As someone who's long dreamed of being a novelist, I feel this too. When I was a teenager and fell in love with reading for really the first time, that's what I wanted to do as well -- that's what I thought a "writer" was, someone who wrote novels.
It was only when, as a freshly minted college graduate with an English major, that I realized, "huh... so you really can't do this for a job, unless you publish something and lightning happens to strike, or you're already rich."
So, I turned to journalism and became a newspaper reporter, which -- though it wasn't writing fiction -- was still writing for a living. And actually I loved it, though I'd never guessed that's where I'd have ended up when I was in school.
Later I left journalism -- that's crumbled now too, as we all know -- but I am glad I got the chance to write for a living under my own byline; people knew me and it mattered what I wrote, for the small town paper where I worked. Still, though, for many years I never considered this "real" writing in the way I looked at the authors I grew up reading.
The reason I share all this is, I do ask myself sometimes, what is it about writing that I'm attracted to -- what got me attracted to it in the first place, and what pulls me in now? Should I be so fixated on the novel, when really it's just one form among many kinds of writing we can do? And, have I elevated that form purely because other people/society/etc. have told me that's what I should elevate?
I write a newsletter too, and I've had a blast doing it. I do wonder, because while I've sat down and written short stories, I never can seem to devote myself to the project of writing a novel -- am I already getting my writing itch scratched by my newsletter? I interact with readers, they write me back, some of them pay me... like, isn't that what this is supposed to be about? And in 2025, it looks different than it would have in 1985, but maybe... who cares?
I don't know. I still wrestle with this. I still would love to write a novel that loads of people would read and it would be a best-seller, etc. Maybe I will do it! But the tension pulls me in both directions, you know? If that makes any sense... 😀
We have similar trajectories. I too found myself in journalism, and I really enjoyed it, so it's been bittersweet seeing two of the professions I loved so much imploding around me.
Ultimately, I enjoy STORYTELLING -- I think that's what connects both things. But that requires an attention span too, which brings me back to my frustration with 2025.
But yes, I am getting some satisfaction from both my newsletters too. That is not nothing.
I'm afraid you are correct, and I am appropriately bitter and depressed. Feeling very lucky, though, to have had my career when I did, and sad for those who are faced with the huge uphill climb as they attempt to make it in these industries.
I hate being this negative about it, and there ARE exceptions out there and will continue to be. I'm just not sure it's possible to reverse the trend of our young readers.
I read about a school in Kentucky (I think?) that banned cell phones and how it changed things for the students' grades and friendships. The combo of the rise of cell phones for kids and their isolation during Covid years just killed something, though.
So I just clicked through to see your profile and work, and to hear that you feel that way -- especially after having the success you've had, you're literally a bestselling author! -- is really something. Would love to hear more, if you have more thoughts on it.
Hi Terrell, to give you some background that Brent knows but others wouldn't know, I write for kids and young adults, and I chose not to seek a new book contract in 2024 after my current publisher rejected my next spec manuscript (yes, it happens to bestselling authors too--I wasn't mad and we still have a great relationship). They asked if I would consider writing a closed door mystery, which is about the only thing that is selling currently. I didn't want to do that. My agent and I were about to submit it wide (to other publishers) when I changed my mind and decided to retire, or at least take a long sabbatical.
Children's publishing, especially middle grade, is not selling right now. A lot has changed in the past decade. Social media has crept into kids' lives causing shorter attention spans, Covid messed them up tremendously in the reading department, and more and more turn to graphic novels when reading. I love graphic novels and think they are great for kids--they help kids read in two ways, through words and pictures. But I don't write graphic novels, and the process of publishing them is extra long because of the intense work needed by an illustrator (which also means the author gets paid less for their part--totally fair, but that makes it even harder to make a living).
Add to that, AI companies stole our existing books to train AI without permission or payment. Kids are using AI and will soon be able to ask ChatGPT to "write me story about a boy who does magic in the style of Lisa McMann" and it will read uncannily like a book I wrote. This is going to be the downfall for many authors. For kids who *are* actually reading thicker chapter books, they will no longer need to buy books to get the stories they want. I think it'll go quickly once AI ability improves a bit more.
