Re: future of publishing

The major differences between the new digital business model and that  
status quo are:

1. The ability to undertake more "risky" projects because of lower  
initial production costs.

2. The ability to allow a book time to find its audience, for the same  
reasons.

3. Lower impact on the environment, provided those who print digitally  
refuse to fall into the returns trap.

Yep, that's pretty much it.

IOW, talking about how any given publisher chooses the books they're  
going to publish is largely irrelevant. Acquisitions is a very  
subjective process. With the major publishers, it's restricted by the  
need for the acquiring editor to convince a whole bunch of other  
people--marketing, accounting, other editors--that the book they love  
will make money in the very limited time alloted for that purpose once  
a new book comes out. Nevertheless, what the acquiring editor chooses  
will largely be based on their level of understanding of what  
constitutes good writing and their own tastes. Some people are just  
better at it than others.

There are already standards in place for editing, layout, cover design  
and so on. The problem is that not everyone is willing to spend the  
time LEARNING what they need to know to do a professional job. Some  
are actively convinced they already know all they need to. Others  
don't know what they don't know--I could spend considerable time  
talking about reviewers who've criticized something of ours for the  
"lack of editing" when the problem was their own ignorance, but I won't.

And then, sadly, you have those who are in it to make a fast buck. I'm  
not talking scam artists, but well-meaning people who get bitten by  
the urge to publish instead of just write and/or read and undertake to  
do so thinking they'll not only make more money on their own work but  
earn a bit from the work of others as well. Again, don't get me wrong,  
some superb publishing houses started out just this way, by a self- 
publishing writer who then takes on others.

The gestating Association for Independent Digital Publishers, which is  
currently developing bylaws in preparation for incorporation, aims to  
establish standards and practices for its members, yes, but we know we  
don't need to reinvent the wheel to do it. The problem isn't the lack  
of such things but the failure or unwillingness of people to follow  
them. Indeed, some have been known to make a virtue of their ignorance  
by citing the old "we don't have to do it that way because we're new  
and exciting" chestnut. Unfortunately, all too often it's used as an  
excuse for accepting bad writing or worse editing or ugly design.

Nobody's going to hit a home run every time. The Big Kids screw up,  
too, usually by paying some mega-celeb a six- or seven-figure advance  
for a ghostwritten "memoir" that sells three copies, but also by  
farming out copyediting to unqualified freelancers and, as Brenna  
said, settling for a really ugly cover. Or turning down the book that  
someone else takes on and which sells a few million copies. Let's face  
it, the motto of publishing should be "S*** happens." But just because  
the Big Kids put out books riddled with typos doesn't absolve us of  
the responsibility not to. As I'm often heard to say, we're in the  
same position as women were at the start of the modern feminist  
movement. We have to work twice as hard to be considered half as good.

First, though, this industry need to decide what it wants. To be  
totally independent of the establishment? Sounds good, but that's a  
pretty big system to buck, and not all of it is bad. The consensus of  
those developing AIDP is that what's needed is for us to take the best  
of the old, combine it with the new and truly create a new and  
exciting industry.

L

Elizabeth Burton, Executive Editor
Zumaya Publications LLC
Opening Doors to the Creative Mind
http://www.zumayapublications.com




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