Voices
GILLIAN
FREW
HUFFINGTON
10.14.12
The Rise
of the
Renaissance
Reporter
THE PUBLISHING WORLD is facing an identity crisis. Pulitzer Prizewinning authors are sheepishly
promoting their e-books on late
night TV; The New York Times is
paying veteran journalists to tweet;
independent bookstores are shutting their doors at an alarming rate.
Does all of this signal the demise of the professional writer?
Out of work screenwriters, poets and copywriters might say yes.
I say no, but there’s a catch.
There will always be demand
for good writers. The thing is, just
like any successful company, today’s writers need to learn to diversify. For university professors,
the old saying is “publish or perish.” For freelancers, staff reporters and bloggers, it might as well
be “produce or perish.” Because
with self-publishing, blogging and
ILLUSTRATION BY JESSE LEFKOWITZ
the advent of Amazon, production
has taken on a whole new meaning, and it’s no longer viable to be
a writer without the web.
Online, content is king. Unlike
with print, there’s no limit to how
much information can be conveyed in a few simple keystrokes
and disseminated through social
media. Robbery in progress? No
need to wait for the morning edition; the internet is awake 24/7.
Your story, no matter the scope,
can link to anywhere on the web
Gillian Frew
is a freelance
writer