I predict authors and aspiring authors will continue to struggle in children's lit--the current generation or the next one might read books very differently than adults currently do (and, I think, will continue to do). So it's a bit easier to sell an adult book these days, but it's still very difficult.
This is all speculation on my part. I really don't know for sure what will happen, but I'm in front of kids fairly often and I can see things changing for them, at least.
All perfectly said! I would add the "educational market" (which used to comprise 20-50% of kid lit book sales, even novels) has also imploded -- but of course everything is connect. Great change is afoot, and things will never return to where they were.
I wish, with all my heart, that being able to auto-generate a novel via ChatGPT could never happen... but I have to be honest with myself and admit it probably will be. Which hugely -- HUGELY -- bums me out.
Something I've been thinking about -- especially in light of what we're discussing here -- is the famous David Bowie interview with the BBC back in 1999, when he talked about the potential for the internet, specifically around what it would do to creative artists and the content they create, whether that's writers, musicians, filmmakers, etc.
He said, "the actual context and the state of content is going to be so different to anything that we can envisage at the moment, where the interplay between the user and the provider will be so in sympatico it's going to crush our ideas of what mediums are all about."
This is really what perked my ears up, when he went on: "The idea that the piece of work is not finished until the audience comes to it and add their own interpretation -- and what the piece of art is about is the gray space in the middle. That gray space in the middle is what the 21st century is going to be about."
Lately I've been thinking to myself, back when I was growing up, there was just the piece of art -- the book, the movie, the album. We talked about these amongst ourselves (especially music) but it really only took place face-to-face. Now, critique and comment play a MUCH larger role in the life of art today, I think, whether it's here in the comment sections on Substack or elsewhere on social media.
I just keep thinking, maybe Bowie really was onto something and we're now in the initial stages of what he's talked about with completely new mediums, completely new expressions of art -- and, I wonder, if the way he talks about the convergence of the artist and the audience, that's the space for us to play in.
(If that makes any sense... I could just be rambling here 😀)
No, no, I think there is MUCH wisdom there, and honestly, it's what excites(d) me about new media for many years. It really did open up so many new possibilities! (I think ebooks alone revolutionized publishing in mostly GOOD ways).
And there are STILL possibilities. Alas, I don't think anyone -- except the most cynical among us! -- expected the techbro billionaires to be QUITE as evil as they apparently are, making everything about money. I do think there is a massive backlash brewing, and it remains to be be seen what comes after that.
But I confess, I'm depressed by the "plunging attention span" thing, and what seems to be an Era of Massive Stupidity engulfing us all. Those feelings are harder to manage.
(I regularly remind myself: life has NEVER been easy for artists. That's kinda the point, I guess.)
It is common for people to look at other industries and suggest those workers just need to adapt. Is that what we need to be saying about ourselves? I think we already are and have adapted to some extent. But the auto-responder in our brains wants to say "enough!" or (stubbornly) "I'm not doing that." On our substack I've talked about how I often "quit" my job out of frustration, knowing of course I'll be unquitting later, but it feels good to declare it in the moment. But I'm not sure I can unquit this time. The thought of doing one-minute stories sounds exhausting and I'm not really sure I would find joy in that.
Though there's always some challenge and fun in coming up with a six-word story like Hemingway. Hmmm.
In a recent brief interview I was asked: "What inspires you to keep writing?"
This was my answer: "I believe that stories—fiction and nonfiction—can connect people, give comfort, and change reality. I don’t have a million followers and my books haven’t made it onto international bestseller lists, but enough readers have reached out to me over the years to inspire confidence: My stories matter.
None of us can know how exactly we affect others, but we surely influence thoughts and possibly actions when we share our views and experiences. Each time I write or help others write their stories, I feel hopeful that we create a better understanding of one another and increase our empathy."
I agree with you that the world of reading, writing, and publishing has changed drastically and that it looks bleak for us, but I choose to stay hopeful regardless.
On my good days, I feel this too -- and I have been wide open to alternative forms of storytelling, in a way I wouldn't have thought I would be 15 years ago. But increasingly, the trajectory seems even more grim, and it is personally harder for me to stay hopeful.
