writing

I am a published author and have been for a few years.  Since becoming one, I have thought long and hard about the future of books.  Most of the time, I think about how I love to have books around me.  If you've ever been to my house, I have a lot of books.  I wish I had more shelves to stack them on but I have been told my book addiction needs to be kept in check and, apparently, shelves only make my addiction worse.  So, then, I stack.  The books find an empty space on the floor to inhabit and I continue on my merry way.

And this is the problem.  I go on my merry way and ignore one simple fact: books are in danger of disappearing.  Not because people will stop writing or publishers will stop publishing but because technology will not be free enough to let today's publishing industry continue.  I found this article via Digg.com today and here is a snippet to get your brains on my wavelength:

When I buy an audiobook on CD, it’s mine. The license agreement, such as it is, is “don’t violate copyright law,” and I can rip that CD to mp3, I can load it to my iPod or any number of devises—it’s mine; I can give it away, I can sell it; it’s mine. But when you buy an audiobook through Audible, which now controls 90 per cent of the [downloadable] audiobook market, you get a license agreement, not a property interest. The things that you can do with it are limited by DRM; the players you can play it on are limited by the license agreements with Audible. Audible doesn’t do this because the publishers ask them to. Audible and iTunes, because Audible is the sole supplier to iTunes, do this because it’s in their own interest....

Anyone who claims that readers can’t and won’t and shouldn’t own their books are bent on the destruction of the book, the destruction of publishing, and the destruction of authorship itself. We must stop them from being allowed to do it. The library of tomorrow should be better than the library of today. The ability to loan our books to more than one person at once is a feature, not a bug. We all know this. It’s time we stop pretending that the pirates of copyright are right. These people were readers before they were publishers before they were writers before they worked in the legal department before they were agents before they were salespeople and marketers. We are the people of the book, and we need to start acting like it.

You can read the full transcript of Cory Doctrow's speech here.  I shared this elegy about the book with some people (within earshot) and their initial reactions were that: 

• It would never happen. 
• People would fight it.
• Cory Doctorow is being too sentimental about books.

This got me thinking.  Could books disappear?  Is Cory being a turd and just trying to make a speech sound interesting?  But then I remembered Bolivia and the water protests that happened there in 2000.  But, Shane, you're saying.  That incident was about water and you're talking about books!  Oh, really - I may retort.  My point is a bunch of very smart people got together and made it virtually illegal to collect rainwater because a company wanted to make the water system of an entire country private and controlled.  Smart people.  They let it happen.  They wanted it to happen.  I could make mention of Germany and World War II but, I think, most people would agree that somewhere along the way something went wrong.  And now I can hear you saying: but Shane, that was a situation where millions of people were murdered and you're talking about books!  How are these things possibly related?  Again, I submit to you: smart people let something horrible happen.  No one sat up and said to the person across the table that something was wrong until it was much to late to do anything about it.  In any case, books are important.  They are as important as our entire civilization.  Books revolutionized everything.  And now you're thinking that I am being more dramatic than Doctorow and, maybe, I am. But I feel very strongly about the disappearance of books.

Let me tell you why.

There is a technology created for DVDs that allows an individual to purchase (or rent) them.  They can take the DVD home, unwrap it, and watch it.  24 or 48 hours later, the DVDs destroy themselves and make themselves unreadable.  The user them tosses the DVD away.  Firstly, that is a complete waste of materials.  Secondly, what is to stop publishers (or some governmental body) from inventing a similar technology for paper?  It will happen, mark my words on that.  If an entire country can make it illegal for people to collect rainwater, what is to stop them?  Imagine, books that erase themselves.  It is not outside the realm of possibility.  By the way, if you don't think it is possible for things like restricting rainwater collection to happen in more "civilized" country, I suggest you tell that to the state of Colorado.

Again, I return to my point.  Sure, Cory Doctorow may be more sentimental about books than you are, but he has reason to.  Situations where laws about who controls water rights normally belong in the pages of your favourite fiction book.  But, as they appear to say, truth is stranger than fiction.  Things we take for granted each and every day are under threat and we should stand up and take notice now before things like water and books are gone forever.  When a monumental change like this happens, we may never get it back.

We are in a new economy and, as I am sure you've noticed, most content publishers are struggling to make ends meet.  Newspapers, book publishers, and music producers are all thinking up ways to make sure they are rewarded for their efforts.  They should be rewarded.  Publishers and digital rights management advocates need to embrace the technology as well.  They have been fighting, suing, and making merry with courts for a while now and it needs to be re-thought.  I don't mind people protecting their work but there comes a time when the work needs to be free to the masses and we need to reinvent how we reward people for the work they create. I am not going to pretend I have the answers but I want people to recognize that this future is coming and, before you know it, you will wonder where all the books have gone.  Don't kid yourself.  It will happen if we're not watching and doing something about it.  It did happen to water and the people of Bolivia were lucky to get it back.  We may not be so lucky next time.

This entire rant makes me think of this scene from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade:

I just remembered that I haven't made much of a splash about the third edition of Blogging For Dummies.  I will start with the publisher's verbage:

This is something that Susie and I worked on back in the summer and we made quite a few updates.  There are a bunch of new chapters and a whole lot of revisions to existing chapters.  We added a lot of stuff on social networking and whatnot and I was surprised how I had naturally adapted to newer technologies.  Getting it all down on paper was awesome and quite difficult at times to sort out all the details.  If you get a chance, why not head on down to your local book seller and get a copy or two.

