It is no secret that there have been many changes in many different industries across many different platforms. Luckily the businessmen and woman that line the Boardroom have learned how to adapt and overcome, which has resulted in some fantastic products and services for today’s consumer.
However, there is another Industry that seems to have hit quite a few roadblocks as far as information is concerned. This has left millions of product-specific clients with their pockets turning inside out.
It isn’t hard to realize that the Literary profession is one of the longest-running Industries in history. The history of our Wordsmiths began way before content evolved into a form of linguistic utterance. Back when it was still in its early-writing stages, people with the ability to write were held to a different standard. Now the art has become less clearly-identifiable by the masses since our technology has made any piece of desired information within our reach. However, along with the availability of information through technology came this new breed of Writers.
Blogging has become an effective avenue for sourcing information. I’m sure anyone who has had a roll of importance to a Startup Company can tell you how a Blogger, at some point, affected their status. Now it is impossible to visit the landing page of any website and not run into a tab that directs you to their company blog. So needless to say how important the profession of writing is in today’s day-and-age. However, the shift over from being a Writer or Freelancer, or possibly a title I hate more than anything, “Side-Hustler” to the profound and significantly respected title of ‘Author’ seems ironically primitive.
It isn’t hard to realize that the Literary profession is one of the longest-running Industries in history. The history of our Wordsmiths began way before content evolved into a form of linguistic utterance. Back when it was still in its early-writing stages, people with the ability to write were held to a different standard. Now the art has become less clearly-identifiable by the masses since our technology has made any piece of desired information within our reach. However, along with the availability of information through technology came this new breed of Writers.
Blogging has become an effective avenue for sourcing information. I’m sure anyone who has had a roll of importance to a Startup Company can tell you how a Blogger, at some point, affected their status. Now it is impossible to visit the landing page of any website and not run into a tab that directs you to their company blog. So needless to say how important the profession of writing is in today’s day-and-age. However, the shift over from being a Writer or Freelancer, or possibly a title I hate more than anything, “Side-Hustler” to the profound and significantly respected title of ‘Author’ seems ironically primitive.
Publishing your Novel used to be elementary years ago. Query and Agent for months, negotiate their percentage, they will shop and fish for a fitting Publisher, negotiate their portion, then enter the world of Editing, and then Market your creation. There are many steps in between but, for the sake of story-length, I’ll stick to the point. Not all Writers with a manuscript land the Agent willing to invest their time, especially when the Writer is new to the Industry. As a matter-of-fact, over 90% of all submitted manuscripts are either not reviewed at all or lightly skimmed before rejected. The only reason I am so sure of this is that of my experience with Traditional Publishing and my short career as a Literary Agent. Especially now that Agents make themselves a little less available to Writers, which is a smoke-and-mirrors trick to drive up their value. For those not heading down the Traditional pathway, other services have surfaced to remedy the headaches of Self-Publishing. As a 13-year Professional Writer that stems from a family that has been in Publishing since 1920, I investigated these services. Boy, was I shocked when I finally reached the pricing for these services! Ranging from 6–13 thousand-dollars and higher for a simple Publishing platform and Marketing Strategy. Worst of all, they even go after the Copyrights and I.PR of these publications.
So we broke down their costs and realized that it costs far less than that. My team and I have even reached out to these Publishing-Pocketbook-Impressionists only to receive undeniably confusing responses. A self-written Press Release posted on to a Website attached to a recognizable name is not Media, especially when there are grammar issues. They are even paying for positive reviews to be made, or from our research, having them written by the staff using a template. How can this be going on? This continues due to two main reasons, the first being in an unregulated profession. Such as the resale of the ISBN (International Standard Book Number), which is the numbers attached to the barcode (EAN or UPC) on the back of your book. This is so it can be internationally identified by an integrated system when it is available for purchase. The United States is one of the only countries that do not require an ISBN on a novel; therefore, it is unregulated by the ISO. This is not due to a lack of trying; organizations are working alongside the ISO to help monitor and maintain a standard for publications. Most people are unaware that there is only one entity legally allowed to issue and distribute ISBN’s, that is Bowker. Companies charge an outrageous price for ISBN’s to their Authors and use the guise of being a “Boker Registered Agent.” That is entirely untrue, and those who oppose could call Bowker themselves, that’s what we did. The other issue is a heavily saturate amount of uneducated Authors and Writers, sometimes the first and second page of a Search Engine isn’t enough to tell the entire story.
After a long dig into this issue, we have uncovered nearly twelve different scams and dozens of highly overpriced services that are free to the general public. So what do we do? I am not, nor have I ever been, the type of man to stand aside and see an injustice take place right before my eyes. Teaming up with an award-winning Editor and a former NASA Engineer, we started our own Publishing Company. Technically we just relaunched a Newspaper Publishing that was started by my family in Birmingham Alabama in 1920, Gladiator Publishing Company. Not only have we won awards for our services to the Literary Community, but we have finished a new book that indexes the free services a Writer and Author would need to Publish their work. If you wanted to know more about that publication, then check our work at publishizer.com/literarily-lost/ or see some of the actual data at literarilylost.net.
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