Thanks for sharing your story and struggle. I’ve been thinking about this too.
Change is in the air.
Although I don’t think traditional writing and publishing will disappear, it’s easier to get your “fix” of connection with others through Substack and other media than it was in the old days.
It’s how we deal with the existential crisis. And there are so many damn amateurs out there now who do it for free! 😂
A sobering and depressing perspective Brent, but I find it hard to argue with. After publishing five novels with Penguin, my career is in a serious slump with nothing but rejections for my latest middle grade that's on submission. Trying my hand at an adult novel to see if I can break in there. How long will I keep pounding on that brick wall? I'm not sure. Thanks for your honesty and for reminding all of us artists that we're not alone!
After the publishing experience I just went through, it makes zero sense for me to try to write another novel. But, my alternatives are Corporate America or death, so I guess I'll take my chances.
I enjoy taking pictures, and I sometimes enjoy writing. But I can’t imagine either would be much fun at all if I had to continually figure out ways to get people to pay for them.
I admire those of you who are still finding a way.
I see writers having careers now on Substack, Patreon, and podcasts. Those seem to be the avenues through which people get their storytelling. That will continue to evolve.
I think you are right about the novel as a fading form. I suspect it will follow poetry's trajectory: there will still be a small nucleus of devoted fans and practitioners, who will support one another, but it won't be a mainstream art form the way it used to be.
At the same time, I have encountered unbelievable crowds in bookstores in the past year or two. I think bookstores and libraries can encourage the social aspect of book-loving, and hope that continues.
FWIW, I had a novel re-released this year by a major NY publisher. I had zero expectations for this reissue of a 15-year-old novel, but ... it sold better than I expected. I have no idea what that means, if anything. (I don't know what the publisher's expectations were.)
I don't think AI will be anything but a hindrance/obstacle. I don't know anyone who wants to read AI slop, let alone pay for it. I honestly hope the people who are trying to push it into publishing give up when they realize there is, after all, no money in publishing!
Man, I hear you. My thinking lately is honestly this: I’ll write fanfic for now, some frivolous thing I genuinely want to write. I’ll have a great time doing it, and people on AO3 will read it and truly like it and say far nicer things about it (and leave comments much more often) than anyone does about my professional fiction. I won’t get paid a cent for it, but so what; my published books bring in very little anyway. I make much more money copyediting other folks’ articles and business reports than I do from writing, and I’ll keep doing that. So hell, I might as well just write the sheer fun stuff as my sanity-saving creative outlet, y’know? (And weirdly, on AO3, people do still read novel-length fic.) Make of all this what you will. Here is where we are for now.
How interesting! I really like the honesty of that. I do know when I started self-publishing, the "love" was much different -- much BETTER -- than when I was traditionally publishing, which was much more cut-throat (which I guess has pros and cons). I'm still not sure why that is, exactly!
I can claim #1. I am a writer. I have always been a writer. I expect always to be a writer, as long as I'm able. But my last novel, published in September of2024, is also my final novel. I published in the trad world for several books, until my publisher's marketing channels failed. So I published on my own, because, you know, writing. Like so many here, I noticed a distinct trailing off of financial compensation. So I continued to write for your #2, because the few people who read what I wrote loved it. But even their numbers shrank, until it was almost as though I were publishing for myself. Plus I had always hated (and I mean HATED) all the crap one must do to generate a published work, from formatting to cover design to marketing and all the myriad of annoying (and sometime more than annoying) tasks required to put something out into the world, not to mention the expense of all of that, plus maintaining a website.
I agree social media has a lot to answer for, but I started noticing a downturn in writing success with the increasing ease of self-publishing. There are some wonderful writers publishing their stuff. And they are outnumbered by many orders of magnitude by people who can't write well, but who write anyway, and put out schlock. There has always been schlock, but self-publishing has created a veritable garbage dump, and even the best writers can't rise to the top without something massive propping them up.
