Dead-Tree Format Anyone?

Things are really starting to get stirred up! The recent Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association conference in Portland seemed to resemble more of the fate of the book publishing industry than how to increase sales. Digital technologies and the way people are using them are finally trickling into the consciousness of publishers. The compilation of these scenarios will hopefully leak into business models that will actually resemble what customers want and need.

I came across an old blog entry that both petrified and invigorated me. UK book publisher, James Bridle represents the fear book publisher’s have for the very near future in his “So farewell then…” . “The book is going to die. It’s over. Five, ten years. No more books. And we really, really need to start talking about this.” For some reason it is much easier to swallow reality when it comes from someone who actually has a foot in to the publishing world. He loves books and he loves publishing, and he’s excited about the collaborative aspect digital books will bestow. “Oh, it’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to the first really good, genuinely collaborative novel, wiki-style.” His final words of wisdom are hopeful: “Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to see this through. Because we love stories, and we love great writers, and we just need to start separating that concept from your actual, paper books. Good morning. Hello. Wake up now.”  

Scott Hacker’s blog sums up the recent South by Southwest panel The Future of the Book: Dead or Alive?.“Have e-books been a failure so far? It would seem so…There’s still a move to digitize masses of content, but we need to do experiments in the open to figure out what people actually want in terms of electronic reading.”

My personal fear is how far the open access movement will go. Book publisher’s aside, I know there are many professors who’s book royalties are necessary supplements to their sparse salaries.

There are still so many unknowns, but something has to happen where the comfort level of publishers increases enough to start the conversation with book readers to discover what is desired and formulate a strategy to make it a reality.