I also have a shout out to Susie who is, as usual, totally amazing and rocks my world all the time.  The book comes out in January 2010.

It is that time of year again and I have decided not to do any resolutions this year.  I have come to this conclusion because over the last few years, many of the New Years resolutions I have made rarely get accomplished.  I don't know why but that seems to be the "way I roll".  Last year, I was able to accomplish a a bunch of my resolutions but many of them were only "half assed" and I was never 100% happy with how they turned out.  2009 seems to be the year where everything has changed. 

On a personal level, I took my health much more seriously this year and commited to losing some weight and getting my body into a much better position to start off on some extreme sports or some kind of program where I am getting to do things I never thought I would ever do.  So, in June, I was able to settle on an eating program (which is currently being put to the test because of Christmas cheer) and continue with my morning workout routine.  This has made my ever so happy.  I never really thought I would be able to look at my body in such a way where even I go: "Hey, not looking too bad, my man."  I think I want to slap my own ass just like all the sports greats but I have resisted so far.  I hear that Sham Wow guy already.  Bam!  Bam!

Professionally, we've done very well this year at the old day job and I can't be prouder of the group we've got.  There have been some ups and downs of course (how could there not be, if everything was even keel I would be suspicious) but we've weathered them as a group and it has made us stronger.  2010 promises to be an awesome year for Left Right Minds and it looks like our careful planning over the last few years has been paying off in spades.  Yah, I don't know what that means either.

As for blogging, I am a little shamed since I have fallen off the radar again and again this year.  Many starts and stops have come and gone but - wow - talk about slacking.  I suppose what happened (at least, for me) is I helped to re-write a bunch of the Blogging for Dummies book and the 3rd edition is coming out in January of 2010.  Head on down to your local book shop and pick up another copy.  There are some great tidbits about social networking and how you can combine your daily activities into your blog.  I suppose I could write about this kind of thing more often but I won't until January.  And if you don't pick up a copy soon, it will make me cry like a little girl with a skinned knee.  No, really.  Go buy one now.

I guess this is me saying that I am not dead and I am still around but I have been hiding a bit due to schedules, being busy, and also making sure I remain sane and get some offline time in here and there.  It is one of the most important lessons I have learned and share with every group I talk to about blogging: if you don't like writing or find yourself without enough time to dedicate to it, you may need to rethink your blogging strategy.  Participation is the key.

I think I will leave it at that because I need to return to the party.  If I don't see you, enjoy the rest of your holidays and I will blog like a mad thing in 2010.

Ack! There is no excuse. I haven't been blogging at all these past few weeks and months. I am not entirely sure why. I suppose I have fallen into that trap so many other bloggers find themselves. Periods of self-loathing take over and beliefs are inserted that tell our internal critics that anything they create is either no good or is simply garbage. There is never a silver lining in any of these situations. Nothing is ever any good. Some go so far as deciding they are themselves no good. I could be only speaking of myself but I have a hunch that there are many of you out there going through what I am going through - blocked blog syndrome.

In truth, such thoughts are rubbish. Here I am in the trenches, one who has "proven" himself by being involved in the creation of a manual that helps people start this bizarre career of "blogging". Yet, I find myself lost in a cavern of creativity. I have written hundreds of blog posts all over the Internet and I can't seem to get one finished for my own website. How cruel is that? I guess there is some comfort I can offer. It is a well known fact that writers of all levels will star blankly at a page (either on a computer screen or a piece of paper) for days before putting down a single word. They can get blocked up just like the average blogger. It is a natural part of being a writer. (Sorry, what was that?)

I am here to tell all of you that the act of blogging is an art. Plain and simple. Your ability to write is what makes blogging possible. So, how do you break the blockage? By doing something I haven't done in a while. You sit down, look at the screen with a little bit of defiance and you start typing or you start writing away from the computer. Write by hand (yes, you can do that!) and then type in your thoughts later.

And, please, don't feel bad in the slightest if you don't have anything to say. You can always follow a standard blogging formula and write a list of some kind. Fill out a meme about yourself. Offer advice (as I am right now) and keep that chin up.

I have been reading also a disturbing theory running around the Internet that is claiming that the days of blogging are over.

I hear them say: "Who blogs anymore? It is all about micro-blogging now."

Horse hockey!

As cool as micro-blogging is, it isn't the full kind of writitng that people enjoy the most. Sure, you can "tweet" a story out but the act of writing can't be touched by these technologies. Don't feel "afraid" or "less of a writer" if you are told that blogs are "not where it is at". I don't subscribe to such theories. Blogging is writing! To claim that the days of writing are over is such nonsense. Maybe we're in a collective slump but blogging or writing is not a dead art and I would guess that it is here for some time. You can change the technologies and the format but you can't change the truth. Human beings love stories. We love writing. Micro-blogging may be here for a while or it may be a flash in the pan. Who cares. Writing doesn't change. We change and get lost once in a while but we always come back to what we love.

There you have it. A blog post. How about that? No preparation and no cause for celebration. I just sat down to do a bit of research and look at what I created. It isn't Shakespeare but I think I can use it.