So I write here, on Substack, now. I have followers, and I gain a few more each month, but I'm not making any money. And that's okay, because I'm at least not spending anything. I'll keep my website up for probably a few more years. We'll see.
I'm sure the people who don't read anything longer than what they can get through in a few seconds roll their eyes at the profound sadness I and others feel at the severe decline of actual reading. But they won't see this, because it's too long. So the won't roll their eyes at me.
Haha, yes, I feel this pain, all of it, very specifically. And yeah, the democritization of everything had some bad effects. I'm shocked by how much bad, derivative writing I see -- and yeah, I'm frustrated that some of it, maybe even a lot it, seems to "break out." But, well, at least there's SOME good stuff rising to the top too. I guess that's always been the case though.
Yeah, we're mourning the loss of a time that many folks don't even realize is disappearing. I tell myself: they know new pleasures. But then (as an old person), I think, Is the pleasure of TikTok really like the pleasure of a good book? The connection I felt with the author and all the others who "got" the book? Maybe it is! But it doesn't feel that way to me. I feels more exploitative and disposable.
And there I go, sounding and feeling like an old person again.
This is anecdotal from my own experience, but as a writer who is closer to 'pure hobbyist' than 'professional', it feels pretty good at the moment. I'm making more from my writing than I ever have (via my newsletter), people are enjoying my long-running serial that is wrapping up shortly, there's a vibrant fiction community on Substack that is a joy to be around.
Of course, the problem is that it's not like I'm making anything even vaguely like 'a living' from my writing. From the hobbyist POV, it's all going well - but it only works because I have a day job. I wonder whether we're living in a time which is actually quite good for the hobbyist and semi-pro, but increasingly fraught for professionals who write full-time.
That book group you mentioned, Brent - where/how do they operate? A lot of the group dynamics online that worked ten years ago have entirely vanished (e.g. I'm thinking of Facebook groups here). Definitely big changes everywhere.
It's an interesting point -- and, frankly, even as a professional, I'm making more money now than I've made in a long time too (again, mostly through a newsletter). It's definitely a "best of times, worst of times" situation. But it's a bit frustrating because I do enjoy both "novels" and "film," and while it will be a while before they disappear entirely, I think a "career" creating such things is becoming virtually impossible (unless your name is "Christopher Nolan," and mine definitely isn't).
It will be interesting to see what evolves in the years ahead, won't it?
This was a GoodReads group. But your point is well-taken. I think "storytelling" persists, and it's moved to platforms like TikTok (and maybe Substack?). But I really do worry that attention spans are declining so quickly that it won't be in any form that I recognize (or that I'm interested in).
To be clear: the traditional industries also had MAJOR problems. And -- a point I've made in other pieces -- more people may be making more money now from "writing" than in any time in the past. So there's that.
But...yeah. I think AI reshuffles the deck entirely once again.
But also, I appreciated your thinking out loud. Judging from the comments, so do others. Why do we write? What do we want from the work? I’ve no idea. I keep writing. I keep asking myself why I do. Maybe as the world burns down all I’ll be writing someday will be samizdat. I’ll probably still be writing in my jail cell. And wondering why I do.
I appreciate that. And like you, I intend to continue to tell my stories, somehow. It seems to be in my blood, and literally nothing gives me more pleasure. But I mourn the loss of at least semi-vibrant novel and film industry.
As someone who's long dreamed of being a novelist, I feel this too. When I was a teenager and fell in love with reading for really the first time, that's what I wanted to do as well -- that's what I thought a "writer" was, someone who wrote novels.
It was only when, as a freshly minted college graduate with an English major, that I realized, "huh... so you really can't do this for a job, unless you publish something and lightning happens to strike, or you're already rich."
So, I turned to journalism and became a newspaper reporter, which -- though it wasn't writing fiction -- was still writing for a living. And actually I loved it, though I'd never guessed that's where I'd have ended up when I was in school.
Later I left journalism -- that's crumbled now too, as we all know -- but I am glad I got the chance to write for a living under my own byline; people knew me and it mattered what I wrote, for the small town paper where I worked. Still, though, for many years I never considered this "real" writing in the way I looked at the authors I grew up reading.
