties.

There are exceptions. There are good authors out there. There always will be. And we support them. I'll always buy a book from an author I trust. Hell, we've interviewed most of my favorites.

It's just that the genre is marching on. And the industry needs to stop fearing change and innovation. New technology and new venues are an opportunity, not a threat.

Unless they want us to be.

In which case, we're more than happy to oblige.