Jane, at Dear Author…
wrote an interesting article about the rapidity of change in the publishing world. It seems like she’s pretty much wondering, what will be the ultimate cost and who will pay it? Will publishing houses change the way they do business or will they no longer be in business? Will print authors continue to write or will this new technology and the resulting changes drive them to retire from storytelling? Make sure to read the comments - some are fascinating - not mine, of course. 
Well…I think everything will come out in the wash. The pace of change is difficult to accept, but not impossible to surmount. I love this brave new world, as do my tech-savvy children and my gadget-obsessed husband. He claims he’s read more books since receiving his Christmas Kindle than he’s read in the previous two years. He uses the audio feature to listen to his books as he commutes. Apparently, he doesn’t mind the mechanical sounding voice.
Here’s a link to Jane’s post: http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2010/08/10/is-the-wylie-deal-creating-unhealthy-expectations/ and also a link to an interview with author Pat Conroy (Prince of Tides, The Great Santini) - who is quite sanguine about the changes. He doesn’t read e-books, but he lets his agent handle marketing the digital rights to his work. Here’s a quote from the article:
“Among the country’s most beloved writers, the 64-year-old Conroy hasn’t allowed his distance from the digital world to keep him from joining it. Much of his work is available electronically and four of his older books, including “The Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini,” are coming out this month — starting Tuesday — through Open Road Integrated Media, a digital company co-founded a year ago by former HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman and film producer Jeff Sharp.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gAdeaY68ZSvBDonbLggbpvC0RMuA
Go Mr. Conroy! I loved The Great Santini, by the way.
Seems this is all anyone’s talking about these days…the internet and what it means when it comes to the publishing industry. Tomorrow, something completely different - the sexiest guys on TV and OMG, I told an accidental lie!
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August 11th, 2010 at 3:31 am
This is definitely the buzz right now. I’m looking forward to the TV hotties.
August 11th, 2010 at 4:36 am
Whether we like it (as I do) or not, ignore it or pay attention, the fact is that technology does not invent itself, nor market itself. Nor, is it going away. One can decry the death of paper books, or celebrate the saving of trees, one can mourn the loss of local booksellers or they can learn to adapt.
Progress, fueled by human ingenuity, marches on. Horses replaced slaves rolling things with logs, cars replaced horses and put thousands of phaeton makers and saddlers out of work. They had to adapt (perhaps the slaves were not saddened to be off that particular chain gang).
Here’s the deal for people who don’t want to use technology to read: don’t use it to read, don’t buy a kindle or nook or other e-reader; don’t buy from Amazon, don’t give into the idea that Borders or B & N is your little neighborhood bookstore.
My husband makes integrated circuits and trust me, there is no steady pace in this industry. It is definitely fueled by consumer behavior. If you don’t buy it it won’t go away but his industry will adapt to lower sales. It has before and will again.
(Will be re-posted in my blog:Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust)
August 11th, 2010 at 6:43 am
Amber - stop by tomorrow! Back to fun stuff!
Steph - I am a big fan of change - always have been always will be. Yeah, sometimes we screw up, but a lot of times we manage to get things right. I do know people who think technology is evil - but the way I see it, most of what we humans create is neutral - it’s what we do with it that is good or evil.
August 11th, 2010 at 9:16 am
I think the pace of change is dizzingly fast in the publishing industry, which is traditionally ploddingly slow… When the mania dies down we’ll see clearly what customers truly want and adjust accordingly.
I was saddened in the 90′s to all my favorite boutique and Mom & Pop book stores close their doors when the mega-book stores came to town.
If in the near future we see a return of small boutique book stores-run by people who truly love books AND robust sales in e-publishing-I won’t mind it at all.
XXOO Kat
August 11th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Kat, I’m sort of thinking that used book stores will return - we used to have three in this community of 64,000. The last one closed ten years ago. As the e-book industry grows, more and more people will want to purchase used and/or out of print copies. If our library had a decent selection, more people would use it, but it is underfunded and you can rarely get the book you want - or you might have to get on a six-month waiting list for a new release.
Lots of people buy and sell used books on Amazon, including me - it’s a great way to read a book that’s not a keeper and then recycle it - without being out much money. I love to get a used copy for a quarter and then sell it back for a dime!