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What I was trying to get at is that there are alternative models to the publishing industry. Perhaps we should open a thread to brainstorm alternative distribution and compensation models for authors. And there probably won't be a theory-of-everything, a one-size-fits-all model for every kind of writing. We will likely need a whole big grab-bag of ingenious solutions. But this seems to me to be an excellent place to come up with them. After all, this is pretty much THE forum for future modes of reading.
In the end, as far as I'm concerned at least, the goal is preserving and promoting literature and culture, not the publishing houses. And our governments are too out of touch with technology to do anything but play catch-up (and too beholden to the business interests of the publishing companies, music industry, etc.). In other words, it's up to us.
note: I am not anti-government by any means, but the role of government is more regulatory - it is rarely the source of innovation (though it sometimes provides support and the means for large-scale implementation).
Cheers!
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