Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
Shutting down imprints that weren't making money is not the same thing as cutting down on editing/proofing costs.
|
Uh, it pretty much is just that.
Shutting down an imprint isn't just a branding exercise; it usually involves "pink slips" and people going away.
The process began way back in the 80's, the time when they started firing proofers and editors, after the first big mergers.
(The *real* content editors, not the project managers that now bear that title.)
Here's just one outfit that has been freelancing since then:
http://www.freelance-editorial-services.com/staff.php 
More recently, the corporate types have been turning to low-cost bidders globally but that still dates back well before indie publishing. In fact, it is that ready-made pool of freelance pros that the corporate publishers created with the firings that *enables* dilligent Indies to put out a quality product on their own.
Plus as the corporate types made clear, way back; if most of your losses come from the "prestige" titles and all your profits come from the "commercial" titles, any "good" MBA will tell you to put your time and effort into the future "bestsellers". The rest is just window dressing in their eyes.
That mindset has been in place for decades.
"Quality" has been declining for decades.
Scapegoating Indies for what the Corporate Publishers choose to do is going to run into the inescapable fact that the Corporate publishers have been "Devalueing" literature long before commercial ebooks ever existed, much less indies.