The Kindle Revolution and Freelance Writers: Pay Attention Now

On my Creativity Factory blog, I made the point that Kindle ebooks are out-selling “real” books for the first time.

In this post, Amazon Sells More Kindle Books Than Print Books | Angela Booth’s Creativity Factory, I reported:

“Amazon says that since April, Kindle ebooks have out-sold print books. It’s selling 105 ebooks for every print book. Tellingly, free ebooks have been excluded from the statistics.”

Fascinating, yes?

Rather than bemoaning the death of print however, let’s focus on what this could mean for writers. What can you take away from this news?

Firstly, publishing is changing more rapidly than anyone expected.

Last July, Wired reported that “Kindle e-books are outselling hardcover books by almost 50%, according to Amazon.”

Just ten months later, the momentum is building.

Therefore, if you want to write a book and sell it these days, look to self-publishing on the Kindle platform, rather than concerning yourself with spending two years selling your book to a publisher, and waiting for that book to arrive in your local bookstore.

With the pace of change this rapid, in two years your local bookstore will have changed too.

To repeat: I’m NOT suggesting that you panic, and imagine that the end is nigh, and books are dead. But if you’re writing a book, and want to go the literary agent/ major publisher route, you should be thinking: Kindle FIRST, then if the book sells, follow Amanda Hocking’s path, and get yourself a multi-book deal.

If your ebook’s a hot seller, you’ll get your deal. Publishers watch Amazon, and you’ll be on their radar.

Secondly, if you’re offering ebook-writing services to your freelance writing clients, now’s the time to familiarize yourself with the Kindle platform, as well as the other major ebook platforms. There’s money to be made in offering these services.

I’ve got to admit that I’ve been very slow on picking up the rise and rise of Kindle, Nook, iBookstore and other ebook platforms.

The reason for that is that ebook mania took hold in 2000, and fizzled. This time around however, the major change is the popularity of tablet devices: Amazon’s Kindle device, the Nook, and of course the iPad.

I use my iPad primarily for reading, and so do many other people. I didn’t expect that I would, but I am.

So, pay attention now, if you want to make money as a freelancer in the years to come. And if you’re a middle-level freelance writer, and haven’t made plans to write and sell your own ebooks, what’s holding you back?