What will the publishing industry look like ten years from now? I can hardly bare to think about what the face of the industry will look like in a year, let alone ten. For the past week or so I have been avoiding any kind of news. If I read it, or listen to it, or watch it, I get visions of my future crumbling. At least the future I had originally planned for myself.
The plan was to finish my Master’s, move to New York City, get a decent paying job at one of the big houses, climb the corporate ladder, make a nice little nest egg, then move back to Portland and start my own publishing company. The current status of things, puts this all at risk. Now, it seems like it would take a miracle to get a job at one of the big houses, let alone one that pays enough to actually survive in the most expensive city in the country.
If only I had a whole bunch of money to put into opening my publishing company now. I firmly believe that this is going to be the golden era for small presses. There are still hundreds of thousands of people out there, looking for a publisher. Some of them don’t have anything worth publishing, but for those few that do, the small publisher is going to be the place to go. Many of the big and even medium-sized houses have stopped acquiring books until the dust settles and they can figure out where they are financially. But the small publishers won’t wait that long. They don’t need to. Because of print on demand (POD) small publishers can go ahead with whichever books they want.
POD allows for much shorter print runs, leaving no warehouse fees, and an extremely fast turnaround. Small publishers are willing to take more risks now. They can acquire a book by a no-name author, because it doesn’t have to be a best seller. Since there is less money up front, there is more money to spend in the company getting the next book ready.
E-books are also the friend of the small publisher. Because they are very cheap to “print” and distribute, all that is needed is the right format.
Personally, I am not a fan of e-books. I am a big fan of the tactile relationship you have with a book as you read. Plus, they smell so wonderful. I know it is just glue, but it still makes me smile every time I get a whiff of it. But, for those readers that are a little more open to change, e-books are the next frontier. Once e-book readers become affordable, they could be used in classrooms to save money. Teachers would no longer be subject to buying new books every two years because the classroom set they bought is already falling apart. Not to mention that generations of children would grow up with healthier backs than their parents because they would not have had their spines compacted by the 50 pound backpacks that are common today. Travelers wouldn’t have to be stuck with the terrible book they picked up at the airport store just before getting on the plane. Much to my chagrin, e-books will probably make the world a happier (and taller) place.
Now is the time for the small presses to take advantage of their nimbleness. It will take years for the massive boats that are the New York houses to turn around and see the changes in the book industry. It will take them even longer to incorporate those changes into their company.
I am trying to think positive. I like to think that no matter what the economy is, people want to read. And because people will keep reading, people will keep publishing. I just need to get those publishing people to take a look at my resume.
1 Comment
March 8, 2009 at 10:31 am
I love the smell of books, too. Thanks to mechanization, we’ve eliminated much of what smells in this world, for good and for bad. It’s one of the things I’ve loved about working in restaurants. Work always smelled good. And yes, things are bad in New York, but are they worse there than they are here?