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Death of the book (and other media)

Will

Will

Active Member
Interesting piece in The Guardian here today, regarding the death of books, and changing role of the author. Also covers lots of other media - photos/video/newspapers etc. One of the more multi-angled pieces I've read recently on this subject.
 
A friend of mine was picked up by a major publisher and finished negotiations over his compensation. I asked him if it would be better to buy hardback or kindle version of his recent book. He didn't indicate which would be better, but he didn't feel that he would get ripped off if I bought the kindle version of his work. He said the compensation was fair and by all means, click "buy" online.
 
That's a wild mind-blowing article! Many thanks, Will. It makes me want to read the two books at the root of it -- from amazon of course. :D

Turning to Hugh's quote:
"A recent business story claimed that 'printing the New York Times costs twice as much as sending every subscriber a new Kindle.' "
Hugh said:
Oh my.
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I saw that statement too, from a different source no doubt, and I wondered about it.

"Cost" is such a squishy concept, since so much depends on how it is calculated. Salary per year for a person would easily purchase many kindles. Salary per day would certainly buy a fair number, certainly more than one or two. When burdened with overhead and cost of materials to reflect out of pocket costs, the comparison swings back the other way, and if plant and equipment are amortized onto the top, I can see where kindles by the bushel could be provided (once? or every day?). In a sense I'm somewhat surprised that the number is only two. Sounds like the sharp pencils have been at work, one way or the other -- or maybe the dull pencils, as the case may be. :confused:

But that's carping. The thrust of the article is overwhelming. :eek:
 
I wouldn't want to read newspapers on the classic kindle. Even if it was the new color one. However, I like using the kindle app on my Motorola Xoom at 10" size. Anything smaller and in ugly gray on gray just drives me away.

Using that argument together with that of the people who start to cry when they have to use technology (there is a great lot of them, some using the argument of nostalgia, which in my opinion is a mental illness), it would probably be impossible to replace the printed edition with plain kindles. At least not completely. And the fixed costs are probably the lion's share.
 
MadBen said:
I wouldn't want to read newspapers on the classic kindle. Even if it was the new color one. However, I like using the kindle app on my Motorola Xoom at 10" size. Anything smaller and in ugly gray on gray just drives me away.

Using that argument together with that of the people who start to cry when they have to use technology (there is a great lot of them, some using the argument of nostalgia, which in my opinion is a mental illness), it would probably be impossible to replace the printed edition with plain kindles. At least not completely. And the fixed costs are probably the lion's share.
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:lol:

I don't entirely disagree with that statement.
 
Interesting. Although not surprising. There are more people running around now than in 1950.

I wish it was broken down by self-published versus traditional publisher.
 
Think again: When books disappear.

You can cry for the would-be authors whose path to financial security has all but disappeared if you like. I do. But even if you don't, one issue that people fail to notice is the fact that a number of phenomena in our society are simply too complex, or require too much background information for anyone to understand without book-length treatment. This is true even if one does not read the books themselves; the debate the public consumes now lacks the information and arguments that would previously have filtered into the ecosphere of political and cultural debate because nobody else is aware of them either. (After all, there was never a time when everyone could read everything.)

Because I try to be a friend to such books in my columns and my blogging, a lot of them cross my metaphorical desk. And I don't have time to read a fraction of them and my guess is neither do many other writers, journalists, editors, producers, bloggers, and what have you. And so while the information and understanding contained in them may be known to its readers, usually numbering in a few thousand, they no longer play the role in our democratic discourse that they did in the days when newspapers and magazines provided a robust forum to debate and discuss their ideas for the larger public.
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Scary thought.
 
Seems a bit over the top to me. There will always be "books" in one form or another.
 
Back in 1950, there were less books published than today, but I'm willing to bet the same amount of books were written. (per capita, anyway.) All those books had to go through the gauntlet of agents, editors, publishers, and the like. When you bought a professionally published book back then, you had a reasonable expectation that it was a well-written, entertaining book.
Today, there is no such filter. Anyone who can finish writing a book can get one published. On the surface it would appear that all this self-publishing floods the market, and makes it impossible to pick out the cream of the crop. And with so many books out there, how does a new author get his cream to rise to the top? (Assuming his work is actually creamy.) The truth, of course, is that the filter is no longer the agent/editor/publisher triumvirate, but has been replaced by EVERYBODY. No internet in the 50's. If you wanted to know what someone thought of a book, you either had to know someone who read it, or read a review by some stuffy book critic.
Today, it's different. Google a book you're interested in, and up come all the opinions you can ask for. And they're not always kind. But if enough people like it, you can have a 'reasonable expectation' that it will be a well-written, entertaining book. Kind of neat how that works out. The power is transferred to the people, and that is never a bad thing.

(For the record, I would rather have a new Kindle than a subscription to the New York Times.)
 
I'm of the opinion that the industry will change, but I don't think books are dead quite yet. There are still a goodly number of people who prefer the feel of curling up with a good book. There's something sweet about the smell of a new book.
 
The last two books I read were on my Kindle but I have two library books sitting on my tbr table waiting to be read and I enjoy seeing them there - the Kindle is great but I still like the homey look of a book - can't see me ever using the Kindle exclusively.:)
 
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