A recent event in the music business caused me to take brief
pause in my writing. Singer/songwriter Paul Simon is quitting the business.
Now, I’m not the hugest of Paul Simon fans. I do like his music, and his impact
on folk rock history is solidified. It’s the reason why he’s quitting that has
me, as an artist, very worried.
Paul just released his 13th solo album. He states
in interviews that he worked extremely hard on the songs and he thinks they are
some of his best. But as the “drop” date neared, something horrible and
unexpected happened. The entire album was already on the internet for free! All
the hard work Paul put into the music was now available without cost to anyone
who wanted to listen. You can imagine Paul’s disappointment and his feelings of
“why bother doing it anymore?”. As an artist, I understand the creative urge
and the inner desire and addiction to produce. The intensity can be
all-consuming at times. I myself have recently come upon profound shock and
disappointment.
At this post, I have written thirteen novels, eleven of
which are published through Amazon. Four have hit #1 in their genres. One book,
DROP OUT, even broke the top 100 in the entire Amazon store. You would think I’d
be extremely proud of these accomplishments since the average indie author sells
less than fifty copies, and I am… I am also saddened by what I discovered. I
have become the Paul Simon of writers.
My books have been pirated. Over the last year, I’ve watched
my sales slow and my royalties lessen. I’m not ignorant of the business, I know
a book has only so much life in it, but when my KENP pages also began to dry
up, I did a little research. With some internet digging, and ignoring the Google
unsecure site warnings, anyone can now download my books in PDF for free. It
was a shock at first, seeing my books in document form available to anyone with
an internet device, but then the depressing reality sunk in. The notion of writing
as a livable profession, like nearly every other art form, is going to
disappear.
What can be done? I don’t see a solution. Encryption will
only be hacked. Mass sharing of material will be the norm. A reader need only
type a title into a search engine and the book will appear for them to read. It’s
happened to music. It’s happened to photography. It’s happening to every art
form. It’s a devastating blow to those of us who have spent decades perfecting
our talents.
As a serious, obsessed, compulsive writer, I can only swim
with the storm and continue to do what I do best. Nothing can stop the future
and technology from advancing and changing our way of life. Art as a paying
profession is dying. Unlike Paul Simon and his music, I am not going to quit
writing… I can’t! But the dream of continued fame and fortune grows fainter as
the time spent writing becomes more of a novelty and not a serious form of
expression and escapism.
