For the most comprehensive round up of the damage of yesterday I’ve found, you might visit this entry from Stacy Whitman’s Grimoire.
If I were a pessimist, I would say that it is a very bad time indeed to be breaking into the industry, or to be a newly published writer.
But I’m not a pessimist. I am grateful yet again for my day job, which, although I grouse about it occasionally, I still believe in the good mission of. As a matter of fact, given the current economy, I believe it is more important than ever that I am here, working to teach English to people who want that language skill, or to help displaced workers find a new venue for work. Yup, I love that my job means something, and although all writers would rather be involved in publishing all the time, I can take comfort in the security of my work, and help other people to re-invent themselves in a harsh world.
That said, I see NO reason for a writer at this stage in my career to be pessimistic. Come what may, I write stories, and I’m committed to that now. I have lots of stories inside of me, and they’d best be coming out. While I look forward to the day I am represented, marketed, and published, and I will continue to make those efforts accordingly, I am mostly about writing stories and sharing them.
Some of the writers I admire most are writers who circulated their works at times of censorship and in times of exile. These writers understood that the message was important. I will grant you that publishing is a great way to get that message out, but it is not our sustaining life blood as writers. Writing is. Story telling is. Supporting each other is.
So, please don’t think that your opportunity to publish is a thing of the past. It may happen slower now than we would like. However, in the end, people will still want stories, however we get them out there. The world needs storytellers more than ever in difficult times.
This office still isn’t going to pack itself.
Catherine
