[sirmaru]

I have NEVER selected a book to read based on its publisher. I've been reading books since the early 1930's and do not even remember ever even knowing the names of the publishers of any books I have read.

Today the only function I, as a consumer, see for publishers is to keep prices high so they can get their cut which serves no purpose for me.

From the consumer viewpoint the only factors in book selection today is the subject, the author and Amazon.

What may happen is that some other company will compete with Amazon and then there will be two sources for books. Maybe that new company will even be better than Amazon.

Its possible that some publishers will set up an Amazon like site and take on products other than books. That IS their future if they are smart.

Even with print books only the printer was required. The publishers were the distributors which function has now been absorbed by Amazon. The local retail outlets are also probably going to go the way of the dinosaurs since eBooks don't need them.

In 10 years print books will be gone as well. Print books will be ancient artifacts as are scroll books today. There will be many forms of eBooks and that is what will spread. Google already has electronic eye glasses where one could read an eBook while being stuck in traffic. Google is already getting self driving cars ready where no human driver will be required. Thus, an eBook will probably be available to read in the dashboard for front seat passengers and another dash in the rear for those passengers.

Book reviews are what readers look at when selecting books. The NY Times is a good source and browsing the Book of the Month Club (should probably have links to Amazon pages for purchases) site is also a good way to find them. Authors come on TV and radio programs all the time to sell their books. At the Amazon site purchasers and other readers of books post their reviews as well.

It used to take hours to manually walk through a local book store to see what was available. One can search the Amazon site in minutes to come up with choices by a wide variety of criteria.