Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl
I'm trying to think of an actual book requiring extensive research that itself brought a corrupt politician down, but the examples I consider all seem to have been written well after the event.
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Read about Nixon*. It took more than one book. You can say that he was even more taken down by newspapers, but newspapers are in steep decline, while trade publishers are still reasonably string.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl
Good investigative journalists in the MSM are nice, but we are hardly reliant on them, let alone on large publishers.
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Maybe if I was an Australian, I'd agree.
But from where I sit, investigative non-fiction is a significant issue.
As for fiction, I want strong authors treated fairly. But I'm afraid that there always will be lots of outstanding fiction authors who can't make a good lifetime income writing books. Putting them in a situation where they can't even out their income spikes with a thorough multi-book deal and/or by signing away all rights will only make it worse.
Even though I do read fiction, I don't worry about its future. I think it will remain positive for readers, but only consistently good for a handful of full-time authors. Most of the rest will need a day job, regardless of the publishing model.
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* I don't mean to argue, in this hopefully non-political thread, that he was, or was not, corrupt. I'm just saying that professional, paid-in-advance, writers of intensively researched non-fiction were crucial in bringing about his downfall.