The best and worst time in history to publish...

To say it’s not a great time to try and write fiction for a living would be a major understatement. I’ve heard a statistic batted around, from more than a few reliable sources, that 90 percent of all books published, traditionally or indie, only sell 1000 copies.

Well, by that standard, I’m doing pretty well, so first off, thanks to all of you who have bought one of my books, and to those who took the time to rate or comment on my work or recommend me to a friend, because it does make a difference.

Hawaii Book and Music Festival, Sept. 2024, peddling my wares...

But how do we interpret this? I hear people blame Amazon or self-publishing in general and long for the glory days, when a handful of well-connected literary agents curated manuscripts and kept a tight lid on what got out to the reading public.

I have author friends who’ve broken out as indies, in no small part, due to Amazon and its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), which helped these authors reach audiences they never would have found twenty years ago. They love it. It works for people. Just ask Freida McFadden.

As for me, I’m grateful that the publishing industry has become more democratic. In a recent interview, I commented that it’s at once the best time and the worst time in history to publish a book. The best time, because literally, anyone can get a book out to the reading public, even an AI bot. Just ask the authors who’ve been scammed by AI-generated books pretending to be them. And the worst time, because it’s the hardest time ever to get your book noticed.

Where does this leave us as a culture or a society? Before AI, I was guardedly optimistic that it would all work itself out. Now, I’m not so sure. I’m still a bit under the radar, and although my popularity is steadily increasing, I’m not famous enough to clone. Maybe I should be happy about that.

Am I going to stop writing?

No. Because I can’t. When a story pops into my head, it needs to get out. It nags at me until the words appear on the page and the characters complete their adventures. Until the stories stop coming, I’ll keep writing.

Am I going to stop publishing?

I’m not sure. People seem to really like my books. If that stops, perhaps. But not yet. Plus, what else would I do when I wake up at three o’clock in the morning?

And know that with each book, I try harder to surprise, engage, and delight all of you. It’s my raison d’etre. So, thank you!