I am distressed to see the amount of decision-making and power that once was held by editors, nearly wrested away from them by marketing teams, who think they have the answers to profitibility in such an artistic/subjective business. I harken back to the old days, a few decades ago.
I'm abhored that so many real small and mid-sized publishers have disapeared or have merged, or been bought out by the big fish. The available markets to submit to nowadays, even for agents, is severely limited and finite.
I feel that I've served an apprenticeship after 28-years in this business, and admittedly I'm a bit put off by every writer who thinks they're a writer, (and have recently discovered the internet), clogging up the email channels, making my potential editors pull their hair out. I end up belonging to the collective blame and the horrendous glut of manuscripts.
I do believe the industry is cracked, but we've been trying to glue it back together for years. What's the answer? Here's a trend I see coming and gaining momentum: No Advances. It's the only guarantee that the large publishers won't tank on celebrity books and it's just Possible that the entire industry will adopt this method in the future. The print-on-demand pubs are there right now. I hope it doesn't happen. But...
Why is it so hard to obtain distribution and book shelving for the little publishers? Some have made it. The majority haven't. Will POD kill us, or is it the wave of the future?
I don't think it is broken, as much as it has changed sooo much. I wish I had a solution. I would love to see huge standup printing machines that could (via menu selection and pdf) select a title, format it, print, cut, trim and bind (in a few minutes), and deliver it out of a slot, like fast food. I'd like to see these automoton publishers sitting at all major traffic areas, mall outlets, grocery and drug stores, and even at fast food establishments. Visibility, visibility, visibility--location, location, location.
Would love to see reward systems for readers who buy a certain amount of titles per month or year, get special treatment and discounts for promoting literacy. I would like to see seniors and childeren get 5-10% discounts on any titles they buy.
Would love to see tiny book stores according to genre only (owned by the same franchise). The Horror Show. Alpha Adventures (SF). FantasyWord. LoveWords. The Game's Afoot (mystery). Billy's Thrillers. Sammy's Suspense.
Anything! Anything that would get more books in the potential reader's face. We have the book channel, but it's all about non-fiction and celebrity politians pushing their tomes. Where's the book channel for fiction? Why can't we have one?
Oh, if I owned the world...
Tri