The Bookseller says that self-publishing has surpassed ebooks as Public Enemy #1 (so it must be true). It’s the spinning jenny of publishing – I expect pretty soon we’ll all be on the street with signs saying ‘will proofread for food’.
However – the self-publishing revolution may not be all bad news. Consider the following.
A few recent developments in publishing have made me think that publishers are not very good at responding to competition, and additionally there seems to be an attitude of martyrdom whenever a perceived threat to their livelihood emerges on the scene. New technological developments, for example, nearly always get a cynical treatment in publishing news, even if they will make publishing easier or cheaper, or have advantages to the book-buyer. The status quo is not only sacred, but seen to be a kind of birthright.
