So often, I see or hear writers express that things aren’t as good as they used to be for writers, or in publishing. Their thinking can take many forms:
- Years ago, it was a less crowded market.
- It was easier to get published “back in the day.”
- When you did get published decades ago, your publisher did more work to ensure the book reached readers than they do today.
- Back then, a writer could just write, and not worry about marketing.
Today I want to explore whether this is true, and why I tend to feel that writers have never lived in a better time to create, publish, and share their work. Does this mean the path is simple? Of course not. But I feel it is more accessible than ever, and not only that, it offers a wider range of options to reach readers in a way that aligns with what feels authentic and fulfilling to you.
I talk about Human-Centered Marketing all the time, and while I can be as sentimental as anyone else about the past, the truth is, now is the time I want to be living and creating in.
Perception Vs. Reality of the Past
Photos like these pop up in my social media feed every so often:
Simple enough right? There are some easily verifiable facts here, such as the average gas price in 1971 in the US was .36 cents a gallon, and that a 1970 Chevelle tank was 20 gallons. So sure, $5 could fill up a low tank. The same can be found for a Google search for “average house price in US in 1971.”
Except, everything else about the photo is wrong.
From what I can tell, all or some of the image is AI generated. The signs have gobbledygook on them, that vaguely resemble old signs. There are no actual words, just squiggles that resemble word-like structures. The gas hoses line up to nothing, and begin and end at odd places. The figure seems to be holding the gas nozzle, replacing it to the pump in an unusually high position, while a second pump at that station is already where it should be.
But mostly, it’s the implied message of this photo that is wrong. Of course, it can be read in a number of ways, but in reviewing the comments, I found people translating it generally as “Yep, life was not only simpler back then, but way more affordable.” One commenter summed it up as: “It would be great if it was still this way,” and included a little heart emoji.
Luckily others in the comments provided needed context: wages were dramatically less back then, that people forget that inflation meant that things that seem cheap back then, actually weren’t. The average price of a halfway decent TV back then would be $300-500, which equals about $2,000-3,500 in today’s dollars. One of the most popular camera models of that era (The Canon AE-1) cost about $600 back in 1976. Sounds reasonable, right? Except that is $3,600 in today’s dollars. (Did I spend far too long researching this? Yes! And I loved every moment of it.)
Why share this example? Because the same kinds of false narratives happen around writing and publishing. That it was easier to write, easier to get published, easier to have your books promoted — all with less expectations/work on the part of the author. That there were lavish resources provided by others to ensure your book reached readers.
Can we find examples of this from years ago? Of course. The world was a different place when there were only major 3 TV networks, no internet, no personal computers, and everyone worked with typewriters, and rotary phones. Back then, print media (books, magazines, newspapers) was one of the only accessible home media types beyond records.
I see other historic images shared with similar effect:
Is this a real photo? Seems to be, but it also seems staged. So I’m not sure if this is a publicity photo taken on the runway, or an actual meal during a flight in the air. Again, people seem to often translate it as “gosh, customers were treated with respect back then, and got way more for their money.”
Except when you consider details. Then suddenly, that simplistic narrative isn’t really true. The most obvious of which that this is likely first class, and that there seem to be no seats at all on the left side of the plane, at least in this section near the front. Again we can factor in inflation that these were likely $5,000+ seats in today’s dollars. And then there is the thing we don’t see in the photo: that this cabin likely reeked of cigarette smoke.
I’m a very sentimental person, and I do spend a fair amount of time thinking about the past. But when it comes to how we create and share, I focus on the opportunity that each person has to have their voice heard. I fill my studio with vintage objects that were used to create and share, and what I find is that they were: expensive, limiting, and hard to use.
Why is it easy to fall into the trap of feeling things were easier and better “back then?” Because on a day-to-day basis as writers, we may struggle. We try to craft something we love, publish it, and ensure it reaches readers — but often we feel we are failing at these tasks. At times, we feel lost and alone. We have the best of intentions, but seem to fall flat, as others seem to somehow stumble into success.
So it’s reasonable to consider that we would want maximum benefit for minimum effort, and to think, “If only I lived back then, things would be easier.”
But this is often a false narrative. And one that I fear holds us back from writing and sharing today. From ensuring that your unique voice connects with real people.
Success is Always Difficult
Years ago when you wanted to write and submit a manuscript, you had to do so on a typewriter. Have you tried using one of these in the past 2 decades? I have. It… well, it sucks. Every mistake is difficult to fix. Every tiny edit requires you to start over. And I’m saying this as someone who has a beautiful collection of typewriters here in the studio:
To query agents, you had to send letters and packages through the mail. Then, weeks later, keep checking your mailbox for a reply.
You had no access to these agents and understanding what they are looking for beyond basic descriptions. Unlike today, where you can follow literary agents online who share copious details about what they are looking for in their social media feeds and online events.
If you were published, it is true that less was likely expected of you in terms of marketing. But it also meant that you had less agency. You were entirely beholden to the whims of your publisher. If you didn’t feel they did enough, or did the right thing… too bad. There were very limited options to reach readers directly, and those that did exist were expensive and time consuming.
As for self-publishing… there was basically no path here. Not all that many years ago, it was referred to only as “vanity publishing,” and it provided no very limited means for you to actually have your books carried in places where people buy books. Today your book can easily self-publish a book and have it instantly carried in the world’s largest bookseller.
