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The Future is
Here
by
Pauline Baird Jones & Linda DeLeon-Campbell
The world of publishing is changing. It's both contracting and expanding, evolving into something the savviest pundit is hesitant to predict. All concede that electronic-publishing, in some form, will play a key role.
What is electronic publishing?
At its simplest level, it is paper-less publishing. Instead of a fixed, paper format books are saved onto disks or transmitted to the reader as a file via the Internet or phone lines. This development has the potential to seriously alter how publishers, writers, and readers interact with one another.
Picture publishing as a triangle. The author, publisher, and reader each occupy a point, connected by their mutual need for one another. Theoretically, any point can occupy the top position. Power shifts according to whose need is the greatest. Supply rises or falls according to demand.
Unfortunately, the publishing world has never operated according to theoretical rules of supply and demand. Publishers have long exhibited a surprising hostility toward their author/supplier. Over the last decade, this hostility has deepened to Oliver Twist-ian proportions. Writers who beg for more gruel, are getting less. The only thing that appears to count with publishers is the bottom-line.
Part of the problem is, as one large multi-national publisher buys another, the places an author can market his/her work shrinks. Buying manuscripts is like betting on horses. They think they know who is going to win, but won't until the book crosses over the scanner. It's easier for publishers to bet on manuscripts that they know will make a decent showing, than risk the long shot. This creates fewer options for authors and narrows the range of choices for readers.
There is one bright spot in this equation. With each merger and subsequent narrowing of the market, there is greater opportunity for small, risk-taking ventures to succeed. Small presses are the conscience of big publishing, but the big guys aren't listening. The same factors that have hit big publishers make it tough for small presses to survive, let alone have strong voice in the supply and demand equation.
Self-publishing has had some impact. Over 80,000 books have been self-published and forecasters expect that figure to reach one million by the year 2,000, especially with the print on demand capability entering the equation. For some writers, self-publishing isn't an option. They survive on the faint hope that the tide will turn. It finally is turning with the advent of e-publishing. Why? Because start-up and production costs are less for electronic publishers, their "voice" can be heard in ways that could re-shape the publishing landscape.
The benefits to readers and writers are obvious. If it costs less to publish books, a publisher will be more willing to take risks on those long shot books, which means they can offer the reader a wider range of books to choose from. E-publishing-and the newly launched electronic reader technology-is the best thing to happen to readers and authors since the invention of the printing press. (click here for links to e-publishers) There are other advantages that e-books offer readers:
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Speedy delivery. In our instant gratification society, instant delivery is has become a necessity, not just a perk. The ability to immediately download a book, or have it delivered to your email mail inbox within 24 hrs gives electronic publishers a distinct advantage over a publisher dependent on archaic and unwieldy distribution systems.
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Isolated readers. Not everyone lives near a bookstore, but even the most isolated reader can have access to the Internet if they desire to.
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Out of Print books go the way of the dinosaurs. Readers can have unending access to a favorite author's back list.
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Shelf space woes disappear. Electronic books take up less space-or no space-on shelves, depending upon whether the reader purchases a book by download or diskette.
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Disadvantaged readers have new options. This one could make up its own article. We will hit the highlights. People with weak wrists or arthritis who can't hold up a book can sit in front of a computer screen and read text. They can make the type on that screen as large as needed. They can choose the font they want to read. And the severely vision impaired can have their computer read the latest bestseller with inexpensive, already available software. (click here)
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Variety and selection. Bookstores have limited shelf space, but electronic servers don't. Electronic bookstores, such as Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com, offer readers access to everything that's in print, including a growing list of electronically published titles, but they can't make publishers offer a wider range of titles. Most publishers have a "publishing focus," which means they look for books that fit their vision. The problem comes when publishers merge and fewer "visions" make it on to the shelves. Many manuscripts are rejected for reasons that have little to do with the quality of the writing or storytelling.
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