Trouble in the Publishing World

Over the past few months, the big houses have been cutting back. Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt have initiated a freeze on new manuscripts and have laid off editors. Many publishers have all but eliminated the mid-listers—the writers who might reliably sell 10,000-30,000 per book—in favor of the really big names. The publishing giants have put a whole bunch of eggs in a few giant baskets, and this strategy is costing them.

With the massive advances come the inflated prices—oversized paperbacks that aren’t quite trades, but cost $3.00 more than a typical mass market paperback. I’m not buying them and I don’t think many other people are either. Used bookstores are doing brisk business as consumers look to save a buck. I feel for the authors who are being shortchanged, but have no sympathy for the bloated publishers who failed to adapt to a changing world.

I expect to see some authors following in the footsteps of a growing number of musicians—publishing themselves, selling their own books on their own sites, cutting out resellers altogether, avoiding the deep discounts required by Amazon and the other chains, keeping more of the money their book earns.

Sure, there will be some garbage put to paper. But what’s new about that? The real excitement comes from discovering a book or an author that no one else has heard of and spreading the word. The thrill of finding that diamond in the rough.

The times, they are a’changin’ and I, for one, welcome the revolution!

— Kirk

The Binding Blog – Welcome

In this blog I will discuss bookbinding topics and various other self-publishing issues. My name is Kirk Whitham and I am the creator of the Atomic Binding Machine, an affordable little gizmo that allows you to bind your own books at home using easily available materials.

Don’t be surprised to see occasional gratuitous plugs for my binder www.atomicpublishing.net.
Bam! There was one right there.

Check back for updates on the state of the publishing world, good books I have read or any other thing that interests me (and hopefully interests you as well).

Until next time.
Kirk Whitham
Atomic Publishing
Home of the Atomic Binding Machine

Bam!