MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What is the greatest threat to the publishing industry?

khalleron · 08-11-2009, 03:26 PM

I'm getting a kind of kick out of this "my crap is better than your crap" argument.

My take: Publishers chasing after the latest blockbuster are quite likely to produce crap. Highly polished crap, maybe, but still crap. Catering to the broadest possible public taste is not the way to produce good books.

I'm not so sure that the complete amateur route is the way to go, either, but I do think we're on the brink of some profound change in publishing - we're almost at the same place with the Internet that publishing was in the 18th century when anyone with a little money and access to a printing press could publish anything. Will 'the crowd' produce better books? Maybe. Could be. I think the idea of doing away with the gatekeepers to be quite exciting. Sure, lots of crap will be produced, but lots of crap gets published every year anyway. <shrug>

The cream should still rise to the top - word of mouth has always been the best advertising anyway.

08-11-2009, 03:26 PM	#45
khalleron Kate Posts: 1,700 Karma: 3605799 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Oregon, United States Device: MeeBook, Kobo Libra Colour	I'm getting a kind of kick out of this "my crap is better than your crap" argument. My take: Publishers chasing after the latest blockbuster are quite likely to produce crap. Highly polished crap, maybe, but still crap. Catering to the broadest possible public taste is not the way to produce good books. I'm not so sure that the complete amateur route is the way to go, either, but I do think we're on the brink of some profound change in publishing - we're almost at the same place with the Internet that publishing was in the 18th century when anyone with a little money and access to a printing press could publish anything. Will 'the crowd' produce better books? Maybe. Could be. I think the idea of doing away with the gatekeepers to be quite exciting. Sure, lots of crap will be produced, but lots of crap gets published every year anyway. <shrug> The cream should still rise to the top - word of mouth has always been the best advertising anyway.