Death to Print

            When’s the last time you had a newspaper delivered to your door and read it from the front page all the way through the classified ads?  When’s the last time you clicked on a Facebook link to read a quick 200 word article your friend ranted and raved about?  You’ve probably read an online article more recently than an entire newspaper. 

            That’s one of the main reasons you’ve been seeing less newspapers around. 

            What about those sweet classified ads, though?  How are you going to find that one thing you were looking for?  Easy, look it up on Craigslist or Ebay. 

            With the internet filling in some of the staples that were previously satisfied by newspapers, newsprint isn’t such a big deal anymore.  Magazines are able to stay afloat because they’re able to adapt to the new needs and digitize. 

            Is this the end for all newspapers?

            The answer to that is not completely.  Newspapers will continue to be on the highly endangered list, but they’re not completely out for the count. 

            Giants in the industry, like the New York Times, will continue to struggle until they’ve exhausted all of their resources.  However, the underdog will survive in the newspaper industry.  Even though small towns have internet too, they heavily rely on their local newspapers for local events. 

            My family, for instance, still subscribes to our local newspaper so they can stay on top of the obituaries to see who all is dying.  A bit morbid, but it’s a legitimate sector that is keeping small newspapers alive. 

            Although the internet may have killed the giants, like in the day of the dinosaurs, the little guys will stay alive long enough to hopefully evolve and adapt to a changing world.  

Modern Cave Paintings

            It’s in human nature to want to communicate.  In archaic times, cave paintings developed to leave messages to others or tell tales.  Modern humans now use cute little images called Emojis.  Like cave paintings, there are many variations of Emojis intended to have general interpretations. 

            Translating both cave paintings and Emojis has a more literal translation than one would think.  Cave paintings, however, could be presented at varying arrangements to help translate into a story.  Emojis tend to be presented in more of a sentence format that is presented in a text box. 

            As artists would have different features in their cave paintings, phones can have different variations of Emojis.  Originally featured on Apple products, Emojis have expanded to be featured on most modern smart phones.  While on the iPhone, an ill looking Emoji can be yellow, round, and sporting a face mask.  On a Samsung the same Emoji is more sluggish in shape with the same yellow and face mask as its iPhone counterpart.  When exchanging texts between the two variations, the phone will always translate the Emoji to display like it would normally look on the phone the person is using. 

            Different tribes would also have slight variations in their cave paintings.  One example would be a bear.  In one tribe, the cave paintings sign for bear could have a leaner shape with a very short muzzle.  Another tribe might draw a bear with a fat body and longer fangs.  Same concept was drawn with different emphasis.  For the different tribes, they could we speaking of different breeds, but the general idea is still translated. 

            The utilization of both cave paintings and Emojis is usually accompanied with words.  In ancient times, the words were verbal with the cave paintings to emphasis their points.  Modern humans use Emojis to emphasis something they may have said in the text they are accompanied with.  Either way, cave paintings and Emojis can stand alone to present a story, but they both generally require some context. 

            Now go ahead and put your Emojis on your best friend’s Facebook wall, you modern caveman!

Talk to my Agent

            The publishing world has always been a mystery to me.  In the old days, people that knew a subject very well would be commissioned by the upper class to share their knowledge (and praise their wealthy beneficiaries).  When I was little, I always imagined that people that were working for the publishing companies would come up with new books when requested.  As I got more involved with writing, I found out that it was a different beast altogether. 

            This strange beast showed itself to me partially when I interned for a literary agent.  Like every other agent out there, my boss had her eyes on the “slush pile” she received daily, looking out for the next JK Rowling.  In this “slush pile” were the hopes and dreams of authors.  Sure, they weren’t published, but they had merits and recommendations from friends and sometimes even an editor. 

            The “slush pile” was composed of snippets of a book (usually the first three chapters or the first fifty pages of a book) that the author hoped would catch the interest of the agent.  At least enough interest for the agent to request a complete manuscript.  My job at the literary agency was to read through the “slush pile” in an attempt to find the next Harry Potter.  Needless to say I did quite a bit of reading during my internship. 

            Come to find out, the agent I was working for hadn’t signed a new author in over eighteen months when I first arrived.  She had promising and prolific authors signed with her, but nothing new and fresh.  Her standards to sign an author were high and she would accept nothing but the best to associate herself with. 

            After countless manuscripts and submissions, I would occasionally find “the one” I thought would break the drought.  When she would move on and declare the book not up to her standards, I would push even harder. 

            Finally after reading for two and a half months, I found something I knew she couldn’t ignore.  It was a very stylized text that incorporated the readers’ interests in its strange world.  It was definitely something I had never seen. 

            This book was the first time I truly saw the beast that is the publication world in flesh. 

            The agent took a great liking to the book.  So much so that she signed the author right away, ending her drought.  From there, she contacted another link in the chain regarding a book cover.  Within a week multiple covers were presented for her approval. 

            It was so weird to see a book come to life right in front of me.  As I left my internship, the author of the book was adding some final touches at my suggestion and agreement of the agent.  The next stage, I was told, was the publishing houses where the agent would hopefully receive generous offers and a swift delivery.  

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . for fanfiction

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… for fanfiction

            Fanfiction has always been regarded as the tail end of the writing community.  It was a step for younger writers to enter the world of writing.  To date, there are multiple websites out there that support fanfiction and other early writings of hopeful authors (like Fanfiction.net, Quizilla, and Wattpad for a short list of examples).  On these websites, fans will read others’ works and critique it on its accuracy of the characters to the likelihood that the events would unfold in such a fashion. 

            When Twilight became a major motion picture that supplied fans with faces and scenes to look at, it opened a new chapter for fanfiction writers.  Hundreds if not thousands of fanfiction writers poured their time and talents into adding their own characters and changing minute details to out the infamous Bella for their character’s time in the spotlight with Edward or Jacob.  Some of these fan writings came to the spotlight in the website communities while most stayed in the shadows. 

            One author decided to take her fanfiction to a place fanfiction has rarely been: a published book. 

            Erika Mitchell knew her Twilight fanfiction had the promise to make it as a published book.  All it took was some tweaking.  Bella and Edward transformed into Anna and Christian.  Mediocre writing transformed into bad writing that was driven by sex scenes.  Sure, Fifty Shades of Grey might not have the same lasting effect on a young person’s life as say How to Kill a Mockingbird, but it satisfied its readers enough to make it a best seller for weeks on end.  It even had enough steam behind it for Mitchell to have multiple sequels and a revision of the original from a different perspective. 

            For the fanfiction community, this was a serious breakthrough.  With Mitchell reaching out to the publishing community with her revised fanfiction, she has forced the publishing community to look at the fanfiction world with new interest.  There’s promise to many of the stories published on these fanfiction websites.  Agents are now looking to the fanfiction community with a keen eye on the hunt for the next EL James that could be their golden goose. 

            When you break down a wall, however, you’re freeing one thing while offering an opening for enemies.  Fanfiction writers are now looked upon with almost a sarcastic tone.  Since Mitchell is the poster child for fanfiction writers, many people hear about fanfictions and instantly imagine overly sexualized, poorly written material.  Instead of seeing fanfiction as early writings and works of future authors, many are being labelled and discounted, ending what was previously an escape for some youth.