Book Wars Part 1: The Rise of Everyone

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BOOK WARS: RISE OF EVERYONE
You've seen a lot on the changes in publishing occurring in this blog, every few days, if not more often, there's talk about e-readers, e-books, Print on Demand, etc.  I could sum this up in many ways (including "oh, gods make it stop, it's confusing), but to put it simply:

  • There are more ways to get text to people.
  • Everyone wants a piece of that market.
  • This means new ways to deliver content and consume it.

Now, this basically means people can read more and authors can get their stuff out easier.  I have several books in the works and am pretty sure most if not all will start as Print On Demand with e-book options.  I see no reason not to embrace the new technology.

There's another side to this that often gets missed.  Yes, more ways to get more books in more formats.  We can guess that, we've heard about it, we know it's a given.

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Stereotype-Fu: Be yourself!

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Continuing the series on dealing with stereotypes in your career, one thing people rarely consider is that you can fight the negative stereotypes you face as a fan, techhead, sports nut, etc. by BEING that role to the hilt.

If people hold stereotypes of you, it may be best to not worry about it and go around BEING that fan, b-movie fanatic, comic book reader, etc. to the hilt.  In short, be less repressed and more open about your interests and your geekery – without being aggressive.

This doesn't work in every situation – it won't work in the case of hostility, extreme negativity, and conflict.  This is more a tactic to help defuse more passive or just plain ignorant stereotyping by BEING the fan you are.

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Your Office and Geek Pride

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I'm not one for decorating my cube at work – mostly as my ideal decoration is printouts.  But I want to take a moment to praise the decorating of cubes for progeeks and profans.

I could talk about motivation, reminders, etc.

But instead I'd like to praise the geek pride of it.

When you've got your baseball figures, your anime figures, your posters, your pictures, your  bust of Optimus Prime, you're saying "I am a geek and I am proud of it."  You're telling people about yourself – perhaps even exposing yourself to ridicule – as well as opening a dialogue about what you like.

This is a good thing (done with some forethought of course, depending on what your fandom is).

This is making a statement about who you are and what you like – proudly and openly – at a place that your livelihood likely depends on.  It takes courage, and it asserts who you are.

So I say go for it.  Let people know who you are – in fact, if you plan your "fan display" carefully you can generate dialogue and respect for you as well.

Even that bust of Optimus Prime can benefit your career if you know, for instance, the head of IT is a big Transformers fan . . .

– Steven Savage