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Originally Posted by Xenophon
The first and most important service provided (to us end-users -- readers) by publishers is that of filtering for quality.
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You are extremely mistaken if you think that Web 2.0 cannot provide us with that filtering of quality.
I much prefer my filter be provided by a web 2.0 tool taking advantage of the wisdom of all online users, rather then the filter being by some filthy rich publisher from his golf cart smoking his cigars.
Publishers only care about profit. They turn good books into commercial crap. They need to completely disappear, be exterminated.
When I download an ebook, I want 100% OF THE PROFITS going in the pocket of the author. Publishers taking 75% of my ebook money or tax dollars for free ebook downloads intended to the author, publishers need to die.
There is absolutely nothing that a publisher can do which Google Books and other free ebook repositories cannot do. Web 2.0 is the new publisher, and THAT ONE SHALL NOT be controlled by any filthy publishing corporation. Go away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charbax
Publishers are not needed anymore.
Google Books will host and store the ebook released directly by the author to its public.
Authors will get paid directly by readers, supported by readers, and new Obama law should make it so that artists and authors are paid through an art tax based on the popularity and the quality of their work. Popularity can be very precisely measured using computer and Internet technology. Quality can be measured by a ratings system. Every rate for the stuff they like a lot, this way the system knows how to find out which authors are well liked and by how many readers.
Anyways publishers, distributors, book stores, book marketing and all that should just go away and do something else. They have become absolutely irrelevant.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stxopher
Hmmm, as much as I agree with you, I must also disagree with you.
The way the realm of print is there is a need for publishers, distributors, etc etc. But the thing is that there is a need for 2 different forms of them. One for the standard dead tree format that has been around and served the world well for many years and another for the competing digital sector.
Even though they are called the same they emphasize and use completely separate systems to deliver the material to the end users. The problem comes when they try and force all of it into the same procedure and spreadsheet, something not easily or competently done.
Why do we need any of these people with digital? Properly done (something that is just now starting to happen) a publisher can act as a management system helping authors navigate the legal and market trails that abound in the real world. They can help supply interested authors with tools to produce better books (since the better the book, the better the return on investment). Publishing can change from buying a product from a writer to acting as a service provider, exchanging percentage for things like final editing, format conversion, discounted programs for previous authors. Something as seemingly simple as providing an online location with links to similar books from the same house would be of immense benefit to a writer and well worth a percentage.
Book stores? Well, the best thing there is that you don't have to hunt for books. Again, the name is the same but the function and services offered change. Rarely will I find a book by going to the authors website (especially a new writer) while I will often find one while browsing for similar titles. It's starting to become more common to see tags such as "if you like this author, try these" or "if you like this book, look at this one" on the booklist itself or in the little discussion box that may accompany it. With the numerous authors, both new and experienced, that exist out there, for the end reader to be able to go to a central place and search for books is more crucial than ever.
Just look at two of the most popular bookstores for Mobileread visitors: BooksOnBoard and Fictionwise. Make no mistake, they are bookstores and if you were to propose to people on these forums that they weren't needed and generally useless...well, you would probably be able to hear the laughter even without being online.
Again, I agree with you that the current system for publishing, distributing and selling books has no real place in the digital world but I do believe these businesses do have a place in publishing, just not as they exist now.
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I want my BooksOnBoard and Fictionwise type of "if you like this author, try these" or "if you like this book, look at this one" service to be provided by a Googke Books or Last.fm type of Web 2.0 website. I want proof reading, editing, marketing, all that to be managed by Web 2.0 tools like Google Books and Last.fm type of online services which in fact are a community of all readers who can dedicate their time in communities that can support the authors, complement the ebooks with an unlimited amount of meta commentary and debate using touchscreen ebooks.