Thanks for the Teleread link. I find this to be a very interesting remark from the Publisher
Quote:
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What remedy for competition do you see on the horizon except competition from others who, like Amazon, have an agenda unrelated to publishing? Namely Apple and Google. Retailer-set pricing is a formula to ultimately eliminate publishers and reduce writers’ incomes.
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Well first "reduce writer's incomes ... Well okay. That is a whole different discussion which I don't necessarily agree with. Some authors will certainly find reduced income, especially those who receive 5 figure advances and then produce a book which doesn't earn out. Many others will see income growth.
It's the eliminate Publishers part that caught my eye though and gets to the heart of what I think many of the large Publishers really fear. When Publishing reaches the tipping point where digital sales overwhelm print sales (and I believe that will happen), what will Penguin's role in the whole process be?
I think that question scares the pants off of many of them.