Death of the book (and other media)

[Cecil_Evans]

another thing nice about a book is you can give it to your friend to read, after you're done. don't see that happening with kindles. i'm sure there's some pirating going on, but it's not the same as handing over a coffee-stained, dog eared copy of your favorite book to someone new.
i suppose it will someday be inevitable that the e-reader will replace the book. there is the argument of saving the trees. there's another good argument about saving space by not having to have a bunch of bookshelves. like the old LP records we used to have being replaced by CD's (or more so, MP3's). who needs shelves anymore! more trees saved.
i personally don't have an e-reader (if you don't count my laptop, which i have been reading off of for decades), but everyone i know that has one, LOVES it. young and old alike. you never hear anyone bitching about how awful their kindle is. that's a fact that's hard to deny.

 

[Sneezy]

Interesting turn...

(CNN) -- Wednesday was a dark day for the future of books.
The Department of Justice charged Apple and five large book publishers with conspiring to raise e-book prices. Three of the five publishers quickly capitulated rather than face the risk and expense of a protracted legal battle.
Much of the case revolves around the decision of five of the largest six publishers to simultaneously adopt the agency pricing model immediately before Apple launched the iPad and iBookstore in April 2010. At that time, Amazon commanded about 90% of the e-book market. Amazon priced many books at $9.99 -- which was below the cost at which Amazon was paying the publisher in an effort to drive e-book adoption among consumers and capture market share.

 

[beer good]

Anecdote: I just got back from the London Book Fair, where there was a big debate on Monday concerning whether publishing as it looks today will disappear or whether it'll just have to keep up with the times. One speaker argued at length about how publishers are useless when we have TEH INTERNETZ which will magically solve all that for us, and everyone can be a writer, and in the future everyone will write their own novels just like user-generated youtube content has completely replaced movies, and JK Rowling is somehow proof that publishers are bad, and information wants to be free, and publishers are like... um... an appendix, no wait, they're like dinosaurs and they'll be extinct any minute now! Really!

To which Evan Schnittman from big publisher Bloomsbury simply replied "Dinosaurs didn't go extinct. They adapted to a changed environment and evolved into birds. Game on."

Quote of the day:

"Kids don't read anymore." What are you talking about? That's all they do!
- Bob Young, Lulu.com

 

[Will]

These self-pub types get so excited and all evangelical sometimes. It's nice when they're put comfortably in their place by people who have a clue.

 

[Hugh]

Back in the mid-90's when everybody was signing up for AOL there was a commercial on television where a stodgy college professor was lecturing his class and telling them that it was nearly impossible to get your writing published. Then a young, vibrant student in the back of the class stands up and says, "That's not true. With the internet anyone can upload their documents and be published blah blah blah." Pan over to the now humbled professor and then cue the music with the Microsoft logo, or Cisco, or whomever the advertiser was. (There was also comic called Brokersaurus that made fun of stockbrokers and their immediate demise back then).

Anyway, publishers and stockbrokers are still around after changing their business models, just like they've always done, to meet the new demands of the marketplace. Amanda Hocking, who made over a million bucks self pubbing, eventually signed a deal with a publisher so she could focus on her writng and leave the business end of the work to the professionals. She said in an interview that she was mortified when she would come across the spelling and grammar errors she found in her self pubbed books.

There are a few self-pubbers out there that are making a living. The founder of Smashwords gave an interview not too long ago that showed he has quite a few authors that can pay the bills with their work. However, most of these "revolutionary" self pubbers are lost in their own delusion. If you can't be honest enough with yourself to admit that your writing and your story suck, you're not going to revolutionize the publishing industry anymore than the kids down the street playing lousy music in their parent's garage are going to be number one on Billboard.

 

[Lovecraftian]

Brilliant post, Hugh; I feel exactly the same. For me, I’ll publish a few shorts on Amazon and hock 'em for a buck, but I have all my work pro-edited first and also, I’d never do that with a novel. More power to those who can make a living doing so, but I’ll have none of it.

 

[Peder]

If you can't be honest enough with yourself to admit that your writing and your story suck, you're not going to revolutionize the publishing industry

Probably very true. But I wouldn't be so quick to suggest that all self-pubbed works "suck." My experience with kindle is that there is a range, as in many other things in lfe, from not good up to really pretty good. And maybe just maybe the lower end of pubbed books dips down in quality below the upper range for self-pubbed books -- just for a thought.

 

[Lovecraftian]

True, Peder, I’m sure they don’t all suck. I give my work, which I feel is pretty darn good and polished once I’m done with it, to a professional editor.

You should see the red ink on those suckers when they come back.

And you know what? In every single instance, her change suggestions are correct. I have a pretty strong command of the English language, but the things I still miss are incredible.

The vast majority of self-pubbed writers that *I* know don’t pay for a pro edit. That’s going to show in the end product, trust me.

If I ever self-pubbed something like a novel, I’d pay top-dollar for both the editing and the cover art; some of these folks who design a cover in MicroSoft Paint in ten minutes and then release it just amaze me.

 

[Peder]

Lovecraftian, I will gladly concede both points: first, that professional editors are much more critical of what they read than I am; second, that my own (strictly amateur) writing would no doubt benefit immensely from professional attention.

However, neither of those facts prevents my enjoying a self-pubbed book which doesn't raise red flags as I read it.

So, maybe I am a low denominator among readership. It, however, doesn't prevent my enjoyment of better self-pubbed books.

 

[sparkchaser]

So, maybe I am a low denominator among readership. It doesn't prevent my enjoyment, however.

If it feels good, do it.

 

[Lovecraftian]

Oh, definitely read what you enjoy! The subject just hits a little close to home for me since I’m a fiction author and I’ve read – how can I say this? – more than a few self-pubbed shorts that should definitely have been put through the wringer a few more times.

I’m sure there are some real, real good self-pubbed works out there, though; I have no doubts about that.