Good news, digital writers, the respectability gap between you and the folks whose work gets publishing in ink has almost completely closed…
That’s according to the NYT’s executive editor, Jill Abramson, who revealed that she has no special place in her heart for print media. Abramson no longer distinguishes between print and online, focusing instead on “the news report.”
Coming from the editor of a site named Digital Marketer, that wouldn’t mean too much… but this is from the Executive Editor of the most influential media outlets in the world, the New York Times. So… yeah.
“There was too much focus in the past on the print product… [We] now make sure energy is 24/7 and not focused on newspaper deadlines and rhythms.” – Jill Abramson
A few years ago, writing for a digital publication, even a pretty well-known one, was considered a second-tier qualification in a writer’s portfolio. For some reason, it didn’t matter that fewer and fewer people were actually reading print, those publications still held all the credibility.
The NYT, to the paper’s credit, keyed in on the shift earlier than almost any of its ink and paper competitors — a decision that has helped the Times establish itself as a digital innovator.
The same thing is now happening with authors, except we’re still a long way from a level playing field. The publishing industry is still dominated by an old model, despite the fact that, just like it was with the news media, any fourth grader could tell you that the future of books is digital.
It may feel like a risk to bypass the publishing models of the past, going straight to digital… but chances are that it won’t feel that way in 10 years.
In fact, right now might be the perfect time to get in early, before the ePub industry gets as overcrowded as the print publishing industry.
What do you think? Will the gap between digital authors and print authors close in the next 5 years?
Josh is the managing editor of Digital Marketer, as well an aspiring novelist. Find out more about what Josh is working on on 
8 comments
The actual "tipping point" may have occured when Amazon's Kindle sales overtook their print on demand book sales earlier this year.
I totally agree, Barbara. I think the emergence of Penguin Random House might be confirmation that digital authors are getting their due...
Amazon has certainly positioned itself as the preeminent content marketer in the world. Whether it be, eBooks, Print Books (both new and used) or a vast array of merchandise, they are clearly are the number one search engine for buying stuff on this planet.
A healthy living could be made in any number of markets associated with the Big A...Publishing, Affiliate Marketing, Retail Sales, Used Books...and the list could go on.
So "Go Big A". We are all watching!
My concern, and I truly believe Amazon shares the same concern, is that that tons of garbage ebooks (mostly written by IMs who have no knowledge on the subject of these books) will infiltrate Amazon book store, lowering the quality of their books and potentially hurting Amazon's reputation. Amazon is too smart to let this happen, so be prepared for some kind of quality control feature being implemented soon. I predict that submitted books will have to be approved by a human QA worker before they are allowed into Amazon bookstore.
I really agree with you on this.
How can I write better/ quicker/ make a living at it?
drbonnieL.com
As telegraphs and telephones replaced carrier pigeons for fast communication, so digital media will replace print. The high cost of production and distribution - and the slow speed of this - of traditional ink and paper books, newspapers and magazines compared to instantaneous and virtually free digital media will rapidly render all print media inefficient and obsolete, especially now everyone has access to laptops, tablets and smartphones. Even dedicated e-readers will disappear as cheap multi-function tablets with reading apps take over.
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