The reason I share all this is, I do ask myself sometimes, what is it about writing that I'm attracted to -- what got me attracted to it in the first place, and what pulls me in now? Should I be so fixated on the novel, when really it's just one form among many kinds of writing we can do? And, have I elevated that form purely because other people/society/etc. have told me that's what I should elevate?
I write a newsletter too, and I've had a blast doing it. I do wonder, because while I've sat down and written short stories, I never can seem to devote myself to the project of writing a novel -- am I already getting my writing itch scratched by my newsletter? I interact with readers, they write me back, some of them pay me... like, isn't that what this is supposed to be about? And in 2025, it looks different than it would have in 1985, but maybe... who cares?
I don't know. I still wrestle with this. I still would love to write a novel that loads of people would read and it would be a best-seller, etc. Maybe I will do it! But the tension pulls me in both directions, you know? If that makes any sense... 😀
We have similar trajectories. I too found myself in journalism, and I really enjoyed it, so it's been bittersweet seeing two of the professions I loved so much imploding around me.
Ultimately, I enjoy STORYTELLING -- I think that's what connects both things. But that requires an attention span too, which brings me back to my frustration with 2025.
But yes, I am getting some satisfaction from both my newsletters too. That is not nothing.
I'm afraid you are correct, and I am appropriately bitter and depressed. Feeling very lucky, though, to have had my career when I did, and sad for those who are faced with the huge uphill climb as they attempt to make it in these industries.
I feel this way too: VERY lucky to have had the career I did, which doesn't seem very likely these days.
I hate being this negative about it, and there ARE exceptions out there and will continue to be. I'm just not sure it's possible to reverse the trend of our young readers.
I read about a school in Kentucky (I think?) that banned cell phones and how it changed things for the students' grades and friendships. The combo of the rise of cell phones for kids and their isolation during Covid years just killed something, though.
So I just clicked through to see your profile and work, and to hear that you feel that way -- especially after having the success you've had, you're literally a bestselling author! -- is really something. Would love to hear more, if you have more thoughts on it.
Lisa's the real deal for sure!
Aww, now you're my favorite!
Hi Terrell, to give you some background that Brent knows but others wouldn't know, I write for kids and young adults, and I chose not to seek a new book contract in 2024 after my current publisher rejected my next spec manuscript (yes, it happens to bestselling authors too--I wasn't mad and we still have a great relationship). They asked if I would consider writing a closed door mystery, which is about the only thing that is selling currently. I didn't want to do that. My agent and I were about to submit it wide (to other publishers) when I changed my mind and decided to retire, or at least take a long sabbatical.
Children's publishing, especially middle grade, is not selling right now. A lot has changed in the past decade. Social media has crept into kids' lives causing shorter attention spans, Covid messed them up tremendously in the reading department, and more and more turn to graphic novels when reading. I love graphic novels and think they are great for kids--they help kids read in two ways, through words and pictures. But I don't write graphic novels, and the process of publishing them is extra long because of the intense work needed by an illustrator (which also means the author gets paid less for their part--totally fair, but that makes it even harder to make a living).
Add to that, AI companies stole our existing books to train AI without permission or payment. Kids are using AI and will soon be able to ask ChatGPT to "write me story about a boy who does magic in the style of Lisa McMann" and it will read uncannily like a book I wrote. This is going to be the downfall for many authors. For kids who *are* actually reading thicker chapter books, they will no longer need to buy books to get the stories they want. I think it'll go quickly once AI ability improves a bit more.
I predict authors and aspiring authors will continue to struggle in children's lit--the current generation or the next one might read books very differently than adults currently do (and, I think, will continue to do). So it's a bit easier to sell an adult book these days, but it's still very difficult.
This is all speculation on my part. I really don't know for sure what will happen, but I'm in front of kids fairly often and I can see things changing for them, at least.
All perfectly said! I would add the "educational market" (which used to comprise 20-50% of kid lit book sales, even novels) has also imploded -- but of course everything is connect. Great change is afoot, and things will never return to where they were.
