Writing in the Digital Age and the Importance of the Platform

Author Seth Harwood talks about the challenges of writing in the digital age.

Via Open Culture

The number of ebook readers and reading devices is growing rather than shrinking these days. We’re entering a world where individual readers will decide not only what books they want to read, but how they want to read them. And here there’s something to think about for authors: As readers choose the reading platform they like best, they’ll see a certain set of books in that space. Different books show up at Wal-Mart than at your local independent bookseller. On the Kindle there are different books—with different prices—than on the iTunes App store. And even within the iTunes store, you’ll find different books in the Audiobooks section (owned by Audible.com), the Podcasts>>Arts>>Literature section (where many of the titles are free), and in the App store.

As an author, I want to be wherever a reader can look. On every platform and every new platform, I want my book to be available. My novel JACK WAKES UP started out as a podcast (via iTunes, RSS Feed, & MP3). People liked it. It got to print on demand, and Amazon sold it in print and Kindle formats. Guess what? It did pretty well. Now, it’s out from Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House, and readers can find it at all the online outlets, as well as brick and mortar bookstores nationwide—both big box and indy. But that’s still missing part of the market: soon more and more people will be buying their books on their iPhones as Apps—both audio and text—or on Kindle, Scribd, eReader and who knows where else. All I can do is work toward making JACK WAKES UP available in as many places and ways as possible.

Read the entire article here.

Image Source : Foxtongue