As much as I love this blog, and look forward to its posts, I REALLY NEED A FRICKING BREAK FROM THE "FUTURE OF PUBLISHING" TALK. Seriously, that and "How Much Publishing Sucks Right Now" are all people talk about.
I don't need to read any more of these articles, and neither do you.
A quick overview:
1. Publishing is a somewhat crappy business. Which makes it PRETTY MUCH LIKE EVERY OTHER BUSINESS.
2. Publishing has a future. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT IT WILL BE.
So everyone can stop
a. COMPLAINING
and
b. COMPLAINING.
Thank you.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
37 comments:
Can I gush about how much I love the publishing industry since it provides me with the shiny books that overwhelm my room? Is that allowed?
A-Frikkin-Men
and C. Speculating
Thank you for that. "The future of publishing talk" is horribly depressing and not in any way productive. At least not for me.
a) LOL
and
b)seriously
Amen.
Well, the publishing industry has paid my bills for 30 years (!) so I'm not complaining and I'm not too worried about the future. And I LOVE all the free books!
Lol, thank you so much. I was just ranting today about a trend I'm seeing in YA novels (cliffhanger endings in the first book of the series) that I really dislike, personally. The person I was ranting to said, "Well, the publishing industry does have a really shaky future right now . . ."
I just about blew my top. Is this going to become the catch-all response any time we complain about something book-related?
"Well, the publishing industry does have a really shaky future right now . . ."
Grrrrr.
Ya, I skip a lot of those articles / blog postings at the moment. It gets a bit repetitive.
This is mike, and he's delighted you have taken this stance. Sometimes things are difficult or impossible because that's what you expect.
Well if it makes you feel any better, people have been saying the same thing for a hundred years, and we're still making a living at it. So what the hell.
People always need *something* to complain about.
I couldn't agree more!
The future is a question mark in many ways, but mainly far as format goes. Stop complaining, start trying new things and keep doing the old things that work.
I love books, I love reading... so do many other people. It's not as if every bookworm on the planet will suddenly self-combust & leave no potential customers out there!
Cheers, Jill
www.jilledmondson.blogspot.com
1. Crappy because of its extreme drive toward commercialism (note the adjective 'extreme')
2. It will have a future just like AMAZON. But it won't be a Mercedes!
It's about time someone said this...with this much authoritative snark.
I raise my fancy blue wine glass full of Moscato to you!
Bless you.
(While you're at it, any chance you could smack around Booksquare for villainizing all publishers who don't conform precisely to one specific vision of How Electronic Publishing Should Be? Because all types of books are the same and should be treated identically, natch. Also, we're all Luddites with a pathological fear of change.)
Publishing has been doomed for as long as I can remember, and I assume it will continue to be doomed for the foreseeable future. If it ever became non-doomed, I don't know what we'd do with ourselves.
And, in my jaundiced view, the "future of publishing" talk is mostly driven by consultants and start-up salespeople talking as quickly as they can to justify their own existences. Trace it back, and there's always someone trying to sell you something.
Love it! No offense to all the doomsday blog posts out there, but I worked in publishing for two years and every day was "publishing is dying" and "Borders is on the edge." Well last week I a)bought a book and b) it was from Borders, so that kind of shoots both of those theories. In fact, I think I'm going to go buy another book right now, if only to call myself the defibrillator of the publishing industry.
I actually find the "future of publishing" conversation fascinating and, in an odd way, encouraging. The method of delivery will change, but stories and art will always be important. It's up to us as writers, editors, publishers, agents to figure out how to get paid.
This is the most refreshing industry-related blog post I've read in a LONG time! Thank you for reminding everyone that the end is not nigh.
Publishing will have a future if it adapts to trends and changes, which it will. As long as people want to write stories, there will be people to edit, produce, and distribute those stories. If in 20 years, that format only exists in digital, then so be it.
Of course, I'm one of those evil Kindle people, but my 12 pages full of books (at 20 or so per page) tell me that there's a market. And I hope that's true for a long time, because I'm finally working on entering it. Thanks so much for this blog, EA!
I think the markets are taking a turn for the better - that means companies will do better, including B&N, Borders, etc..
Course I'm not a stock broker but I'm just saying. . .
Absolutely couldn't agree more! Thank you!
what Literaticat said. I mean, wasn't television supposed to be end of books? And wasn't that ummm... sixty years ago?
I have yet to read a blog about publishing, including this one, that didn't depress me. I find the contempt for authors especially disheartening.
The recent article by an ex-editor at, I think, Random House and current editor at the NYer, about the mess the industry is in was more informative than most of what I see on blogs -- again, including yours.
As you can probably tell, I'm not a fan of this blog and so don't read it regularly -- thus, I may have missed many informative, fascinating articles that completely contradict what I'm about to say. But it seems to me that you are no slouch at negativity and snarky comments yourself, so why are you complaining about other people's negativity?
I'm a writer. I've had rejections, and, thankfully, some published books. I love this business. I have worked with the most creative designers, funny and wise editors, and hear from the nicest people who read my books. Yes, the business model is changing, to who knows what, but there will always be a need for storytellers and for the people who help us get our stories out there.
I'm a writer. I've had rejections, and, thankfully, some published books. I love this business. I have worked with the most creative designers, funny and wise editors, and hear from the nicest people who read my books. Yes, the business model is changing, to who knows what, but there will always be a need for storytellers and for the people who help us get our stories out there.
Amen!!!
The sky is always falling. Every generation thinks the world is about to end...
It's time to appreciate LIFE and BOOKS and HAPPY TIMES.
Yes yes yes yes yes!! My thoughts exactly.
Let's talk about fluffy puppies and kittens. Or, you know, awesome books...?
Love this post!
:-)
I was with you and resolved to be sunny. Then I read that Sarah Palin masterpiece is already a bestseller with preorders. Sorry. It's raining again.
Oh snap! Someone's been posting on the future of publishing again! Texas Cage Match!!! Go EA!
THANK YOU!! Can we broaden that to include "the future of the printed word", please? (Yes, someone actually said that).
--A librarian friend and ally.
And now, the 'Vook.'
"...a vook blends text and video into a single, complete story."
Because a story couldn't POSSIBLY be complete without some video, apparently.
http://promo.simonandschuster.com/vook/
This is a very kind approach. To tell you the truth I want to start a mission like that. Help and teach children on their fundamental needs such as learning. Education is the best help that you could give out for them.
Well here's a website that had me wait wait, I finally found the website also very contains a lot of benefits in your website is
Obat Batuk Kronis
Menghilangkan Sakit Pinggang
Obat Tumor Parotis
Obat Lemak Dalam Darah
Obat Polip Hidung Alami
Wales Publications is a research publishing solution provide best Research Publisher
in all issues from research to the journal publication are catering in your discipline based on your requirements.
Thank you dear, for making such as important information. I hope you will update this information to add more value if needed, thank you again take care.
Internal Financial Control in Delhi
ไม่มีติด
สมัคร สล็อต
Post a Comment