Btw, here's further evidence of the increasing divergence:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygr...ok-publishing/
We are headed for more mergers and acquisitions and divestments as the publishers of old die, grow, or mutate.
Quote:
As the way people consume media changes, book publishers are realizing they are content creation and rights management companies and not just book publishers. Many of them are now playing in the app market, educational technology market and other areas they likely wouldn’t have dreamed of a decade ago. To that end, book publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt recently capitalized by going public in November. The company is seen as more of an educational company and less as a book publisher by Wall Street. In fact, one-time trade publisher Wiley has almost completely transformed itself into an education and technology company partially through a series of divestments and acquisitions.
In 2012, there was a mini-wave of consolidation among book publishing technology vendors. It was only a preview of what was to come — and what is still to come.
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A lot of publishers are finding there is more value in owning the copyrights to stories and franchises than in licensing somebody else's to print and sell.
For example, Philip K. Dick never made much money off his stories while alive but Hollywood has made millions upon millions adapting his works long afterwards. Which is why publishers hoard rights and try to avoid reversion like the plague. A story might only sell afew thousand books but if it catches the eye of a Lifetime producer...
Another example is VAMPIRE DIARIES. Or for that matter, HARRY POTTER. The books make good money, but the movies...!
Right now, as far as the BPHs are concerned, publishing new books is the least profitable of their efforts. The real money is exploiting the copyrights they own.