I wish, with all my heart, that being able to auto-generate a novel via ChatGPT could never happen... but I have to be honest with myself and admit it probably will be. Which hugely -- HUGELY -- bums me out.
Something I've been thinking about -- especially in light of what we're discussing here -- is the famous David Bowie interview with the BBC back in 1999, when he talked about the potential for the internet, specifically around what it would do to creative artists and the content they create, whether that's writers, musicians, filmmakers, etc.
He said, "the actual context and the state of content is going to be so different to anything that we can envisage at the moment, where the interplay between the user and the provider will be so in sympatico it's going to crush our ideas of what mediums are all about."
This is really what perked my ears up, when he went on: "The idea that the piece of work is not finished until the audience comes to it and add their own interpretation -- and what the piece of art is about is the gray space in the middle. That gray space in the middle is what the 21st century is going to be about."
(Here's the full interview, in case you're interested, starting just before the parts I'm quoting above: https://youtu.be/FiK7s_0tGsg?si=sCFa_eA2XewGrcqe&t=607)
Lately I've been thinking to myself, back when I was growing up, there was just the piece of art -- the book, the movie, the album. We talked about these amongst ourselves (especially music) but it really only took place face-to-face. Now, critique and comment play a MUCH larger role in the life of art today, I think, whether it's here in the comment sections on Substack or elsewhere on social media.
I just keep thinking, maybe Bowie really was onto something and we're now in the initial stages of what he's talked about with completely new mediums, completely new expressions of art -- and, I wonder, if the way he talks about the convergence of the artist and the audience, that's the space for us to play in.
(If that makes any sense... I could just be rambling here 😀)
No, no, I think there is MUCH wisdom there, and honestly, it's what excites(d) me about new media for many years. It really did open up so many new possibilities! (I think ebooks alone revolutionized publishing in mostly GOOD ways).
And there are STILL possibilities. Alas, I don't think anyone -- except the most cynical among us! -- expected the techbro billionaires to be QUITE as evil as they apparently are, making everything about money. I do think there is a massive backlash brewing, and it remains to be be seen what comes after that.
But I confess, I'm depressed by the "plunging attention span" thing, and what seems to be an Era of Massive Stupidity engulfing us all. Those feelings are harder to manage.
(I regularly remind myself: life has NEVER been easy for artists. That's kinda the point, I guess.)
It is common for people to look at other industries and suggest those workers just need to adapt. Is that what we need to be saying about ourselves? I think we already are and have adapted to some extent. But the auto-responder in our brains wants to say "enough!" or (stubbornly) "I'm not doing that." On our substack I've talked about how I often "quit" my job out of frustration, knowing of course I'll be unquitting later, but it feels good to declare it in the moment. But I'm not sure I can unquit this time. The thought of doing one-minute stories sounds exhausting and I'm not really sure I would find joy in that.
Though there's always some challenge and fun in coming up with a six-word story like Hemingway. Hmmm.
I still feel I have at least one more major creative project in me. I just don't know what that is yet...
Thanks for the link to the interview! This makes a lot of sense, Terrell.
In a recent brief interview I was asked: "What inspires you to keep writing?"
This was my answer: "I believe that stories—fiction and nonfiction—can connect people, give comfort, and change reality. I don’t have a million followers and my books haven’t made it onto international bestseller lists, but enough readers have reached out to me over the years to inspire confidence: My stories matter.
None of us can know how exactly we affect others, but we surely influence thoughts and possibly actions when we share our views and experiences. Each time I write or help others write their stories, I feel hopeful that we create a better understanding of one another and increase our empathy."
I agree with you that the world of reading, writing, and publishing has changed drastically and that it looks bleak for us, but I choose to stay hopeful regardless.
On my good days, I feel this too -- and I have been wide open to alternative forms of storytelling, in a way I wouldn't have thought I would be 15 years ago. But increasingly, the trajectory seems even more grim, and it is personally harder for me to stay hopeful.
But I am encouraged by your hopefulness!
Very well said, Claire. While I'm frustrated and down about my career slump after publishing 5 novels with Penguin, I'm of the same mind.
Thanks for sharing your story and struggle. I’ve been thinking about this too.
