Comments on: The Death of Publishers http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/ Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:35:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Adrian Hon http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22870 Adrian Hon Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:39:43 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22870 Cynthia: Yes, I'd heard that some libraries are doing that. Unsurprisingly, in many cases there are limitations on what you can do with the books, e.g. http://www.eblib.com/about_ebl.asp It's not really clear to me what's going to happen with libraries and eBooks. I find it unlikely that publishers will be happy with libraries lending out their books on an unlimited basis - and I completely understand that. So what you end up with is some sort of hybrid system where scarcity is artificially introduced and priced, all wrapped in DRM. At the moment, I don't think that publishers are really that worried about the impact of things like Overdrive (which you linked to) on their bottom line, because most people don't like reading on the screen. But they *will* be worried if libraries become a legal version of what I've described in this post - a free, simple way of getting any book onto a device which is enjoyable to read from. Certainly the fees would go up. Cynthia: Yes, I’d heard that some libraries are doing that. Unsurprisingly, in many cases there are limitations on what you can do with the books, e.g. http://www.eblib.com/about_ebl.asp

It’s not really clear to me what’s going to happen with libraries and eBooks. I find it unlikely that publishers will be happy with libraries lending out their books on an unlimited basis – and I completely understand that. So what you end up with is some sort of hybrid system where scarcity is artificially introduced and priced, all wrapped in DRM.

At the moment, I don’t think that publishers are really that worried about the impact of things like Overdrive (which you linked to) on their bottom line, because most people don’t like reading on the screen. But they *will* be worried if libraries become a legal version of what I’ve described in this post – a free, simple way of getting any book onto a device which is enjoyable to read from. Certainly the fees would go up.

]]> By: Cynthia Orr http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22861 Cynthia Orr Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:11:54 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22861 Did you realize that thousands of public libraries across the world have bought ebooks and digital audiobooks from legitimate publishers and lend them to patrons free? See here for instance: http://crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070507/REG/70504016/1008/GOV or here: dlc.clevnet.org Did you realize that thousands of public libraries across the world have bought ebooks and digital audiobooks from legitimate publishers and lend them to patrons free?

See here for instance:
http://crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070507/REG/70504016/1008/GOV

or here:

dlc.clevnet.org

]]> By: booktwo.org Notebook » Stop Press for July 31st through August 1st http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22720 booktwo.org Notebook » Stop Press for July 31st through August 1st Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:32:00 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22720 [...] The Death of Publishers | Mssv - “find it hard to feel any sympathy for publishers. They should see this coming.” Well, yes. And a great survey of publishers’ electronic offerings in there too. [Via Eoin] [...] [...] The Death of Publishers | Mssv – “find it hard to feel any sympathy for publishers. They should see this coming.” Well, yes. And a great survey of publishers’ electronic offerings in there too. [Via Eoin] [...]

]]> By: Rebecca http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22664 Rebecca Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:34:28 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22664 Thanks for the feedback Mark and Adrian, in fact OUPblog has started doing podcasts and I will be posting one today. The conversation above has been quite instructive, especially for someone inside a publishing house and I'll be sure to raise your points with my colleagues. Thanks for the feedback Mark and Adrian, in fact OUPblog has started doing podcasts and I will be posting one today. The conversation above has been quite instructive, especially for someone inside a publishing house and I’ll be sure to raise your points with my colleagues.

]]> By: Virginie Clayssen http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22601 Virginie Clayssen Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:53:27 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22601 <p>Hi Adrian, just to tell you I did translate your whole post in French and published it on my blog (teXtes)... So now lazy french people can read it. Hope some publishers will, even if they're lazy or not...</p> <p><a href="http://www.archicampus.net/wordpress/?p=103" rel="nofollow">http://www.archicampus.net/wordpress/?p=103</a></p> Hi Adrian, just to tell you I did translate your whole post in French and published it on my blog (teXtes)… So now lazy french people can read it. Hope some publishers will, even if they’re lazy or not…

http://www.archicampus.net/wordpress/?p=103

]]> By: The Book Depository http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22568 The Book Depository Tue, 31 Jul 2007 07:17:42 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22568 [...] a month or two’s time! — here it is: There is an excellent ongoing discussion over on Mssv about The Death of Publishers. Thought-provoking points are being made from many contributors on [...] [...] a month or two’s time! — here it is: There is an excellent ongoing discussion over on Mssv about The Death of Publishers. Thought-provoking points are being made from many contributors on [...]

]]> By: teXtes » Blog Archive » Vus du dehors http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22566 teXtes » Blog Archive » Vus du dehors Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:13:50 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22566 [...] un lecteur d’eBook, il a rédigé cet article intitulé “la mort des éditeurs“. Bigre !  L’article est suivi d’une quarantaine de commentaires, et la [...] [...] un lecteur d’eBook, il a rédigé cet article intitulé “la mort des éditeurs“. Bigre !  L’article est suivi d’une quarantaine de commentaires, et la [...]

]]> By: Adrian Hon http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22536 Adrian Hon Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:31:16 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22536 Rodney: Self-publishing works for some people very well, particularly authors who have a select but loyal audience. On the whole though, their sales can't match major publishers, who currently act as aggregators and filters. For me, self-publishing is basically a printing service combined with an online store - not much else beyond that. I actually think that eBooks and eReaders will benefit these authors more than traditional publishers, by allowing them to spread their work further. Rodney: Self-publishing works for some people very well, particularly authors who have a select but loyal audience. On the whole though, their sales can’t match major publishers, who currently act as aggregators and filters. For me, self-publishing is basically a printing service combined with an online store – not much else beyond that. I actually think that eBooks and eReaders will benefit these authors more than traditional publishers, by allowing them to spread their work further.

]]> By: Eoin Purcell http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22535 Eoin Purcell Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:23:59 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22535 @ michael Completely agree with you there. I sometimes feel like the e-books/e-readers are a hallucination of some sort endlessly chased by publishers and their critics. Eoin @ michael

Completely agree with you there. I sometimes feel like the e-books/e-readers are a hallucination of some sort endlessly chased by publishers and their critics.

Eoin

]]> By: Rodney http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/comment-page-1/#comment-22525 Rodney Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:36:55 +0000 http://mssv.net/2007/07/23/the-death-of-book-publishers/#comment-22525 Fascinating discussion -- especially for a published poet currently without a publisher! And -- I'm not being facetious here -- what a sentence that was that leapt from the screen in a post from Michael: "Do you have to burn the books for them to be readable?" A breathtaking example of the importance of context, and how radical may be the changes in language in a relatively short space of time... (Nothing against Michael, of course.) More relevantly, perhaps: nobody seems to have mentioned self-publishing so far...? Is this a factor yet in considering the pressures on conventiuonal publishing? (Lulu etc) Fascinating discussion — especially for a published poet currently without a publisher! And — I’m not being facetious here — what a sentence that was that leapt from the screen in a post from Michael:
“Do you have to burn the books for them to be readable?”
A breathtaking example of the importance of context, and how radical may be the changes in language in a relatively short space of time… (Nothing against Michael, of course.)
More relevantly, perhaps: nobody seems to have mentioned self-publishing so far…? Is this a factor yet in considering the pressures on conventiuonal publishing? (Lulu etc)

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