Quote:
Originally Posted by brecklundin
Today's publishers seem to be the in same position. They are simply not (or do not want to be) nimble enough to adjust to the new market that ebooks represent. And the current management make up of these companies simply are acting to preserve their own jobs.
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I just came back from the Tools of Change in Publishing conference in NYC, where publishers essentially show up hoping to figure out how they're going to save their own butts from The Future. As an author (who got a pass through my connection to Read an E-Book Week), it was interesting to see the extent to which publishers are hoping to combine things like e-books into what they are doing right now. They are not really looking for new business models... they are looking for the easiest way to jump onto the e-bandwagon, baggage and all, and enjoy the ride. "Who's gonna do the blogs and Facebook links for us?"
Only a few of them really seem to get that they need to do some radical thinking to truly embrace an e-book market. Fewer still accept that they will need to make radical changes in their print-based products, or they will strangle themselves. Look to the smaller, newer companies and indies... they seem to be able to overcome the inertia of the old guard, and they will be the true drivers of change in publishing.