The Face of Publishing in the Future
It used to be that a self-published author fought a stigma; only those who couldn’t make it in the conventional publishing world forked out funds for a basement full of books and a heart full of frustration.
The decade before the new Millennium the world watched the growth of the Internet and digital technologies. Music was the first to feel the overwhelming power and accessibility of the Internet, with ripped-off sites offering pirated tracks, only to later turn legitimate as power-houses such as iTunes, and Microsoft’s MusicMatch burst onto the music sales scene. No longer the need to drive to your local HMV or other music store to score yourself new music. Sit there in your underwear on a hot, sleepless night, and with a credit card and a couple of clicks you have immediate access to a world of music, some of which you never knew existed, at prices so ridiculously inexpensive you’re coming away with three Cd’s where you might only have purchased one.
Video was next into the foray, with sites such as NetFlix , StarFlix and Zip bursting onto the scene, quickly followed by the big chain stores like Blockbuster, and cable companies like Rogers. No hassle. Less expensive. Greater variety. Everyone is happy.
The publishing world has been a little slower, as always, matching the pace of technology, steeped in tradition and no small amount of elitism. What happened during the past 17 years in the publishing world is that publishers closed ranks so that new authors simply don’t have an avenue of access. Agents closed the doors on their comfortable stable of writers, so that, again, new authors don’t have access unless you know someone who knows someone.
Books available on the shelves of bookstores increasingly range to the best-seller and 10 week wonder, with an increase in initial sales, but a decrease in variety and lasting readership. What started out as a mildly interesting sale experiment with online book catalogues, taking only 10% of the market at the turn of the Millennium, now garners 25%, according to recent information.
For the consumer this means not only ease of shopping, but greater variety, in that all 130,000+ books in the Chapters online catalogue, or Amazon, or any number of other massive chains, is as close as your mouse and a click.
Now add the quickly evolving revolution in Print on Demand technology, and the world is set for a social phenomenon we haven’t seen since the advent of the Gutenberg press. Gone are the days a self-published author has to turn over thousands in hard-earned savings for a basement full of books and no way to distribute them other than the trunk of the car. Ingram, one of the world’s largest distribution firms opened the doors of their print on demand imprint, Lightning Source, to individuals, so that one copy of a book can be printed at a time, with distribution of that book feeding into not only Ingram’s massive network (which means all the major online chains worldwide, as well as thousands of independent bookstores, as well as libraries throughout North America), but to one of the other enormous global distributors, Baker and Taylor.
Put quite simply, a self-published author’s work can appear in the online catalogues of the heavy-weight chains along side award winning authors and known best-sellers.
There’s more leavening added to the mix. Yet another new technology has been announced, whereby, through the magic of a little print-on-demand printer, worth about $50,000, a bookstore, author, library or anyone with an interest in publishing, can print a complete book, in colour, in under three minutes for about $3.00. It’s known as the Espresso Book Machine.
I have heard cries of the demise of bookstores, of social gatherings around coffee and books, of book signings and author appearances. All I can respond to that reactionary response is, nonsense.
Imagine a bookstore evolved into something like an Internet cafe, where you can go with friends for a good cuppa, meet an author in a casual and intimate setting while waiting for your own, personalized copy of the author’s latest book to print. Imagine the revenues libraries can generate by evolving as not only repositories of knowledge, but printers. Imagine being able to shop online and find any literature you can imagine, just as you can now find music and film. Imagine a world where the consumers and the creators are the legislators of art, and not the middleman publisher interested only in the bottom line.
The wind’s in the east today. Change is coming.
The decade before the new Millennium the world watched the growth of the Internet and digital technologies. Music was the first to feel the overwhelming power and accessibility of the Internet, with ripped-off sites offering pirated tracks, only to later turn legitimate as power-houses such as iTunes, and Microsoft’s MusicMatch burst onto the music sales scene. No longer the need to drive to your local HMV or other music store to score yourself new music. Sit there in your underwear on a hot, sleepless night, and with a credit card and a couple of clicks you have immediate access to a world of music, some of which you never knew existed, at prices so ridiculously inexpensive you’re coming away with three Cd’s where you might only have purchased one.
Video was next into the foray, with sites such as NetFlix , StarFlix and Zip bursting onto the scene, quickly followed by the big chain stores like Blockbuster, and cable companies like Rogers. No hassle. Less expensive. Greater variety. Everyone is happy.
The publishing world has been a little slower, as always, matching the pace of technology, steeped in tradition and no small amount of elitism. What happened during the past 17 years in the publishing world is that publishers closed ranks so that new authors simply don’t have an avenue of access. Agents closed the doors on their comfortable stable of writers, so that, again, new authors don’t have access unless you know someone who knows someone.
Books available on the shelves of bookstores increasingly range to the best-seller and 10 week wonder, with an increase in initial sales, but a decrease in variety and lasting readership. What started out as a mildly interesting sale experiment with online book catalogues, taking only 10% of the market at the turn of the Millennium, now garners 25%, according to recent information.
For the consumer this means not only ease of shopping, but greater variety, in that all 130,000+ books in the Chapters online catalogue, or Amazon, or any number of other massive chains, is as close as your mouse and a click.
Now add the quickly evolving revolution in Print on Demand technology, and the world is set for a social phenomenon we haven’t seen since the advent of the Gutenberg press. Gone are the days a self-published author has to turn over thousands in hard-earned savings for a basement full of books and no way to distribute them other than the trunk of the car. Ingram, one of the world’s largest distribution firms opened the doors of their print on demand imprint, Lightning Source, to individuals, so that one copy of a book can be printed at a time, with distribution of that book feeding into not only Ingram’s massive network (which means all the major online chains worldwide, as well as thousands of independent bookstores, as well as libraries throughout North America), but to one of the other enormous global distributors, Baker and Taylor.
Put quite simply, a self-published author’s work can appear in the online catalogues of the heavy-weight chains along side award winning authors and known best-sellers.
There’s more leavening added to the mix. Yet another new technology has been announced, whereby, through the magic of a little print-on-demand printer, worth about $50,000, a bookstore, author, library or anyone with an interest in publishing, can print a complete book, in colour, in under three minutes for about $3.00. It’s known as the Espresso Book Machine.
I have heard cries of the demise of bookstores, of social gatherings around coffee and books, of book signings and author appearances. All I can respond to that reactionary response is, nonsense.
Imagine a bookstore evolved into something like an Internet cafe, where you can go with friends for a good cuppa, meet an author in a casual and intimate setting while waiting for your own, personalized copy of the author’s latest book to print. Imagine the revenues libraries can generate by evolving as not only repositories of knowledge, but printers. Imagine being able to shop online and find any literature you can imagine, just as you can now find music and film. Imagine a world where the consumers and the creators are the legislators of art, and not the middleman publisher interested only in the bottom line.
The wind’s in the east today. Change is coming.