Publish or Perish, Part II: NPR Interview

[Kali Yuga]

FYI, NPR's "Fresh Air" has an interview with Ken Auletta, author of the New Yorker article on ebooks:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=126196977

Note: This is a 30 minute long interview, so listen at your leisure. Assuming anyone has leisure time these days.

[Fat Abe]

The name (Auletta) brings back memories of a savvy Brooklyn born writer, who dabbled in many subjects, including politics, major corporations, technology, Wall Street, etc. However, his world view is based on the NY schtick. Sez he:

"As e-books expand exponentially -- they're expected one day to reach 25 to 40 percent of all books published -- what does this do to bookstores? Already, independent bookstores are already down to 10 percent of all books sold. The problem with that is that independent bookstores have a staff of people who you tend to know, they are people who really are noted for reading many books and for spotting that first-time novel or that nonfiction book by a new author. And that word of mouth, and their recommendations have helped spur sales for years. And the worry is: What replaces that? If you're a bookstore, which is selling a book, let's say, for $26 can't compete with an e-book selling for $13."

NYC is a book, culture and money town. I dare you to visit a bookstore in any other part of the US and find many bookstore employees who really know books. Oh, maybe if you live in SF, Boston, Chicago, or some other major intellectual city, but exceptional bookstores are NOT the norm. Take a look at the mystery, science fiction, or technical sections of your local bookstore. How many books do they carry by Lawrence Block, Dashiell Hammett, R.A. Lafferty, Thomas Disch, etc.? Yet, when you visit an online bookseller like Amazon, you're not limited by the knowledge or tastes of the bookstore employee. And best of all, you're not frustrated by the lack of inventory. Amazon is a fantastic place for reader recommendations. One review leads to another, and in a matter of half an hour, you can get up to speed on any author or subject. The new wave in book publishing and reading is a good thing. No need to fear anything, except DRM and closed formats.

[leebase]

Read the article via the NPR iPad app, clicked "listen" and now I'm listening to the radio show based on the article

Lee