The Best Opportunity is Right Now for Writers
By: James Jordan
Tags: Ideas, Writers Life, Opportunity, Writing, Racism

The Best Opportunity is Right Now for Writers

Learn about the writing business from the history of Rock and Roll Music

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.

There has never been a better time to get published, and to make some money from your writing. Only a small percentage of musicians become big stars, and it is the same with writing.

Just like rock and roll

I see a lot of similarities between the birth of rock and roll music and the current state of affairs for writers. It’s messy, but the opportunity is endless.

I see a lot of similarities between the birth of rock and roll music and the current state of affairs for writers. It’s messy, but the opportunity is endless.

In the late 1940s, there were just a few recording studios and just a few labels. They controlled what music got played, and there were not that many opportunities to get a contract. There was adult music and children’s music, but nothing for those in between.

In 1947 the technology was developed that made rock and roll physically possible. The invention of the 45 rpm record and the transistor radio laid the groundwork. Recording equipment became better and a lot cheaper and just about anyone could open their own recording studio and start making records.

Suddenly small independent recording studios were everywhere and were cutting records. They were putting them on 45 rpm records, and people were buying up transistor radios to listen to those songs on the radio. Rock and roll music was born to a waiting audience.

The recording studio changed music and can change writing as well Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Sam Phillips and Sun Records

The small independent studios could record anyone they wanted. Major labels probably would not have signed Elvis — a white guy singing black people’s music would have been too controversial or risky. It wasn’t risky for Sam Phillips, who owned tiny Sun Records in Memphis. If it didn’t fly it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. It did fly though, and rock and roll music was born.

Major labels probably would not have signed Elvis — a white guy singing black people’s music would have been too controversial or risky.

Phillips also recorded the likes of B.B. King, Little Richard, and Ike Turner. You can say he stole black music, but he also brought a lot of black musicians into the mainstream.

Phillips recorded “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston and the Delta Kats in 1951, which is widely regarded as the first rock and roll record. Brenston and the Delta Kats were Ike Turner’s band. That song also topped the R&B charts at the time. Even in 1951, it is pretty doubtful any major studio would have recorded this song, they were not recording many black people at all and it was much too earthy for cultured tastes.

Certainly, there were some crappy records made during those times as well. Anyone could walk into a studio and for a small fee make a record. For every Elvis or Jackie Brenston, there were dozens of Leroys or Joe Bob’s who couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.

A brave new world for writers

Where they were then is where we writers are today. The big publishers are still picking what they think will make the most profit. It is very hard to break through even if you have loads of talent. But on the other side of that, they are no longer in control.

Just as the small independent studio shift the power to musicians, the Internet and Amazon have shifted the power to us.

Just as the small independent studio shift the power to musicians, the Internet and Amazon have shifted the power to us. The small recording studio was the breakthrough that allowed Rock and Roll to happen. The Internet was a breakthrough for writers.

We are even better off. We all have our own private recording studio on our computers. Platforms for publishing abound. There’s the software to check our spelling and grammar. It's pretty much free, and you can make a little money.

The number of printed pages is staggering, so you might as well add yours. Photo by Macau Photo Agency on Unsplash

Big-time publishers

The big publishers are making it even harder instead of easier, which ultimately is to our benefit. You now have to find an agent, and even then there is no guarantee. There is less and less incentive to try to get into the big book publishers. Indeed, why should you work your tail off for years on a book, and then wait more years for it to get published when you can stick it up on Amazon in very little time with virtually no risk.

It is true that big publishers do more editing, and you are more likely to have a technically perfect book by the time they are ready for release. If you sell an article to a major magazine, they will also edit it to perfection, but will it be as real as an emotionally honest piece on Medium that has a few typos?

Sam Phillips would have been the first to say his records were not perfect. He didn’t care about making a perfect record, he wanted to capture the emotion of the singers. That was what made rock and roll music different. It was not the sanitized version of the music that was popular at the time. It spoke to the hearts of millions of teenagers.

A lot of mainstream writing today is sanitized for a general audience. There are rough voices out there who need to be heard.

A lot of mainstream writing today is sanitized for a general audience. There are rough voices out there who need to be heard.

This is every writer’s private publishing house Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

We are all publishers

Today we can do the same. We can write our stories, and even books, that are not perfect. We can publish them ourselves. If you touch someone’s heart, they are not going to worry about whether you are using the Oxford comma, or if your participles are dangling.

Try the big publishing houses and major magazines first if you like. If they don’t want it, go back to your own recording studio and make some records. See if anyone wants to buy them. They probably will. If they don’t you won’t have lost that much.

Don’t listen to the nay-sayers

I am sure more sophisticated musicians, as well as the big recording studios, looked down their noses at people like Elvis or BB King. They were not smooth. They were not as professional. Dozens of reasons to not take them seriously. Dozens of reasons why they were not really good. Elvis and BB King laughed all the way to the bank.

Today it is the same for writers, and there is a lot of snobbishness in the writing world. Musicians kept playing, and writers should keep writing. Don’t let the perfectionists or big publishing houses stop you from doing your art. If they are not buying your book or article, their opinion should not matter.

You have your own recording studio, so there isn’t anything they can do to stop you.

Here is Rocket 88, the first rock and roll record. Listed here as by Ike Turner, but that isn't what most historians say.

Here is a story about the history of rock and roll.

https://medium.com/publishous/racist-roots-in-rock-and-roll-6111dc5c531