Publishers New Problem, Writers

I’ve been enjoying Medium. Since I started reading and exploring Medium I feel like I’ve found new voices, different perspectives and articles on topics I haven’t seen before. As I explore it seems like every day I see a new post about someone shutting down their blog and moving to Medium. Medium empowers writers and is a new symbol of the issues facing traditional publishers. It’s easier than ever, if you’re a good writer (and even a bad one) to get seen and read. You don’t need a publisher behind you. As I think about this, something else occurs to me, traditional publishers are focused on how to “fix” their business model, but their next problem is writers.

Publishers are battling shrinking ad revenue and changing consumer habits. Most publishers are not strong enough brands to put up a paywall. Running big operations is costly, even in the digital world. It’s easier to build a following in the digital world, but that following and brand recognition doesn’t guarantee success. Look at what we are seeing reported about Buzzfeed and Mashable. There seems to have always been a view that you can just find writers, train them and move on. I think that’s changed, finding the writers will be harder. Technology and distribution have created a new career path for writers.

I think it will be so common to in high school or college to self-publish, with these young people putting their opinions out there as they have the thoughts. Why not! You don’t even have to start a blog anymore. The infrastructure is all here. You write smart things, people will see you and you can build YOUR brand. Will they see a need to get employed in order to grow? Some will, but not all. I believe we will see an increase in the number of aspiring writers who don’t think they need a traditional job. Fewer will be excited to go into a publisher, have to take direction, beg for raises and hope this firm has the revenue side of the equation figured out. I think they will look at social media celebs, on YouTube, Instagram for example, who are making a go at it alone, and decide that is the best path in the world.

How will they monetize their work? Several ways, because it’s a lot easier to carry the costs of a small organization or even single person in the web economy. I’m not saying it’s an easy living, but more manageable than a large, heavy publishers. For an individual it would have to be a combination of revenue generating activities from some advertising, custom work, conferences, sponsorships, or even podcasting, yea not simple, but doable.

Journalism isn’t dead. We still need hard core reporting. Editors checking the work. A team gathering and checking the facts, ensuring we are not just making it up as we go. However, those jobs are becoming less and less exciting. We all know they are not lucrative. The allure of a large brand behind you, a great newsroom and making an impact on the world brought great writers. Now a writer has to question if they want to go into these publishers. They have other options.

We see new publications launching on entirely on Medium, we see well known writers leaving large publications and building smaller, focused outlets. This is very real.

There is a down side. Will the new writers build good habits? Will they learn the ropes? Maybe not. That will put a much larger burden on the reader to decipher what they read, ensure its real, and see through bad writing and reporting.

The question on my mind is, what will publishers do to attract writers? It doesn’t seem to be their focus today, but if they don’t come up with a plan and attract talent, the revenue models just don’t matter.