Hot off the press!
Ever heard that before?
Did you believe it?
Well, believe this . . .
Here it is. Check out the link below. Yesterday, Aug. 9th, Dorchester Publishing announced a plan to stop its production of mass-market books and will be going to trade market and e-book solely. What do all of you think? Is this the cutting edge of a complete change for books or will the printed book "in hand" always be there?
http://www.examiner.com/x-10951-Birmingham-Speculative-Fiction-Examiner~y2010m8d9-Dorchester-Publishing-dropping-mass-market-paperbacks
Anybody with thoughts about how this is going to affect the publishing industry or is it merely another indy press changing direction?
Let's get into a meaningful discussion for a few days on where and why we see the industry heading. I'll do another post to open this discussion if anyone's interested.
I heard this too, and wondering where it's all going. . .
ReplyDeleteI don't believe real books will ever disappear. Or is that hopeful thinking on my part?
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping it's just a knee jerk reaction to some sales going down, but then again, others are exploding (ebooks).I attended a conf about 12 years ago and heard the head of Crown Publishing say the written word would NEVER disappear. I'd love to hear what she has to say today. Whether or not she still feels the same.
ReplyDeleteDeb's closing session at the FW conference about the future of book publishing floored me. Book stores disappearing? BOOKS disappearing? Oh, the horror!
ReplyDeleteI know, I love the book in hand!
ReplyDeleteAdvancement in technology has the potential to change SO many things in the future. Years ago we used to giggle at our parents or grandparents that said "...when I was your age I used to walk to school, uphill both ways, in the snow, barefoot"... although we still had that little feeling in us that made us shudder at the thought. Or we would roll our eyes when grandma said "I remember when bread was a nickle!" Nowadays I can tell a high school kid that I grew up before there was the internet, when gas cost 60 cents, books in the library were organized in a card catelog, when we had to hand write our papers or use a *shudder* typewriter! That thought is horrifying to most!
ReplyDeleteThese days though, some newspapers have already forgone print, and will only publish a digital copy to be read on the interet or an e-reader. It's not a far stretch to think that one day we can tell our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc that we remember the days when books were on paper!