MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Book publishers see their role as gatekeepers shrink

Worldwalker · 12-28-2010, 01:14 AM

Is it less gatekeeping we need, or more?

Big publishers, it seems, have abandoned much of their former role of filtering and development and are now just looking to pump out more of whatever was hot last year. That might be profitable in the short term, but in the long term, many customers will buy from indies, direct from authors, from people with good previews, etc. When the only difference between a book by Big Name Publisher, Inc., and Small Lil' House is the logo on the cover -- and when it's equally easy to buy either one, since the buyer is no longer dependent on what their local bookstore has room to stock -- people will, I think, depend more on recommendations and reviews. This is a good thing for the indies, of course, since their primary marketing is word of mouth. If all that the big publishers have is a logo, they've screwed themselves.

What they need to do to survive is to compete on quality. We as buyers need to know that when we buy something from Big Name Publisher, Inc., it will be thoroughly edited, correctly formatted, and in other ways worth more than something Joe Average uploaded to Smashwords. They have the resources to make "almost" into "absolutely", and that's where they need to spend them. That's what a big publisher can do that a freelancer can't afford to, and that's where their money is.

Instead, it seems like they want to adopt bottom-of-the-market styles (no editorial development, no proofreading, not even decent formatting) while charging top-of-the-market prices. That's not going to get them very far (consider the Cadillac Cimmaron). They have everything they need to seize a part of the market out of reach of most others and make a lot of money from it. They just need to look beyond next quarter and do the seizing.

12-28-2010, 01:14 AM	#15
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	Is it less gatekeeping we need, or more? Big publishers, it seems, have abandoned much of their former role of filtering and development and are now just looking to pump out more of whatever was hot last year. That might be profitable in the short term, but in the long term, many customers will buy from indies, direct from authors, from people with good previews, etc. When the only difference between a book by Big Name Publisher, Inc., and Small Lil' House is the logo on the cover -- and when it's equally easy to buy either one, since the buyer is no longer dependent on what their local bookstore has room to stock -- people will, I think, depend more on recommendations and reviews. This is a good thing for the indies, of course, since their primary marketing is word of mouth. If all that the big publishers have is a logo, they've screwed themselves. What they need to do to survive is to compete on quality. We as buyers need to know that when we buy something from Big Name Publisher, Inc., it will be thoroughly edited, correctly formatted, and in other ways worth more than something Joe Average uploaded to Smashwords. They have the resources to make "almost" into "absolutely", and that's where they need to spend them. That's what a big publisher can do that a freelancer can't afford to, and that's where their money is. Instead, it seems like they want to adopt bottom-of-the-market styles (no editorial development, no proofreading, not even decent formatting) while charging top-of-the-market prices. That's not going to get them very far (consider the Cadillac Cimmaron). They have everything they need to seize a part of the market out of reach of most others and make a lot of money from it. They just need to look beyond next quarter and do the seizing.