Newsweek today featured Amazon's new Kindle, an e-reading device. I'm skeptical that we're at the point where an e-reader can catch on but change is definitely coming to publshing. In 30 years we won't be reading books like we do now - of that I'm certain. When I look at my kids and today's teen-agers, it's clear that they are totally comfortable reading and writing onine. In addition, they expect a level of interactivity that older folks don't. They expect to communicate with the content creator and have a two-way dialogue. And they expect that their voices will be heard. Publishers as guardians of what gets published and what doesn't isn;'t going to fly.
E-books solve the last-mile problem in publishing. People like to cuddle up with a book or take it to the beach, something you can't do with a laptop. Publishers have maintained their grip on the publishing process by keeping control of this last mile by controlling access to the bookstores. Once e-books are available the enitre equation changes. Now, I can write a book and distribute it myself with no need to get it into a bookstore. The key will be promoting it. To survive, publishers will become editing and promotion shops - which is mostly what they are now anyway. But a savvy author who can edit their own work and promote it will have just as much a chance of getting ahead as someone who has the backing of a "publisher."
Big change is coming to the publishing world, and just in time.
To see a video review of the Kindle, click here.
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