Sisters in Crime!

Spent the weekend with 14 or 15 of the great ladies from the local Sisters in Crime Chapter. They rent a house in the little town of Confluence, PA and hunker down to talk about writing for three glorious days. For my part, I taught them the tricks and tips I use to make a story better, and to polish my scenes and pack them with more power.

In our downtime, we discussed the state of the industry and why it's a great time to be a writer.

Because it is.

Never before have we had the opportunity to reach and influence the number of people we can reach now. Never before could you be your own publisher. Never before could we take a rejected book, something an editor confidentially whispered was wonderful but she didn't know where to shelf it, and offer it to the public. And watch that book outdo the traditionally published books around it.

ePublishing doesn't have shelves. :) So we can finally, finally take a risk!

But with great power comes great responsibility.

The ladies from Sisters in Crime and I also lamented the lack of grammar skills of some authors...and how, without an editor, bad grammar is being passed off as good. :(  Poor sentence structure makes more than a passing appearance in some books. Some books don't have good stories...some books don't even have a story.

So while we're being treated to unexpectedly fabulous books that might not have made it passed the traditional gatekeepers, we're also seeing some real crap hitting the Amazon website.

I, personally, believe this will all shake out. But I also believe we have made ourselves the gatekeepers. And with great power comes great responsibility.

What was the last grammar book you read?
When was the last time you studied story structure?
When did you last seriously ponder what it means to be a storyteller...an entertainer?

I believe there is room for all of us...lots of room. But cream rises to the top. :) And with great power comes great responsibility.

susan