People aren’t reading and there is too much to read.
I don’t know where I heard it but, I heard that there is a decline in reading. Even if I hadn’t heard this, with my own eyes I can see that there is a lot of distraction from getting down to a good bit of reading. (Ok, I did a masters in novel writing, so I probably read it and can probably quote the source). I mean, aren’t Facebook and Instagram posts way more fun? Well, even if they aren’t fun, they are distracting. There is so much you can add to the distracting folder these days. That portable Telescreen is a major factor. My portable Telescreen doesn’t have FB and Instagram. It does have WhatsApp though. Being a webdesigner I do have a major distraction on my lap Telescreen. One picks it up and there is plenty of work to do on websites. I’m also inclined to fire up Ableton Live and make a music track or five. And what is that window down there open in the taskbar? Ah, the word processor, waiting for input…
As a young person I had no input device for my writing. Pen and paper only. Unfortunately paper is easily lost. Then I got an electric typewriter (I had a computer but no word processor or printer). Even then the output is paper. Then the internet and a more sure way to not lose work. And then the dilemma, that previous distraction free environment now comes with a lot of distraction. Anyway, despite the detractions, I have made plenty of words on this here Telescreen… plenty indeed. Thing is, a lot of people also have. There is an awful lot to read out there on the interweb. So the distracted reader and writer has a bloated raft of stuff to read and to jostle for attention.
So for a reader, you have a lot out there to read, even if you feel inclined. However, what do you choose? A free book or paid book from an author you don’t know? There will be a lot of those! And will the quality be any good? You have to throw away some life to find something good to read. So you go for the well known names then? Known names charge full price for their books.
For the author, well, you spend a lot of time on a novel. Trying to get eyes on your work is tricky. See above paragraph. I have found that I was able to get money for my work to start of with but that declined and gradually I just made them free. That is a lot of time and effort for no return. But fine, the art of it then, but if you can’t get eyes on the work, even for free, this is a problem. That really is a bit pointless perhaps.
This is not the only issue. The world has gone a bit mad recently, or maybe it always was but now its just more obvious. Writing has become walking on eggshells. You also need to throw money at promotion. There, nothing has changed, this has always been the case. One time you could stick a book on Amazon and it would sell. Not anymore. They were unusual times then. Same with content on your or other websites, getting noticed is an issue now. My website used to “just get” traffic, lots of it, but gradually there are many more websites. There is so much for the reader and so little attention from the reader. I know from monitoring it that “skim-reading” is a real problem. Some of my short stories just don’t work if you miss the clues. In-fact, being subtle is a lost art, being subtle is a good way just to have the clues missed now. For example, my first self-published novel is called Burning Wolfhound. The very first paragraph features a ship, The Wolfhound, burning. There you go. Ok, there is more meaning to it than that, but I’ll not give away the story. However, I’ve had comments online like “Ha, ha, is that about setting dogs on fire?” etc. I won’t bore you with the obvious comments I’ve had. So, there is a title with some hidden meaning, which is answered in the first paragraph, but no, let’s make fun of it instead. Pretty sad really. As for reading 100.000 words to find out the deeper meaning? Forget it.
Having said this, I’d have had very few eyes on my work but for the internet. Getting published traditionally is always tricky, but with the explosion of writing out there, its pretty much over. The music industry went the same way with the internet. You don’t make money on album sales anymore, just touring. I’m partly to blame here also, my music is free to download, my books are free to download. I’m also part of the problem, de-valuing the output.
Prince said the internet would de-value music, he was right. As far as I can see it is de-valuing writing and making people less able to read.