I went to a party the other day and got to talking to someone about the state of affairs on the internet today. Mainly I was talking about writing and self-publishing. I explained that I self-published my novels and exactly how that worked. The person I was talking to was a musician. As soon as I started talking about self-publishing he started going on about how technology and the culture of free has completely ruined the music business. Now anyone can make music, put it online, and give it away to peoplee, because it’s their hobby not something they do to feed their family. Their is some much free music available online that people expect something for nothing and it makes it hard to make a living. He and his partner had quite a lot to say about the subject and seemed to be under the impression that the state of the internet today was ruining things for all artists in general. It was interesting to listen to, but I find myself disagreeing.
The internet has changed the game that is for sure. Yes, there is a culture of free right now. Yes, that makes it difficult to earn money in the same way you’re accustomed to earning money. It hasn’t ruined things for creative people though. It’s just changed things.
You can’t get stuck on the same track doing the same things over and over again, and expect that to work forever. The world we are living in is changing everyday. You have to become an innovator and figure out how to use the new situation to your advantage. A big pile of complaining isn’t usually the answer.
I started reading Seth Godin’s Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
This is just a quick post today. I have a lot of writing to do. I’m working on a zombie book. I just thought it would be something fun to do for a change. I’ll release it under a pen name later this year.
Anyway, hope you’re doing well. Back to work.
Lovelyn