Change is in the air.
Although I don’t think traditional writing and publishing will disappear, it’s easier to get your “fix” of connection with others through Substack and other media than it was in the old days.
It’s how we deal with the existential crisis. And there are so many damn amateurs out there now who do it for free! 😂
Haha, yes, the democratization of EVERYTHING has led to interesting results LOL
A sobering and depressing perspective Brent, but I find it hard to argue with. After publishing five novels with Penguin, my career is in a serious slump with nothing but rejections for my latest middle grade that's on submission. Trying my hand at an adult novel to see if I can break in there. How long will I keep pounding on that brick wall? I'm not sure. Thanks for your honesty and for reminding all of us artists that we're not alone!
Thanks, Matt. I'm not sure it's a "slump," though, so much as a changed landscape -- it doesn't have anything to do with YOU, that is.
I appreciate that encouragement!
After the publishing experience I just went through, it makes zero sense for me to try to write another novel. But, my alternatives are Corporate America or death, so I guess I'll take my chances.
Haha grim alternatives! Shouldn't one of the doors have a beautiful princess behind it, not just three dragons?
"...the truth is, if you’re an artist in 2025 — or if you’re even interested in the arts — I think maybe you should be depressed."
I am, dude.
Haha, my work is done here.
This all tracks.
I enjoy taking pictures, and I sometimes enjoy writing. But I can’t imagine either would be much fun at all if I had to continually figure out ways to get people to pay for them.
I admire those of you who are still finding a way.
Yeah, that's the thing. Making a career made it feel different. It was great until it wasn't.
I see writers having careers now on Substack, Patreon, and podcasts. Those seem to be the avenues through which people get their storytelling. That will continue to evolve.
I think you are right about the novel as a fading form. I suspect it will follow poetry's trajectory: there will still be a small nucleus of devoted fans and practitioners, who will support one another, but it won't be a mainstream art form the way it used to be.
At the same time, I have encountered unbelievable crowds in bookstores in the past year or two. I think bookstores and libraries can encourage the social aspect of book-loving, and hope that continues.
FWIW, I had a novel re-released this year by a major NY publisher. I had zero expectations for this reissue of a 15-year-old novel, but ... it sold better than I expected. I have no idea what that means, if anything. (I don't know what the publisher's expectations were.)
I don't think AI will be anything but a hindrance/obstacle. I don't know anyone who wants to read AI slop, let alone pay for it. I honestly hope the people who are trying to push it into publishing give up when they realize there is, after all, no money in publishing!
Yes, novels will always "exist" (at least in my lifetime), but I think they'll be like poetry or radio drama.
Congrats on the reprint! Hey, I'll take good news wherever I find it.
And yes, I still agree that alternative media will evolve. That's a good thing too.
Man, I hear you. My thinking lately is honestly this: I’ll write fanfic for now, some frivolous thing I genuinely want to write. I’ll have a great time doing it, and people on AO3 will read it and truly like it and say far nicer things about it (and leave comments much more often) than anyone does about my professional fiction. I won’t get paid a cent for it, but so what; my published books bring in very little anyway. I make much more money copyediting other folks’ articles and business reports than I do from writing, and I’ll keep doing that. So hell, I might as well just write the sheer fun stuff as my sanity-saving creative outlet, y’know? (And weirdly, on AO3, people do still read novel-length fic.) Make of all this what you will. Here is where we are for now.
How interesting! I really like the honesty of that. I do know when I started self-publishing, the "love" was much different -- much BETTER -- than when I was traditionally publishing, which was much more cut-throat (which I guess has pros and cons). I'm still not sure why that is, exactly!
I can claim #1. I am a writer. I have always been a writer. I expect always to be a writer, as long as I'm able. But my last novel, published in September of2024, is also my final novel. I published in the trad world for several books, until my publisher's marketing channels failed. So I published on my own, because, you know, writing. Like so many here, I noticed a distinct trailing off of financial compensation. So I continued to write for your #2, because the few people who read what I wrote loved it. But even their numbers shrank, until it was almost as though I were publishing for myself. Plus I had always hated (and I mean HATED) all the crap one must do to generate a published work, from formatting to cover design to marketing and all the myriad of annoying (and sometime more than annoying) tasks required to put something out into the world, not to mention the expense of all of that, plus maintaining a website.
