Quote:
Originally Posted by starrigger
New versions have to be sent out through distribution channels that are far more convoluted than you would think, and it's slow and even costly.
(etc, etc)
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I don't doubt that everything that you say is true.
However, it's true because the publishers have built ridiculous labyrinthine structures of management. Any that don't adjust will eventually be replaced by more progressive and agile distributors. This has happened many times and the publishing industry is just setting itself up for it. They need to find ways to eliminate all those extra steps. It will be difficult, because I don't doubt that many of those steps are the only reason for some management to even be employed there, and they're going to fight it. And people don't like change, especially change that threatens what they know. But eventually they're going to have to move or get plowed under.
I noticed in the original article from this thread that the publisher was talking about how to move ebooks through "distribution" and how expensive it was to set up electronic distribution. I'm sure that's true too, but again, it's true because they're trying to do the new stuff in the old ways. I've been involved with several cases where goods have been moved from physical distribution to online, electronic copies being distributed, and if the company is willing to make a clean break and sidestep now-unnecessary layers of management and employees, electronic distribution has always cost a tiny fraction of what physical distribution did. The entire infrastructure for distribution usually costs less than a year's salary for a couple of now-unnecessary people. Yes, people will lose their jobs. Others will be hired, though not as many, because YES, it's cheaper. Cheaper means less people get paid.