Okay, maybe that title is a bit cliche, but Daron Fraley pointed me to an excellent article on the O’Riley Radar that really catches the vision of all that e-books can provide authors. There really is a lot of good stuff there, I hate to try to summarize. Go and read the whole thing.
However, I will comment on his last section, because I’ve been preaching the same thing here for months:
“I don’t subscribe to the notion that all great material comes from borderline psychosis. “Writers have to write,” that’s true, but others have it in them to create interesting things as well. The key is to reduce the barriers to entry. When that happens, we’ll see two things:
- Ungodly amounts of hideous material.
- A small but vital percentage of beautiful stuff.
YouTube is the embodiment of this. Much of that content is very, very bad. But nestled amidst the shaky home videos and cringe-inducing “comedy,” you’ll find genuine voices and genuine talent.
I also like his idea of writing and throwing what you have out there for feedback. Letting others read early works, not just the finished product. This can help writers just learning the craft, as well as those trying to perfect their skills.
