"E" Is For eBook

Physics tells us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. One kid pumps her knees on the end of a teeter-totter, and the kid on the other end is sent falling back to earth. She then plants her feet, pumps her knees and it's the other little girl's turn for an earthbound journey, if, that is, both girls are of equal weight. None of this would happen without a fulcrum in the middle, balancing the two girl. In the world of writing, the fulcrum is technology, and the equal but opposite forces are the mega-stars of the publishing world and the mass of writers tired of the same old game of publishing, with the same old gatekeepers determining who will be read and who won't. This all adds up to the brave new world of eBooks, and the opportunity for any and all to self-publish their work.

Just as the two girls of equal weight create a tummy-tickling ride of ups and downs on the teeter-totter's fulcrum, the world of writing, and the people who practice the game, are now in for a tummy-tickling, sense dazzling, ride of ups and downs. Thank you technology for smashing down the gates. And who knows? It could turn out that the tag-along of self-publishing, readers ratings on web sites, could turn into the most effective global critique group ever known. This critique group has a public and powerful impact that sends the faint of heart running to other creative outlets, and the doggedly determined into a sweat for excellence.

Watch out world, there are new writers emerging with a writing style that will rock the written word, and they'll shape their punch with the input of people, not Suits in their Ivory Towers.

Let's give a cheer for the democratization of writing! Let's give an extra cheer for the freedom of writers writing for readers, instead of shriveled dinosaurs guarding crumbling gates!

Done cheering, now? Good, because that pump of the knees Free Agent writers have is calling on a whole new set of muscles, and the ride cycles though ups and downs at a tummy-hurling speed.  This isn't just my personal culture shock, it's a culture shock for all of us.

Old mazes of navigation from imagination of the writer's mind to the reader's have been shattered and new ones put in place. The old rules, such as keep turning left in a maze and you'll eventually get out, have changed, and those rules have yet to be understood. And instead of old dinosaurs threatening the creative lives of those who write, there are scam artists aplenty with a new set of deadly teeth we can't yet recognize. An over-eager writer can go bankrupt in a few click of their keyboards.

So what's a writer to do?

Exactly what we've always done—rely on each other. Network with other writers, share experiences and pitfalls. Lucky for us there are trailblazers, and they blog. Some excellent sources for information on ePublishing your eBook can be found   epublishbook.com and The Creative Penn which was voted one of the top blogs for writers 2010-11. There are links to services on these blogs for everything from copy editors to eBook designers (we're judging books by their covers more than ever as we continue shifting to an image-driven culture). And we share on our own blogs what we've learned along the way.

But the most important thing we can do in this new world of eBooks is keep writing. Keep having fun. Keep following our dreams and let our dreams grow ever bigger. The rest will fall into place.