Knives out in publishing

[DMB]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/could-the-jackal-be-the-death-of-publishing-2036188.html

It is clear that the web and other media are having an increasing effect on paper publishing. So there are bound to be big upheavals.

In the long run (or perhaps not even all that long) all print media are affected. And Steve Jobs is supposed to have said that people don't read any more. Is that true?

[Ray Moscow]

Yeah, it's rough out there. One my wife's editors got laid off by one company, surfaced again (and published one of her novels), and was let go again recently.

Her current editor is very supportive, though -- and is provided some resources for a book launch in October. But money is tight these days in the book business.

[Ray Moscow]

We've noticed that a lot of story anthologies are going straight to ebook now -- they sell better.

[munnki]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/could-the-jackal-be-the-death-of-publishing-2036188.html

It is clear that the web and other media are having an increasing effect on paper publishing. So there are bound to be big upheavals.

In the long run (or perhaps not even all that long) all print media are affected. And Steve Jobs is supposed to have said that people don't read any more. Is that true?

What a load of bollocks from Jobs if he did say it. I believe that the internet and, in particular, social networking has driven up literacy levels. It may not be the type of literacy we want but people are even more dependant now on the written word since it is now involved in almost all of our interactions. I know this from my experience working with some of the most excluded young people in the UK and watching how even those who might have missed the large majority of their schooling had higher literacy levels because of their dependency on the web and mobile devices than the equivalent children would have ten years before.

Of course, Jobs is no stranger to talking bollocks so... Load up any one of his 'keynotes' for further examples...

[Alex]

I haven't got an ebook and I don't have the patience to sit at a computer screen and read lengthy texts online. I mostly read for information on the internet and I couldn't be bothered to read an entire novel - even for free.

So I'm still buying books and can't imagine the web replacing them in my way of life.

[DMB]

I like the idea of an ebook reader, but I am waiting for the technology to shake down a bit and go through some more generations. At the moment it's a bit like VHS versus Betamax.

The iPad seems promising in some respects, but it is going to have to improve quite a lot quite quickly.

[columbus]

So I'm still buying books and can't imagine the web replacing them in my way of life. I don't even buy them, mostly. I've got a library card and I use it! Print information is still cheaper than the net, when you factor in the advertising bullshit.

Tom

[Alex]

I've got a library card and I use it!
Tom
I used to visit the public library quite regularly. But the trend over recent years has been to install lots of computers in municipal libraries and this has drastically reduced the money spent on books. Worn out books are not being replaced and the libraries aren't buying up to date publications in many fields.

Every year they have "clear outs" and dump even scholarly tomes in the bin or sell them for a few pence. The collections of valuable books which took many years to acquire, are being dispersed and they cannot be replaced. This is a sort of civic vandalism.

During the school holidays the central library is full of noisy kids playing games on the computers. The place is in uproar.

[Rie]

But Alex, noisy or not , those kids know their way around a computer! and as far as their education is concerned, they are required to know their way around a computer.