I agree social media has a lot to answer for, but I started noticing a downturn in writing success with the increasing ease of self-publishing. There are some wonderful writers publishing their stuff. And they are outnumbered by many orders of magnitude by people who can't write well, but who write anyway, and put out schlock. There has always been schlock, but self-publishing has created a veritable garbage dump, and even the best writers can't rise to the top without something massive propping them up.
So I write here, on Substack, now. I have followers, and I gain a few more each month, but I'm not making any money. And that's okay, because I'm at least not spending anything. I'll keep my website up for probably a few more years. We'll see.
I'm sure the people who don't read anything longer than what they can get through in a few seconds roll their eyes at the profound sadness I and others feel at the severe decline of actual reading. But they won't see this, because it's too long. So the won't roll their eyes at me.
Haha, yes, I feel this pain, all of it, very specifically. And yeah, the democritization of everything had some bad effects. I'm shocked by how much bad, derivative writing I see -- and yeah, I'm frustrated that some of it, maybe even a lot it, seems to "break out." But, well, at least there's SOME good stuff rising to the top too. I guess that's always been the case though.
Yeah, we're mourning the loss of a time that many folks don't even realize is disappearing. I tell myself: they know new pleasures. But then (as an old person), I think, Is the pleasure of TikTok really like the pleasure of a good book? The connection I felt with the author and all the others who "got" the book? Maybe it is! But it doesn't feel that way to me. I feels more exploitative and disposable.
And there I go, sounding and feeling like an old person again.
This is anecdotal from my own experience, but as a writer who is closer to 'pure hobbyist' than 'professional', it feels pretty good at the moment. I'm making more from my writing than I ever have (via my newsletter), people are enjoying my long-running serial that is wrapping up shortly, there's a vibrant fiction community on Substack that is a joy to be around.
Of course, the problem is that it's not like I'm making anything even vaguely like 'a living' from my writing. From the hobbyist POV, it's all going well - but it only works because I have a day job. I wonder whether we're living in a time which is actually quite good for the hobbyist and semi-pro, but increasingly fraught for professionals who write full-time.
That book group you mentioned, Brent - where/how do they operate? A lot of the group dynamics online that worked ten years ago have entirely vanished (e.g. I'm thinking of Facebook groups here). Definitely big changes everywhere.
I'm still fairly unfazed by AI, though.
It's an interesting point -- and, frankly, even as a professional, I'm making more money now than I've made in a long time too (again, mostly through a newsletter). It's definitely a "best of times, worst of times" situation. But it's a bit frustrating because I do enjoy both "novels" and "film," and while it will be a while before they disappear entirely, I think a "career" creating such things is becoming virtually impossible (unless your name is "Christopher Nolan," and mine definitely isn't).
It will be interesting to see what evolves in the years ahead, won't it?
This was a GoodReads group. But your point is well-taken. I think "storytelling" persists, and it's moved to platforms like TikTok (and maybe Substack?). But I really do worry that attention spans are declining so quickly that it won't be in any form that I recognize (or that I'm interested in).
To be clear: the traditional industries also had MAJOR problems. And -- a point I've made in other pieces -- more people may be making more money now from "writing" than in any time in the past. So there's that.
But...yeah. I think AI reshuffles the deck entirely once again.
Congrats, btw! Cool that you feel so satisfied.
Goddamn.
I write on, but goddamn.
Sorry. But...yeah.
But also, I appreciated your thinking out loud. Judging from the comments, so do others. Why do we write? What do we want from the work? I’ve no idea. I keep writing. I keep asking myself why I do. Maybe as the world burns down all I’ll be writing someday will be samizdat. I’ll probably still be writing in my jail cell. And wondering why I do.
I appreciate that. And like you, I intend to continue to tell my stories, somehow. It seems to be in my blood, and literally nothing gives me more pleasure. But I mourn the loss of at least semi-vibrant novel and film industry.