The end of publishing as we know it...

[sleigh]

Those of you who are writers or who are interested in writing and the publishing business, should read this speculative article about the changing face of the publishing industry...

A fair amount of gloom 'n doom ("...there will, no doubt, be a lot of editors for whom even this diminished era will look like the last great golden age..."), with some hope that new twists and new ideas will save the day ("The kind of targeted, curated lists editors would love to publish will work even better in an electronic, niche-driven world, if only the innovators can get them there. Those owners who are genuinely interested in the industry’s long-term survival would do well to hire scrappy entrepreneurs at every level, people who think like underdogs....")

I sometimes imagine that -- as a 'traditionally published' writer -- I'm a dinosaur lumbering through a forest, wondering what all those hairy, furry, little mammals are up to...

Comments

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

I think most of us authors are overthinking things. Sure, a shakeup in the publishing industry is going to be shaking up authors in the short term. But in the long term, you ask yourself...do people still want to read books? The answer is hell yes. So, as writers, we watch, and wait, and let the business folks figure out the new business models, and when they want books written, we are ready. Things are going to get a lot better for writers when the new world order is established. :-)

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Some days I'm that optimistic. Others, I'm not. :-)