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Note: This was first written in 2001. Lately, I'm pleased to see there isn't quite as much 'glazing' going on, but more interest in ebooks. Still, I'm leaving the following as it is because it helps to portray the frustration shared with many other eauthors, and will one day be of historical interest.

When people discover I am a writer they generally show interest. They ask what sort of books I write, and then go on to ask where can they buy them. Often, and rather unfortunately, as soon as I mention ebooks, their eyes glaze over.

Although a few react positively and are interested in the new technology, the availability of ebooks and how to read them, there are others who shut off. It is like a curtain comes down, and I feel this desperate inner sigh. It takes so much energy--and it is very hard not to get defensive--when trying to explain that no, my books aren't for free, I didn't self-publish--not that there is anything wrong with that--but was published online by a publisher who does things the electronic way.

The next question is always, why did I choose to go that way. And yes, this evokes another, and larger, sigh because I hear the unspoken doubt of my credence as a writer because I'm not published in the traditional manner. (Pioneer paperback writers suffered in this way apparently. Alfred Hitchcock stated paperbacks would only ever be any good for doorstops.)

It is impossible for people to understand that until now you have just been a frustrated writer, among thousands of other frustrated writers, having difficulty in getting their work even read, let alone published in today's changing and turbulent industry. For comfort's sake I usually change the subject and talk about something else.

Generally I can forgive the innocent comments that basically spring from the ignorance of how things are. I mean, if you aren't into fishing, you would hardly know anything about rods and reels would you? Unless someone is a writer or deals with books, how would they know how difficult it is these days to get published by one of the big houses?

What I find harder to deal with is the person who begins quoting all the negative things they have heard about the Internet--including that it is evil--and who now probably lump me in that category. Although they are speaking from what I think is a place of fear for whatever reason, that is--of stepping outside the norm or habitual, because (to them) technology is the Devil incarnate--it is still very hard to swallow, especially if you believe, like I do, that the Internet is one of the greatest gifts to mankind if used in a positive way. Unfortunately there are people who abuse it, just as there are people who abuse anything and make it uncomfortable for others.

I think the hardest person to deal with, however, is the one who believes they know what is best for the 'literary world'. In other words, an arts snob. I have met more than one or two: people who are so enamored with their own way of thinking, their beliefs, they simply have to point out the deficiencies of those they believe are beneath them. They have no conception of what it is like to arrive rather breathless on the bottom rung, knowing you have yet a long way to go, but at least you have reached the ladder! If they ever did experience that, then sadly they have forgotten.

Yet, who could be the more foolish of the two? Someone who moves with the times, or someone who's so entrenched they resist change? In time--and I have history to back me up on this--every regime or held truth either falls or changes. People who put themselves on pedestals are very prone to toppling over.

The web is being flooded with writers who, after many years of struggling to be heard, are finally finding a platform for their work. Bravo for them! Now--and many thanks to the Independent ePublishers--they've found a freedom, a golden opportunity. No matter where they live in the world, be it a city or way out in the boonies, if they can make a connection, they can sell their books. Not only that, they can write from the heart and not have an editor slash and cut it to pieces, saying it must be this way; it can't be that way. For probably the first time in ages, true creative fiction is reaching the public, and they're loving it.

This is an astonishing period of change. No one knows for certain how long it will take before ebooks are a daily part of our lives, and there are still those who state it will never happen. But I believe it will: that it is bound to. Not only because the current trend of producing books and then discarding those unsold is so costly and wasteful, who can afford to pay that amount for a novel you may only read once anyway, unless it's intended for a collection?

From an eauthor's point of view, because many of us who write aren't greed driven and aren't going to curl up and die if we don't sell thousands of ebooks on a first release, we can wait. We write for the joy of writing, because of our passion and in the hope we can bring some enjoyment through our thoughts and imagination to others. So if it takes a few years to get noticed, that's fine. Meanwhile we'll be turning out more works and hopefully improving our style.

Unlike a book that has a limited shelf life, ebooks can be posted on the web as long as the web, the author and publisher exist. And if one publisher unfortunately has to close, there are always others who are doing quite nicely thank you and will be more than willing to take on a good author.

That is what is going to make the difference in this industry, and that is what the ebook is about. It is as much a revolution of creative writers, and all those who want to see changes in the industry, as an emergence of a new technology.

Celia Ann Leaman
Visit my web page at http://www.devonshirebabe.com
Author of Mary's Child http://www.awe-struck.net
Unraveled, The Winnowed Woman and
No More Regrets, at http://www.twilighttimesbooks.com

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