http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-books-publishing-landscape-will.html
Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum
Thursday, April 19, 2012
What Books & The Publishing Landscape Will Look Like In 2016
One question – 30 answers!
I recently asked dozens of
authors and members of the book publishing community to present their thoughts
on the state of books for the future. I figured if presidential elections are
every four years, why not ask about 2016 for publishing? Below are the diverse
responses I received – unedited. In the near future I will reveal my own view
of the future of book publishing.
“The future
will continue to be about the power switch from publisher to author. This is a
very exciting time in publishing. We have more options than ever before for
publishing our titles and authors have the ability to go it alone in ways they
never could. As time goes on, I see the larger publishers finding their way and
continuing to add value to an author’s work through editorial, production and
marketing efforts. They seem to be adapting to the e-book landscape very well
and probably don’t get enough credit for that. As long as they continue to add
this kind of value they will thrive. But authors will never need them the way
they did to get published so the pressure to remain relevant will not go away.
At the end of the day, the best books will rise to the top, whether they are
self-published or released by a larger corporation, and that will be the way it
is decades from now.”
--Scott
Waxman, Founder of Diversion Books www.diversionbooks.com
“Just
as a boomer found the transformation from black & white TV to color
remarkable, the book world in 2016 will be very different. Publishers will provide
content but books will be one (probably small) part of the way the content is
delivered. People will read on laptops, phones, Ipads, Kindles, Nooks,
etc...those of us who like to turn pages will be part of a distinct minority.”
--Debra Englander, Editorial Director, John
Wiley & Sons
“What a
great question. It seems like our industry is always trying to guess what the
landscape will look like in a few years. Would anyone have guessed Navy SEAL
memoirs would be a hot four years ago? I think we need to be prepared to adjust
and change to the new technology formats that will appear. When I started in
the industry, publishing was old-fashioned and resistant to change. Now,
publishing is adaptable and looking for the cutting-edge new ideas . We all have
to be open-minded and keep abreast of the tech world which used to be separate
from the book world. To be out-of-date is career suicide.”
--Kim Bouchard, Sales, Operation and Event Manager, Macmillan Speakers Bureau, www.macmillanspeakersbureau.com
--Kim Bouchard, Sales, Operation and Event Manager, Macmillan Speakers Bureau, www.macmillanspeakersbureau.com
“It’s been said that all good things come to an end. I can only
hope that’s not true for paperbacks and hardcover books. While eBooks have
become popular and the way to go, they definitely have a place, however, I
don’t see them replacing the traditional way completely. There’s something
about holding a book in my hands that is all part of the excitement of getting
lost in a great story. Grasping it in my hands and holding that corner of the
next page waiting until I reach the final word on the one before so I can
hurriedly flip it over and see what happens is the soul of reading a book.
Another part in all this is that some people can’t afford the Kindle or Nook or
Sony eReader or the others that are out there. That’s where the original books
come in even further than just the phenomenal feeling of holding the book. This
feeling is something that people who are around thirty-five years old and older
can relate to. Here’s hoping that we can pass the feeling along to the younger
generations to keep it where it belongs, front and center, the soul of any
great story.