trouble at t'mill
Gordon FerrisI hadn't expected my very first blog on Goodreads to be about troubles in the publishing world. But as an Atlantic Books' author, I was shaken to learn yesterday that the CEO and founder, Toby Mundy, was out of a job while the company itself has been taken over by Allen & Unwin, the Aussie publishers. When we're told that Atlantic's results for 2012 showed losses of £5.1m on turnover of £6m, you have to ask is this the end of publishing houses as we know them? Atlantic's troubles come hot on the heels of Quercus - publisher of Stieg Larsson - being gobbled up by Hodder.
What's going on? Are we all glued to our ipad apps or the telly instead of good books? Or is it all down to Amazon and the rise and rise of self-publishing? It's a mixture. The book business never recovered from the collapse of the net book agreement in '97. The NBA was a cosy cartel of publishers and retailers fixing high prices. Its demise opened the door to competition and lower prices for book lovers. The internet and self-publishing technology is driving the stake into publishers' hearts. But as with vampires, it's not all bad news. The number of books being published is up, reader numbers are up and writers are unchained!
Meantime, at a purely personal level, I wonder what's going to happen to all the good writers at Quercus and now Atlantic? Do I hear the sound of stakes being sharpened?
What's going on? Are we all glued to our ipad apps or the telly instead of good books? Or is it all down to Amazon and the rise and rise of self-publishing? It's a mixture. The book business never recovered from the collapse of the net book agreement in '97. The NBA was a cosy cartel of publishers and retailers fixing high prices. Its demise opened the door to competition and lower prices for book lovers. The internet and self-publishing technology is driving the stake into publishers' hearts. But as with vampires, it's not all bad news. The number of books being published is up, reader numbers are up and writers are unchained!
Meantime, at a purely personal level, I wonder what's going to happen to all the good writers at Quercus and now Atlantic? Do I hear the sound of stakes being sharpened?
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Richard
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Jun 13, 2014 07:19AM
Well said; we lament the passing of independent book stores and publishing houses and then buy on line to save a couple of pounds. Supermarkets are also undercutting books like they once did to milk so this issue will not go away.
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