Titans Rising: Publishing in the 21st Century

Not only is the paint not dry on this site, I haven’t even finished building the foundations and I’m already writing a review!  That’s how important Titans Rising is.

Edited by William Allen Webb and Chris Kennedy, Titans Rising is a manifesto combined with a how-to book on writing and publishing. I am not exaggerating when I say it may be the most important book on how to succeed in today’s everchanging climate. Independent presses are springing up everywhere. Amazon has crashed the gates of traditional publishing and the few major houses left standing are reeling, trying desperately to hold onto control of the market.

And failing.

It’s a real-life Game of Thrones and the Big 4 are playing the role of Ned Stark, clinging to the past even as their heads are on the chopping block.

Want a different analogy?

Okay. The Big 4 are the dinosaurs; Amazon is the comet that wipes them out, and the Independent Presses are the small squeaky mammals who improvise, adapt, and take over the world. (Hmmm. Small Squeaky Mammals. Could be the name of a publishing company. Or a bad punk band.)

Brandon Sanderson’s Kickstarter

However you want to look at it, publishing is changing and the pace of the change is accelerating. Just last month, Brandon Sanderson turned the publishing world on its head when he announced a Kickstarter to publish the four novels he wrote during the travel restricted period of the shut downs.

He raised $42 million dollars in a month. As is pointed out in Titans Rising, that’s 10x more than one of the biggest SF publishers brings in over an entire year. Sanderson has paid attention to the market, and has learned the lessons provided in Titans Rising. Build and audience, and they will support you.

How to Succeed in Publishing

Titans Rising shows you what you need to do to build your audience in the most credible way possible: 19 highly successful writers and publishers, from small press, indy and traditional, share their stories on how they achieved success. Not only that, but they share the mistakes they made along the way, and the resources they found that helped them get passed those mistakes It is said that a mart man learns from his mistake. Well, I think a smarter man learns from somebody else’s mistakes, and the generosity of the Titans in this book makes it possible to do just that.

In fact, the resources listed alone are worth the price of the book. There are a lot of scams out there; the Titans are helping new writers and publishers to avoid some of them. One of the things I plan on doing on my second read through is to compile a list of those resources. I’ll post that list here once I do.

The book is a fast read, but one I’ll come back to time and again because there’s so much good information, and just as importantly, encouragement. The Titans talk about the hard parts as well as the good parts. Seeing your stories told and being shared is awesome, but the process to get to that point is hard work and plenty of it. There will be setbacks; there will be failure and rejection. But they’ve been there, and weathered it, showing you that you can as well.

Moving Forward

Like I said at the top, I just finished the book, and it got me so fired up that even though this site is nowhere near finished, I had to write this first post, just to get the ball rolling. The closing of the book takes the advice from the Titans and turns them into Action Steps.

I’m taking action.

One of the points of emphasis is the absolute importance of building a marketing network, including social media, blogs, writer groups, and so on. This site you are on right now is my start at doing just that. I’ll be adding a Facebook author page, developing my Amazon page, setting up a Twitter feed, and all the other parts that go along with it. If you’re reading this close to its publish date, then congratulations; you’re here from the beginning. Welcome aboard, and I hope you enjoy the trip.

I plan on being a Titan.

Notice I didn’t say I want to be a Titan. Wanting, aspiring, hoping, these are all passive expressions. There’s no action implied. I’m planning and executing the plan. That’s the first step.