The literary industry has undergone massive changes that allow virtually anyone to write and publish a book, thus upending the industry and saturating it with poorly written, shodden books. Consequently, this has turned the industry on its head; driving many good and legitimate writers out the business and replacing them with a host of trash venders. These dashing, new merchants peddle sleaze and anything else that would earn them a buck for the day.

This has been very disheartening and discouraging for many writers—and many have bolted the industry, walking away paupers and in tatters; thus, the question that must be asked and answered satisfactorily is this: Who should be writing books, and how should the industry be guarded against publication of poorly written books that fall way below the standard?

But free speech must be protected; therefore, people are free to write and publish whatever books they want to write and promote out there because moral concerns are largely a thing of the past. Obviously, writing is basic to societal development and has been handled differently through the millennia. And quite to the contrary, some societies did not develop the civilization tool of writng at all.

There should be some kind of government oversight and regulation of published books to ensure that they meet a certain standard; but who is going to that? In an anything-goes world, where moral rules and literary regulations are of trifling value; for far too many, the only thing that matters is making that crucial buck for the day.  There is no question that writing is one of the most important institutions in a society; however, many civilizations of the past that did not develop writing: Rather, they appointed special men, such as West Africa’s Griots and the Celtics’ Bards, to transmit the culture’s story from one generation to another.

In essence, in non-literary civilizations, the Griots and Bards played the all-important role of writers and transmitted the main elements of the society from one generation to another—and they had incredible memory! They had to in order to pull off such an incredible feat; however, what this reflects is the critical value of writing in society. It’s the means by which important information is treated and transmitted, but who should be doing that—intelligent people…the intelligentsia?

Well, it seems as if the Digital Revolution has answered that question in a resoundingly clear manner; but in doing so, it has created another problem: A sprawling trash heap of shoddily written books, thus lowering the standard and trashing writing itself, altogether. Although it may seem that way, the new self-publishing millionaires belie that stream of thought: Who should be writing books—savvy, self-publishing writes with a flair for marketing seem like the most obvious and correct answer to this question.

But for all intents and purposes, you may not agree with what seems like such a highly oversimplified, overgeneralized answer to the question. Perhaps, rephrasing the question might elicit a different thought stream, and therefore, a more correct answer. Who should write books for society to relax and enjoy– intelligent people…the intelligentsia? Well, this needs to be cleared up before going any further: Intelligent people and the intelligentsia are two distinctly different things.

The intelligentsia are all intelligent, educated people; they are writers, academicians, artists, lawyers, politicians, and the like: They are   intelligent, but they may not belong to the intelligentsia. Intelligent people are just that—intelligent. Success in the digital world of books requires much more than academic understanding of things; it’s a unique tool and knowledge mix that you must possess in order to ultimately enjoy writing; this unique assortment of skills and abilities is called the New Digital Economy.

In the light of all this information, should writing be done exclusively by the intelligentsia, for whom money is largely not a problem? The obvious and logical answer is no. In a broader sense, literary work should be largely executed by people who have something meaningful to say, that needs to be said, and can make a living publishing and marketing it. In other words, only those who are bent on mastering the new digital book market should be writing books. Because writing is so time-consuming and all-encompassing, merely writing books will not be satisfying if the writer is ignored in the marketplace. Thus, the writer should aim his writing at a particular group of people in the marketplace.

While a high level of intelligence is needed for smooth, seamless, constructive writing; mere intelligence may not sell enough books to pay your bills. You must write books that aim at a particular group of people, but you must also aim at as broad a group as possible, such as Spiritually Famished People, the Idolatry of Sports, Empty People on the Wrong Track, and People Looking for Themselves. These topics underscore the core problems that society faces today and for which urgent solutions are frantically sought. At best, they are a fine starting point for writers serious about making money.

These topics, somewhat offbeat, reflect my understanding of things, but notice that they are relatively broad and can be expanded even more; for example, the topic, The Idolatry of Sports, is a comparatively wide topic and can be stretched even more. This covers a very large cosmos of people who are nuts about sports and would be lost if they couldn’t get it.In many ways, the audience under these broad topics is the whole world; but what they do is that they give you much flexibility and room to maneuver your topics and writing. Contrarywise, if you get uncomfortable with broad audiences, you can narrow them to suit your writing style; doing so allows you to capitalize on, and utilize, your particular expertise in spiritual hunger and meaningless living.

People with societally reinforcing powers; at the right time, and with the right assortment of technological skills are on the cusp of breaking out in the New Self-Publishing Economy. Success in writing and self-publishing requires becoming an expert, by striving to be the best at what you do and putting out maximum effort at it over time. Because your audience is wide, it gives you great flexibility in handling your writing; as time goes by, you can use the experience that you gleanover the years. Drawing on your readers’ comments, clues, and insights; your writing will naturally improve, evolving over time.

Whether writing comes natural to you or not, you will not continue writing unless you have a genuine and raging passion for it. Writing is a thought thread mill: It is a splendid form of thought exercise; as you practice the craft, you get better and better at it. And after a while, it becomes such a friend; life becomes difficult without it. Writing—oh, what a friend! But it only becomes a friend to those who really love it and learn how to use it to pay their bills: Writing, writing, writing; what a friend!