There is a revolution here and I think self- and independent-publication can do (or at least has the potential to do) for writing what the digital filmmaking revolution did for Hollywood.

However, similarly the market can, has in film, and likely will in writing, become supersaturated with drivel, crap, and dreck from those who feel their work is worthy of the masses. (But YouTube ain’t Hollywood.) There will be a lot more to sift through before finding that elusive diamond in the rough.

Long before the iPad and the iBookstore there have been places to publish your written works online for download or purchase. However, if Apple can do with iBookstore what they did with iTunes then they will certainly have a corner on the market.

That said, there’s something we can learn from the success many independent music and film industry artists have achieved when setting out to accomplish their own versions of their book on the bookshelf; to put it simply, sometimes you need to leapfrog the gatekeeper in order to meet your goals.

Doing it yourself is more popular than ever because it’s possible — filmmakers can make a film for a few thousand dollars and enjoy a $22 million success at the box office; musicians can produce music and gain a following of fans powerful enough to eventually grab the attention of the record labels; bloggers can gain popularity through their voice to the point where they’re flown to New York to sign a book deal.

I think that thanks to Apple and the iPad, writers have just entered a new stage of “do it yourself.” Unlike self-publishing in print, self-publishing will cost the writer a fraction of the cost, yet make their work available to the entire world. Additionally, it’s a much more powerful platform than musicians and filmmakers previously had because you will be able to sell your work (or give it away), thereby enabling you to sustain as a writer, while you strive for that book deal.

I guess all I’m trying to say is now writers can sustain as writers, just as aspiring developers have been able to do with the app store — the iBookstore will become to writers what the AppStore has become to app developers.

Once you leapfrog the gatekeeper and sell your book(s) 1000 times at $4.99, you’ll have made nearly $5,000 as a writer.

If you combine your talent as a writer with the ability to spread the word in good taste, you can build a following of people and maybe even land that book deal.

I’m a big believer that wireless information is the future, but at the same time that if there is anyone that should be using paper, it’s a writer. So I hardly believe the iPad or future tech will replace books, rather, I think we can use the tech to leapfrog the gatekeeper and therefore make it happen for ourselves.

It’s time for the independent writer.

Self-publishing is an interesting concept and I would be very interested in a how-to guide, especially for the iPad. (Maybe a future post on here.)

However, I think if we have the drive to be published, in book or magazine form (you know, “traditional” media) then Giselle brings up a good point. I think many of us on here still have that dream of seeing our name on the spine of a book in the local bookstore or library; that dream of writing the great American novel.

I don’t know that the iPad will ever replace books. And as long as paper is still king, be it for submission or publication, I think there will still be costs involved in getting our work out there.

Your point is a good one though. Moving into paperless media has brought self-publication to the masses at a minimal cost.

I haven’t done the submission route for anything I have written, but I have spent plenty on entry fees for film festivals and contest/award applications – esentially, as you said, for the priveledge of being rejected! Though it does seem worth it when you get that one acceptance or award.

Thanks for pointing out one of the finer points of being a writer!

Let’s rebel against tradition and tell the industry we don’t want to pay to be rejected again and again … that we want to be able to use this new, profound technology called …email.

Or, let’s just skip the publishing houses and magazines, publish our own work, and sell it through iTunes for the iPad.

:)