The Internet Revolution for Writers - by Jo Ann LeQuang

The Internet Revolution for Writers - by Jo Ann LeQuang: "Sometimes I wonder why anyone would want to pursue a career in freelance writing, scrambling for freelance assignments at the dwindling pool of viable magazines and newspapers in this country, accepting paltry wages, suffering the indignities of editors, and seeing your article with your name published in a weekly newspaper just below the ad for phone sex. All that happened to me, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

All that is true, but it may also be the best time in history to be a writer. Way back in the 15th century, a German inventor named Johannes Gutenberg invented a new type of printing press. He didn't invent the printing press; people had known how to put ink on paper mechanically for some time. Until Johannes Gutenberg's invention, printing was done from fixed solid plates that could not be changed.

Gutenberg invented movable type. He invented a sort of rack or holder for letters, which could be inserted into the tracks. From this, we get the term 'type-setting' because those metal letters were literally set into the rack. The real revolution that Gutenberg caused was this: printed materials got much, much cheaper. Books no longer belonged just to royalty or the very wealthy. Movable type made cheap books (and their companion, advertising) possible.
"