Before the printing press, books weren’t really published in the way we understand the process today. They were disseminated through copying. If someone wanted a book they either copied it by hand or paid to have it copied. It could take years to copy and illustrate a single manuscript.

Then came the printing press and everything changed. Suddenly, books, pamphlets, and newspapers were relatively inexpensive, quick to produce, and accessible to the growing population of the literate.

Still, it took money to own a printing press and skilled labor to run one. Just as the case is today, those publishing a book had to cover their costs by ensuring sales prior to printing–by selling subscriptions in advance, for example.

The twentieth century saw the rise of the big publishing house which dealt with the financial risk of publishing by sticking to popular authors, considering relatively few (if any) unsolicited manuscripts, and tying the author’s remuneration to sales in the form of royalties.

All of that is about to change as drastically and as quickly as it did when the printing press was invented. At this point in history, there are new markets for written communication as literacy rates rise all over the world and new technologies are created to disseminate information in multifold media.

Today, readers aren’t bound to consume literature or opinion in books and newspapers produced by media conglomerates. In addition to these traditional media, there are p.o.d. (printed on demand) books, e-books, websites, blogs, and audio formats. All of which combine the benefits of a low financial risk with an ever-growing worldwide market.

With all of these choices, producers and consumers of literature will be brought closer together than ever before. With the efficiency, low cost, and ease of working with new technologies, authors will finally be able to manage the production of, the distribution of, and the income from their own works.