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!