I saw this video the other day of Steve Martin talking emotionally about John Candy, describing lines from the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles that were cut — lines that made him cry at Candy’s performance. Steve reflected on his experience in movies:
“When I started making movies, I thought, ‘Okay, I have to make 40 movies in order to get 5 good ones. Because a movie is such a circus with so much input. You can’t know ahead of time.”
“It got so frustrating I wanted to stop. Because you pour your heart into these movies: you are thinking about it, you are working hard, you are doing it, and two years later it’s just another title on the video shelf.”
At the time, Steve was a big movie star, working on A-list movies, huge budgets, and earning well. He was at the peak of fame. And yet, even here, lines are cut. He can’t guess which movies will succeed. He feels so frustrated, he wants to stop because the work will become diminished.
I remember working with author Joseph Finder, whose books have been made into movies. That is a dream for many writers, and years ago his bestselling book Paranoia was slated to star Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Liam Hemsworth, and Richard Dreyfus. It had an estimated $35 million dollar budget, and loads of publicity. But it had disappointing results at the box office, grossing a total of $7.3 million in the US and Canada, and $17 million worldwide.
What went wrong? You could spend a year studying this and still not know. It was filled with highly successful elements that — somehow — didn’t add up to a successful release.
Of course, ever the wordsmith, my favorite detail from all of this is from Joseph himself. A reporter reached out to him after the disappointing opening weekend at the box office, saying, “Reached Thursday via e-mail, Finder would say only that he’s canceling his order for a red Ferrari.”
Focus on the Craft of Writing and Sharing
We tend to look at the past with rose-colored glasses. It’s easy to highlight the good things, and diminish the bad when doing so. Yet I believe it is much easier for to write, publish, and share your work today than ever before.
Is that easy? Nope. So it naturally leads to the question of, “What works today?” This is where the concept of craft comes in. To find out by focusing on clarity of purpose, small consistent improvement, and embracing the work. So the answer to “What works today?” is: find out. I’ve worked with writers for more than two decades, and in my experience, this is what that process tends to look like:
- Ask the right questions of yourself. When I begin working with a writer, one of the first things I do is send them a questionnaire about their goals and challenges. Time and time again, they tell me that the questionnaire alone helped them get a lot of clarity about how to navigate their challenges to lead to their goals. That is before we even begin working. This is why I share my Clarity Card process so openly, because it encourages us to ask difficult questions of our own intentions, consider the experiences we want to fill our weeks, and how to take clear actions and build fulfilling habits. (FYI: You can get instant access to the monthlong mini-workshop I just ran about Clarity Cards for my paid subscribers. More info here.)
- Talk to people. Every single week. Who? Other writers, readers, librarians, booksellers, anyone who aligns to the themes you love writing about, and so many others. First, this develops a thriving network around what you write, which is huge for not only creating potential in your career as a writer, but it just feels good! Second: you are constantly learning what works and why. There is a difference between someone who works to come up with a tagline that describes their writing, but never uses it until they pitch an agent, and someone who is constantly using that line in casual conversations. In that latter case, they are learning what works, iterating, trying again. By the time they get to that agent pitch, they are confident in how to talk about their writing. But more than all of this, you learn what works for others. When I first started my company, I talked to sooooooo many people who had started companies before more me. I asked honest questions. I can clearly remember having a meal with someone who publicly presented themselves as a huge success in their business, yet evaded sharing any meaningful details about how they started or grew their business. Even simple questions like, “Gee, I’m not sure how much to charge” was greeted with an answer like, “Whatever you are thinking, double it.” When I pressed further, just to get some clarity, I received similarly vague advice. Luckily, I kept talking to people and asking honest questions, and received truly amazing advice from people such as Kate Travers and Donna Flagg. I can still remember the profound sense of relief I felt in the moments when one of them would say something like, “Okay, this is exactly how I do this…” and gave me practical answers, even if it meant loads of hard work for me to follow their advice.
- Share frequently. The encouragement to share frequently is not about pleasing the social media algorithms (you know I don’t believe in that!), but about communicating with real people, and learning how to express your unique creative voice. This takes time — not only to learn what feels right for you to share, but for others to truly understand what you write and why. Frequency encourages experimentation, and in that comes more learning. I’ve sent nearly 1,000 issues of this weekly newsletter over the past 19 years, and each week still feels like an experiment. What that means is that my life is filled with learning — how to communicate what matters most, and how to connect with those who are moved by similar things as I am. In the many failures along the way — the things that didn’t go as planned — are precious lessons. I’ve learned to embrace those.
- Double-down on yourself. I know you are busy. That your days are likely spent with an exhausting array of responsibilities around work, finance, family, mental health, physical health, and many other obligations. Yet, here you are, with a creative vision burning inside you — something you want to write or create. A story or idea that you just know matters — that could brighten someone’s day. The temptation to dim your creative light is likely strong at times, because those other responsibilities are so important. I simply want to encourage you to double-down on yourself. To consider ways of creating and sharing — even if tiny — that keep you moving forward with your creative vision. I think back to interviews with authors Michael La Ronn who writes portions of his books on his phone while waiting for his wife at Target; Tammy Greenwood who described writing in her car while on pick up line at school for her kids; Stacy McAnulty who wrote a draft of a book one-handed, without punctuation or capitalization, because she wrote while breastfeeding her first child using her other hand.
Where else to begin? Read my archives. Subscribe to Courtney Maum, Kathleen Schmidt, Leigh Stein, Jane Friedman, Brooke Warner, Carly Watters, Kate McKean, KJ, and of course, Jennie Nash.
Are there times you feel things were easier for writers years ago? How do you keep yourself motivated to create and share today?
Thank you for being here with me.
-Dan