Welcome to 2020 – a new year and a new decade.

I thought it would be good to the start the year by reviewing how the publishing landscape has changed over the past ten years.

It is hard to believe the disruptive changes to publishing that have happened since 2010. Mike Shatzkin’s recent blog, A Lot Has Changed in Book Publishing in the Past 10 Years https://www.idealog.com/ is a dramatic reminder how much has changed.

The introduction and popularisation of IOS and Android phones and tablets have increased our access to information and connectivity that was almost unthinkable in 2010. By 2020 we have our personal library at our finger tips with the ability to pull up a book whenever or wherever we are in the world. It is difficult to remember life without our smart devices.

The first truly successful eBook reader became readily available in 2009 and dramatically changed the way in which we consumed books. Amazon’s kindle reader was the most nimble and soon overtook rivals Nook and Kobo. While I enjoy reading books on my dedicated reading device, I tend to do most of my eBook reading on the smart phone. This is a world-wide trend supported by an article from 2015 in The Wall Street Journal (Link). The dedicated reading devices such as Kindle, Nook and Kobo are now only a small part of the eBook market.

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What is that ‘indefinable quality called heart’ in a piece of writing? It is text which communicates directly to a reader, an editor or a publisher. It stands out from all the other unsolicited manuscripts in the pile calling to the editor to read me, read me!

 

 How does a new writer achieve this? Everyone one has a unique way of seeing the world and it is this that a new writer must harness as their voice. Heart-felt writing touches the soul and transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. The core of any tale should shine with prose where every word moves the story along. Language which sings with the rhythm and the cadences of perfect sentences.

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