Is Conventional Book Publishing Essential?
Yesterday, returning from an urgent visit to the pediatrician, we drove past one retail business after another.
I quipped to myself, "Essential" or "Not Essential" as I read each business sign.
"Tanning Salon" and "Cosmetic Dentistry" and "Wall Units" were in the latter category.
(The Wall Unit biz--note for storing books?-- was already on the block.
A second glance revealed a For Lease sign in the window...
) "Tax Preparation," along with "Insurance" were in the essential category.
The ratio of Not Essential to Essential seemed to be a whopping 50-75% How would we classify Barnes & Noble, the bookseller? Essential or not? As I motored past the storefronts, it was almost too easy to erase the inessential and marginal enterprises.
I believe some industries are surviving based on sentiment, book publishing included.
It astonishes me, for instance, that conventional college classroom teaching, which I continue to perform in Extension programs, has not been completely eclipsed by web-based media.
Why sit in a class? There ARE satisfactions, no question.
But are they sufficient to justify the bricks, mortar, salaries, etc.
? Ditto for books and the conventionally printed word.
I've had the rare privilege of being in a major chain bookstore, when I spied a lady browsing and then purchasing TWO of my titles.
I felt like Marlin Perkins, of "Wild Kingdom" fame, glimpsing the consumption habits of the rare libris purchatus.
Now, all of that is endangered: the buyers, based on the economy and paperless alternatives; the collapsing of the retail book store channel, and the impending failure of more and more conventional book publishers.
Marshall McLuhan was wrong: The medium is NOT the message.
Nostalgia aside, an "electronically" posted word is essentially the same as a "conventionally" printed word.
The message for those interested in publishing, is simple: Adapt!
I quipped to myself, "Essential" or "Not Essential" as I read each business sign.
"Tanning Salon" and "Cosmetic Dentistry" and "Wall Units" were in the latter category.
(The Wall Unit biz--note for storing books?-- was already on the block.
A second glance revealed a For Lease sign in the window...
) "Tax Preparation," along with "Insurance" were in the essential category.
The ratio of Not Essential to Essential seemed to be a whopping 50-75% How would we classify Barnes & Noble, the bookseller? Essential or not? As I motored past the storefronts, it was almost too easy to erase the inessential and marginal enterprises.
I believe some industries are surviving based on sentiment, book publishing included.
It astonishes me, for instance, that conventional college classroom teaching, which I continue to perform in Extension programs, has not been completely eclipsed by web-based media.
Why sit in a class? There ARE satisfactions, no question.
But are they sufficient to justify the bricks, mortar, salaries, etc.
? Ditto for books and the conventionally printed word.
I've had the rare privilege of being in a major chain bookstore, when I spied a lady browsing and then purchasing TWO of my titles.
I felt like Marlin Perkins, of "Wild Kingdom" fame, glimpsing the consumption habits of the rare libris purchatus.
Now, all of that is endangered: the buyers, based on the economy and paperless alternatives; the collapsing of the retail book store channel, and the impending failure of more and more conventional book publishers.
Marshall McLuhan was wrong: The medium is NOT the message.
Nostalgia aside, an "electronically" posted word is essentially the same as a "conventionally" printed word.
The message for those interested in publishing, is simple: Adapt!
