Some of you were no doubt aware of the brouhaha that erupted last month between Macmillan and Amazon over ebook pricing. It's a complicated issue, I still don't know what I think of the entire thing, and the meat of that issue is not really what I'm thinking about here. It's where the authors were that interests me.
Macmillan is possibly the one of the "big six" publishers with the biggest presence in the speculative fiction field, and authors who fall into that genre have arguably the biggest authorial presence on the web and in social media. During the pricing dust-up, writers were busy burning up the blogosphere, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media with their opinions, arguments, explanations of what was going on, ruminations on what it all meant, thoughts on the personal impact it was having on them--you name it. They were there, they were vocal, and judging by the volume of feedback I saw in comments and spin-off discussions, they were heard.
I think this was something a little bit new. Not that writers were making themselves heard, but that an issue that, ten or fifteen years ago would have been a largely backroom/boardroom spat, became a very visual contretemps in which both the writers and readers could take active and immediate part.
It used to be that as writers, if we had something we wanted to say, we had one outlet--our "formal" writing. Books, stories, essays, articles--we wrote our words, submitted them for approval (as it were), and waited for someone else's schedule to release them into the public. Not so, now. If I decide I want to rant about an issue, I need only log into my blog, hit the keys, and everybody knows where I stand.
I think it behooves us as writers to take that ability seriously. One thing I noticed was that, while the support wasn't one hundred percent, fans of any particular writer tended to agree with that writer's take on the Amazon/Macmillan debate. Many of these fans might have read only that writer's thoughts on the matter, but that was enough for them to make up their own minds on the issue.
That's kind of a lot of power. And while in this case, writers were expounding on their own industry and basing their thoughts on their own knowledge, expertise and experience, I think we have to be careful when the issues are not professional ones. We could run the risk of turning into one of those cringe-worthy celebrities who champion a certain belief (in an area about which they have no particular expertise) and use their "celebrity" to influence others.
The pen has always been mighty--but the keyboard has risen to ascendancy. Please make sure you use yours responsibly.
Okay, everyone get back to writing! We'll see you next month!
The Author's Voice
