This new world of publishing is the only one I've ever known, having begun my journey as a published author in 2012. I obsess daily over my Amazon rankings and check NovelRank to keep an eye on how many books have sold, even though I know they're unreliable. I check the number of hits I've had on my website and blog and keep track of the tweets I've posted for various books to gauge any correlation. My web presence checklist for each new release is about seventeen places and growing daily, it seems. That's not including any guest blogs I'm appearing on and must write content for. And, in between all this compulsive behavior I need to focus on writing the next book.
All of which led me to ponder how it was in the days prior to the internet and blog sites. The days when each page of a manuscript had to be printed out, bound in rubber bands, and mailed from the post office to the traditional publishers or agents who would then determine its fate. I've heard stories of Nora Roberts appearing on QVC to promote her latest book. I know book signings were more abundant back then, and people would be on the road for weeks at a time. Now, all I have to do it push a button to reach hundreds, or hopefully, thousands of potential readers. I guess a little obsessing over numbers is worth it.
My latest WIP features Rosemary Fitzpatrick, who is an author true to her day. She writes dime novels, so, in writing her story, I've had to learn a bit about what printing was like in the late 1850s. Her love interest is the man who has just taken over the publishing house where her stories emanate from, and many of their scenes take place in the office of the publishing house. Any student of journalism can tell you about lead type boxes and the tedium of creating headlines and text one upside-down letter at a time, then setting all of it into a frame. Ink was then rolled onto the lead letters and a sheet of paper laid over top and pressed into the ink. The advent of computer programs has now made lead type obsolete, and printing is much faster now. Several times I've been able to witness the big presses used for magazines and newspapers in action.
We've come a long way. Books can be printed electronically in a flash, and the length of time from manuscript to finished product sometimes takes my breath away. But the smell of ink on the printed page is still one of my favorite scents of all time.
