The Future...

I think it's appropriate to talk about the future of publishing for our last post. It's usually one of the first questions out of people's mouths after I tell them what my degree will be in.

The future of publishing, the way I see it:

Publishers

As long as this recession and economy keeps swirling down the proverbial toilet, consolidation with big houses is going to keep on happening. More people doing multiple jobs, contract and freelance work will probably be a short term business solution for many publishers. For content, people are writing now more than ever, so I don't think that's ever going to be a problem.

Small publishers are what's happening right now, but there are significant hurdles in the way. Small publishers need to get web savvy in a friggin' hurry. If your company is run from your home, you better commit to marketing on your computer at least an hour a day. Building community and engaging your customers and market are what is going to fuel success. Small presses now have the exact same access to everything the big houses always have. It's just how you use it that determines interest, revenue, and profit.

POD and e-books are going to totally explode. It's already happening. It sort of scares me that Amazon has a POD system, BookSurge (under their already huge umbrella) in the marketplace. That sort of synergy has always rubbed me the wrong way, but in the same breath, how brilliant of an idea is that? Have your independent press/self-published book printed here--if you need editing, design, etc., they have that too!--then have them distribute it physically and online, have it up on Amazon (probably correctly if you work directly with them), and immediately available. Amazon continues to amaze and disgust me. It's hard to hate them, because they help spread literacy (yes, this is what I tell myself), and they're the only living successful business right now. Their business model is based around selling books, and it has grown into something pretty amazing with the Kindle, BookSurge, and their smart, savvy way of bookselling. I know they sell many other things at Amazon, but for books, that's how I see it.

So, POD will thrive, voices will be heard, and those bad memoirs will sit in someone's basement. Everyone wants to be an author, and have their friends listen to them read an excerpt from something that has their name on the cover.

Access

To me, everything revolves around access. How do we get books? In the next 10 years, yes, everything will be digital. There won't be such a focus on print, and we're already at a point where we want a handheld computer to figure out our lives. E-books are where it's at. It's already in high momentum to dominate. Sales are up, Google and Amazon have their eyes on it, and you know when those two get involved, it's happening. There will become a time when of iPhone and "Kindle-esque" sorts of readers will be like a Blackberry or something, and be totally streamlined and integrated. I'm sure they're working on it as we speak. Print will still be around, though. People like to hand things out, feel them, and mark in them. I think textbooks are hard to turn digital, but then again, we already use track changes for most of our editing purposes now.

Once Posh Spice, Paris Hilton, or Angelina Jolie gets a Kindle it'll be like wildfire. Everyone will be doing it.

Literacy

As I've said before, I have a strong fear that America will fall into this strange void of dumbness, for lack of a better word. Like the movie Idiocracy. But more and more, I feel there is hope for us numbskulls. More people are interested in magazines, more information is being communicated over the net, and people are finding it easier than ever to stay informed with current events. Blogging is not reporting, but those who are committed to it, can spread their message/agenda/voice far and wide. I think the technological freedom in publishing is going to be very positive.

But then, I'm a starry-eyed grad student who'll do anything for a job in her field of study.