July 16

I'm reading James M. Cain's, Mildred Pierce. It is a story of a woman who married at age 16- had two small children and felt successful until the great depression hit. By the age of 28, she kicked her husband out for philandering combined with the fact that he refused to look for work. Now she is a single mom who- as she was told by the employment agency-has wasted half her life and is now unemployable. Half her life and she's only 28. *shakes head* Times were different then and yet times are not so different now. Good employment is difficult to find and there is a long line of highly qualified people looking for a job. They say one in every ten people are unemployed. Publishers are feeling the economic times right along with everyone else and buying less books for even less money. Everyone is looking for the next sure-fire, best seller. But no one knows who or what that is, so they would rather turn someone down than give them a chance. Still, people are selling. But from what I can see the new author or debut author is being picked up by publishers faster than an established author. New voices are good, but so are established voices. Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Some well-established authors have turned to publishing their own stories online. I think of this as selling apples on the street for a dime. In Mildred Pierce, her pride has to bend to survive. Perhaps the same must be said for authors today. What are your thoughts?