Your Creative Writing Masterclass 267 gone on to achieve lucrative deals with traditional publishers as well. While the cost of production and distribution of ebooks is negligible, this model works only if the author manages to build a large fan base. Making people aware of your book remains the biggest challenge. Authors who are adept at social media have a head start, but that realm is increasingly crowded, too. You have an advantage if your work lends itself to exploita- tion in a variety of media. It's not unusual for there to be a novel and some combination of the game of the novel, a television series or feature film, a supplementary web series, a live stage show, a graphic novel version, a "making of " program, a kids' version, and of course prequels and sequels. These generally are the domain of the bigger media players, but there's nothing to stop a group of freelancers from agreeing on a project to collab- orate on, with each responsible for the exploitation of the mate- rial in a different way. Whichever one catches on first could boost the success of the others. There are other formats on the horizon. As of this writing, nobody has cracked the multimedia book format particularly well. One company calls these "Vooks"--a combination of video and books. It works for cookbooks and other how-to books for which a demonstration of some technique adds value, but in the case of fiction the format is less impressive. That's not to say that somebody won't have a breakthrough with it tomorrow--prob- ably it's only a matter of time. The one constant People will always want and need to hear stories. The methods and technology will change, perhaps in ways we can't even envi- sion yet. What remains constant is the need for storytellers who are willing to expose their hearts and souls, to serve an appren- ticeship to the craft, and to take the risks that accompany all artistic endeavors. If that is you, your future as a writer is secure.