What Rock and Roll History Can Teach Writers?

Technology changed the playing field for music, and now it has for writers too.

James Jordan
Feedium

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Anyone can be a musician, and anyone can be a writer. Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash

Now is the best time in history to be a writer. It has never been easier. At the same time, everyone and their dog is now a writer, so it is also perhaps more competitive than ever.

We are at the same place Rock and Roll music was in the early 1950s. It was a new form of music in its infancy. Technological advances and visionaries came together and birthed a new style of music that changed the world. There have always been musicians and writers. Technologies and other societal changes have made it easier for both to prosper at different times.

The advent of the Internet created a forum for everyone to be a writer. Things like Medium, and the plethora of other platforms, make it easy to publish stories. Personal websites were a good beginning, and now we are even beyond that.

Amazon has created a marketplace to sell all your books — and even short stories. You could keep trying to land a book deal with a huge publisher, but you could also publish your own book at very little cost. You could probably do just as well self-publishing if your name is not Rowling or King.

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James Jordan
Feedium

Teller of tales, many of which are actually true. Award-winning journalist, and the William Allen White Award for reporting.