If there were a futures market in literacy, it would be dropping. It is a sad fact that the value of written words, in relation to spoken words and still and moving pictures, is sinking like a stone. Changes like this happen for structural … [Continue reading]
Special People and Book Publishing
It is a safe contention that few people whose primary career motivation is "to get rich" go into book publishing. What attracts folks to our business are other life objectives. Over the six decades I've been interacting with publishing professionals, … [Continue reading]
A changing book business: it all seems to be flowing downhill to Amazon
Amazon's introduction of the Kindle in 2007 was followed rapidly by other ebook systems -- Kobo, Google, B&N's Nook, and Apple's iBook -- and widely-available print-on-demand capabilities for printed books offered by Ingram (Lightning Print was … [Continue reading]
Stability in the book marketplace does not mean commercial publishers continue to maintain their share
Publishing reporters doing wrap up stories occasionally call me for impressions. From those conversations I have gleaned that the prevailing impression of where the book business is now is of "stability". The consensus about adult trade is that ebook … [Continue reading]
Ten Years Ago Amazon Started A Revolution and It Just Gave Me a Very Good Month
Ten years ago, Amazon released the first Kindle device. There had been electronic book reading devices before the Kindle and, indeed, the Sony ereader was actively in the market when Kindle arrived. (Others, like Rocketbook and Softbook, had perished … [Continue reading]