Indie authors: Has it all been said?

There's an old saying among fiction writers that goes something like this, "Every story has already been written, but not from your point of view." Or something to that effect. Maybe it's true. Maybe not. I don't know.

But I'm not here today to talk about that.

At least not directly, and not about fiction writing.

I'm here to talk about writing about fiction writing, specifically a trend I've noticed over the last six months mainly concerning indie authors and others following the wave of e-book writers/publishers..

What is that trend?

That there's nothing else to say on the subject.

Now before your panties get all balled up in your crotch, keep in mind this is only a blog post and yes, I'm making a generalization and yes, I realize such generalizations do not fit every single little circumstance in the entire universe. I get that.

But I still think there's a trend.

My evidence?

How about Kristine Kathryn Rusch ending her Thursday Business Blog? What about Dean Wesley Smith's blog which during the last year or so has moved from regular advice posts to mostly posts about workshops? What about JA Konrath's blog, which has gone from mostly posts about advice to a mixture of posts of all different kinds, including posts from other writers and bloggers?

Let me add right here, I'm not trying to belittle those authors or there blogs. Each has made changes and moved on for their own reasons, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not grumbling, really. I have no problem with what they've done, and I'm not making a judgement call here, just pointing out what I see as a trend.

And what about the Writers' Cafe over at kboards? Once a home to up-and-coming indie stars, in my opinion its own star is beginning to wane. A lot of the advice is repetitive, or overly opinionated to the point of being silly. And often enough even when help is seemingly solid, it is shot down by someone with a need to ... well, to continually shoot down stuff, even when not needed.

Again, don't get me wrong. The Writers' Cafe is still a great place for beginning indie authors, and the kboards site in general is great for readers. There have simply been atmospheric changes over there of which I'm not all that interested, and I find the site less useful than I used to, though maybe that says more about me than it does about the site itself.

Anyway, back to my point that maybe everything has been said about being an indie author that needs to be said.

Sure, technical details will change every now and then, and promotional ideas will pop up and die from time to time, but at least for the time being, it seems the indie world has settled into a slowdown of sorts, at least concerning the knowledge it takes to become an indie.

But maybe it's just me.

I realize there are still probably plenty of beginning writers out there, and for them all the trappings of the indie universe might look quite daunting. But for me, a lot of this stuff is old hat anymore, and much of it I find quite dull, especially the continual, silly arguments and the self righteousness of some of the writers, editors, publishers, and even a handful of reviewers and readers.

I'm not complaining.

Really.

I just see things slowing down. Maybe I've learned all there is to learn, or perhaps I'm not ready for the next level. Whatever it is, there seems to be something dulling in the water and air of late concerning indie authors.

Which probably means there's a bomb about to go off somewhere in the publishing world. A figurative bomb, that is, in case any NSA agents are perusing this post.