Sunday, July 27, 2014

A Defense of Traditional Publishing



Gutenberg's press

Quick question: How many industries can you think of, that could put out a better product if they only removed all experienced professionals from their design and manufacturing process?

Much has been said in recent years, about the changing nature of the publishing business. Today, aspiring authors have so many options: No more gatekeepers, no more agents, no more editors, no one to tell you what you can and can’t do. No one to tell you that you’re not good enough. Only a naïve amateur, stuck in the past, would ever choose a traditional publishing model. Power to the people, baby!

Perhaps what we need here, is a bit of perspective. This is what “publishing” used to mean: