I think about this a lot -- I understand why trad publishers and Barnes & Noble are focusing on chasing and promoting bestsellers these days (that all-consuming fight against Amazon!) but it feels like, in a less insanely capitalist society the real value of being a publisher would be the ability to shape the culture. Conservative book banners sure understand this -- witness the lists of *hundreds* of books they want banned! From the point of view of writers, editors and the people who create the books, I feel like the ideal is that publishing should exist to amplify stories and support writers, especially those who've been shut out of the system for so long. It would be nice if that was the ideal across the board!
Wow, that's so perfectly expressed, Liana. And my thinking is that publishers don't need to compromise too much on the capitalism part (because they need to keep existing), they just need to adjust priorities and principles. It would involve not just looking at how they can support writers in shaping culture, but how they can create a structure within this ecosystem that fairly rewards all who participate.
I know right? It sounds so great when you put it that way. I can't really imagine it happening with the current system, though. I enjoy batting around ideas about how publishing might be disrupted -- it'll be interesting to see how the next ten, twenty years plays out.
I think about this a lot -- I understand why trad publishers and Barnes & Noble are focusing on chasing and promoting bestsellers these days (that all-consuming fight against Amazon!) but it feels like, in a less insanely capitalist society the real value of being a publisher would be the ability to shape the culture. Conservative book banners sure understand this -- witness the lists of *hundreds* of books they want banned! From the point of view of writers, editors and the people who create the books, I feel like the ideal is that publishing should exist to amplify stories and support writers, especially those who've been shut out of the system for so long. It would be nice if that was the ideal across the board!
Wow, that's so perfectly expressed, Liana. And my thinking is that publishers don't need to compromise too much on the capitalism part (because they need to keep existing), they just need to adjust priorities and principles. It would involve not just looking at how they can support writers in shaping culture, but how they can create a structure within this ecosystem that fairly rewards all who participate.
I know right? It sounds so great when you put it that way. I can't really imagine it happening with the current system, though. I enjoy batting around ideas about how publishing might be disrupted -- it'll be interesting to see how the next ten, twenty years plays out.