5 thoughts on “The State of the Publishing Business”
Thanks for the article, it was really interesting despite my general dislike of the iPod and its line of products. I dont know anyone yet who has an iPad, so I’m trying to be relatively neutral about it.
I also feel like publishing is slipping into a cycle. A lot of books are generally the same, but then Houses are conflicted on publishing new authors and new ideas, hence continuing the same sorts of books being published. It’s a shame.
It’s definitely a shake-out. I am a Kindle user, and love it, and I liked the $9.99 price point. Amazon was losing money on books I bought. Now there is an uproar by users trying to boycott books above $10. I don’t understand why the publishers are crying. Their risk is way down now: No more shipping, printing, returning, any of that. All they do is broker intellectual property and marketing. It seems to me that authors, for the most part, don’t need publishers anymore. If they complain long enough, the public is going to find a way entirely around them, and publishing will go away.
This isnt in my post: I’m not sure how much authors don’t need publishers. I know that the author in the article directly sold his books to Amazon, but he’s had success, he knows the business. I don’t think a new writer could handle that.
I am sure there is a role for them, but it has changed. Look, 15 years ago I used a travel agent to book all my travels. Now I do all my own, flights, hotels, rental cars. I never use travel agents anymore. They have all but disappeared. Book publishers will need to find their place. I, too, don’t know what that is. All I do know is that my book-buying habits are now different – probably for good.
Thanks for the article, it was really interesting despite my general dislike of the iPod and its line of products. I dont know anyone yet who has an iPad, so I’m trying to be relatively neutral about it.
I also feel like publishing is slipping into a cycle. A lot of books are generally the same, but then Houses are conflicted on publishing new authors and new ideas, hence continuing the same sorts of books being published. It’s a shame.
It’s definitely a shake-out. I am a Kindle user, and love it, and I liked the $9.99 price point. Amazon was losing money on books I bought. Now there is an uproar by users trying to boycott books above $10. I don’t understand why the publishers are crying. Their risk is way down now: No more shipping, printing, returning, any of that. All they do is broker intellectual property and marketing. It seems to me that authors, for the most part, don’t need publishers anymore. If they complain long enough, the public is going to find a way entirely around them, and publishing will go away.
I had a long reply, and finding that it only got longer, I ended up writing a post.
http://warningliterature.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/publishing-house/
This isnt in my post: I’m not sure how much authors don’t need publishers. I know that the author in the article directly sold his books to Amazon, but he’s had success, he knows the business. I don’t think a new writer could handle that.
I am sure there is a role for them, but it has changed. Look, 15 years ago I used a travel agent to book all my travels. Now I do all my own, flights, hotels, rental cars. I never use travel agents anymore. They have all but disappeared. Book publishers will need to find their place. I, too, don’t know what that is. All I do know is that my book-buying habits are now different – probably for good.
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