Welcome
to the E-Publishing Advocate. The purpose of this quarterly
newsletter is simply to promote the reading of ezines and e-books.
I
believe that e-publishing now
stands beside the print market in the same fashion that television stood beside
radio. We are witnessing the creation of a new medium, and like radio
and television, both will change and grow in the years to come. I don't
know what we will have in five years, but I can guarantee one thing -- e-publishing
is not going to disappear.
And with that in mind, it is important for serious writers and publishers to look at it as a viable marketing area, and to do their best to try and create a professional atmosphere. I had, in fact, originally written that this is a future market, but it isn't. The medium is thriving now. The money has not caught up with e-publishing yet, but it very likely will.
There are people standing on the sidelines who are waiting for e-publishing to grow up before they'll jump in. The problem with waiting is that you are no longer a leader in the field. Being a pioneer has its pitfalls and its advantageous, but when the time comes that the others feel it's safe, those of us who have been charging ahead in the field of Internet publishing (both in editing and publishing) will have already crossed the growing chasm between paper print and electronic publishing. And while it won't exactly be polite to be smug when the 'there's nothing but crap on the Internet' people come around, it will be rather satisfying.
I
also believe that writers, especially, need to take as much control of this new
medium as they can. There is no reason why book authors need to live under
the same constraints that they face in the paper printing medium. The
midlist authors should flourish, where publishers don't have to worry about
warehousing costs and chain bookstore numbers.
There is room enough for everyone here. There is space for growth. Now we should strive to maintain and improve our level of professionalism, both in presentation and in material. There is even room for fanzines, and those who decry the presence of that material on the web are missing the best part of what's possible here -- diversity and opportunity on a scale that could never be reached in the paper print industry.
Welcome
to the new world!
Lazette
Gifford, Editor
2/10/01
(Please note that this issue will be very light on material. I hope to gather more -- and more helpful material -- before the April 2001 issue. Do you have any questions about Estand or this newsletter? Drop me a note at lazette@lazette.net )