Tech Changes Require Us to Pivot

The writing world and particularly the online creative world is changing very rapidly, and keeping up with it is getting difficult. It’s overwhelming, and I say that as a person who’s found a wonderful community in the writing world and who’s had a lot of fine writing adventures. 

If I’m overwhelmed then I wonder how you are feeling.

I try to keep a positive outlook about writing and the future, but right now my positivity is challenged. So many changes, especially in the area of technology, are requiring me/us to pivot.

Traditional publishing doesn’t work for most people. It works for very few people, and those people are hand-picked for attributes that usually have little or nothing to do with literary skill, and it only works for them for a while. They get spit out too. 

When I finally realized that it wasn’t working for me and in fact would never work, I made a fierce pivot. 

Here’s what I changed.

• I went from pitching magazines to writing a Substack.
• I went from trad publishing to indie publishing.
• I went from promoting other retailers to promoting my own online store.
• I went from “self-employed” to my own LLC, and SSN to an EIN.

I’m so glad I did. The gatekeepers are gone, and that’s cause to cheer. Plus

• I went from an unknown audience to a community.
• I went from a 4-figure book to a 5-figure book. 
• I went from depressed to elated.
• I went to a real living wage for the first time in my writing career.

However, a few things weigh on me.

1. Now my life consists of one steep learning curve after another. I’m working even longer hours than I was as a traditional writer.
2. Now, until I can build a writing empire haha, I do everything. I do the writing. The photography. The marketing. The editing. The social media. The graphic design. The book design. The events organizing. 
3. As soon as I get one thing figured out—a new app for ebook distribution or Meta ads—the landscape changes and I have to figure out something else.
4. AI is changing everything about writing. This should be talked about. 
5. Everything feels like an experiment. Everything feels transitory. Everything feels flimsy, as if it’s built on quicksand. Because it probably is. 
6. Behind all of these weights is an even greater one, that books are declining, maybe in freefall, which is a horrible thought. 

It’s a lot. If you too are watching the landscape fly past in a blur, I’d love to hear about it. I’d love to hear your thoughts. What changes are you seeing and how are you holding up?

Postscript

I wrote that late in the evening after a hard day of edits. The next morning I remembered something Barbara Corcoran said on The Tim Ferriss Show. “Complainers are thieves.” 

So I’m turning my complaints into a boon. What a rush this life is. I am loving this fast water. What a thrill to be Alive. Right. Now.