Quote:
Originally Posted by amoroso
Will there still be agents and publishers?
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Yes.
Seriously, though, I think the role for really
smart agents and publishers will expand, just in different ways. The big problem with indie ebooks is finding the good ones. With pbooks, you expect a certain minimum quality from a book that's gone through all the hurdles to get on a bookshelf. With ebooks, there are no such hurdles. So there needs to be some way for people to select the books they're likely to want. Having the option to choose those bearing the name of a trusted agent would be a good start. And publishers, too, have a place, but as book promoters, not book selecters. Not everyone can, or wants to, do all their own sales and promotion. Some might wish to offload that onto a publisher in exchange for a cut of the take. And again, readers would look for publishers (or at least imprints) they know produce books they like, perhaps those specific to their favorite genre, as a place to start. The ebook world is huge and, right now, very hard for the average person to find their way around in. Having guides, in the form of what we now call publishers and agents, could be a very good thing.
Of course, they're more likely to try to legally require all automobiles to carry buggy whips, but hey, I can dream.