The New Gatekeepers
Anyone can publish a book. Fact. Anyone can get that book in front of two million people per month (at Christmas time swelling to over four million). Fact. That's assuming they only publish with Amazon – but you can forgive them, for after all, Amazon is the largest Indie book store in the world, and in the history of mankind.
Where BS publishing is really screwing up is by sticking to the old sad line of, "Well most of them just aren't good enough, and we're the one's to decide." Yeah, yeah. Go sing it from the mountain. You could be scaling up to meet this massive outpouring of talent, content and, therefore, future revenue, but that's too hard right?
We understand – you aren't scaled properly to deal with the demand. The numbers: there are six point seven billion people, give or take a few, alive in the world today. About a billion and a half of them speak and write "good" English. A billion and a half. Last year NY BS put out about three hundred thousand books. Do you get the scale problem now?
Validation thru BS. A huge amount of indie authors want this. It's their dream – they're not indie by choice; they really would rather have you selling their books. But since you're swamped (we know – it's OK you don't have to cover it up by saying dumb shit); they can't wait. "They" is getting bigger. Bigger by four now. Next year, bigger by seven, and the year after that BS will represent less than 10% of published books. Maybe eight per cent by 2015. Ninety per cent of those books will be selling for USD4.99 or less. Can you say American Pie?
The platform has shifted, dramatically, to; "Who has the best ability to aggregate reader presence." So tell us please Mrs Publisher; what are you doing about reader aggregation? Because without it you're done. Not if. When. Do you know what 'Slashdot Effect' means? Ask Scalzi or Doctorow or Gibson or Stross; they'll tell you. You're about to experience "negative Slashdot effect"- that's where the absence of IP hits causes a vacuum (I bet you had to Google Slashdot) with such a whoosh that you get sucked into bankruptcy…
The contracts most publishers have, for the most part, do not cover digital rights. Expect a bunch of lawyers to make a bunch of money on that gig for the next couple of years, but fairness will win out. Like; "If you say they're yours, then where are my sales?"
The cost structures publishers have cannot be supported in a digital world. This should be abundantly clear from several well-publicized historical events. Arguing about being able to charge more for vetted, good quality content is an argument that will collapse in the face of better or comparative quality, and cheaper – every time. Ask any newspaper.
The new Gatekeepers;
Amazon Rankings
Google Rankings
Barnes and Noble Rankings (maybe)
Honest Review Sites (Big industry here – not like sleazy PW)
Large Reader aggregators (ala Goodreads)
Blogs with large followings/Celebrity's Blogs
Readers reviews and tagging
All the above can be considered under the grouping of capability to rapidly effect large digital presence.
Will there still be a market for paper books? Yes. In a major but declining way for about another ten years (maximum). After that the majority of mainstream books will be digitally published, and digitally consumed. And only a very, very small portion of those digitally published will be "enhanced Ebooks" – barking up trees is not a good strategy.
So where do all these publishing people go? Now, now, don't be nasty. Play nice. Some will stay exactly where they are, blissfully unaware of any change whatsoever. Their rarefied, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall / Who in the land is fairest of all?' Grimm, ecosystems will remain intact. Their Kingdoms will have shrunk, but their egos will probably have not.
Others; Agents and Editors wise, savvy, and brave; will become the equivalent of VC Money in Silicon Valley. Deal-makers, advisors, legal experts, foreign market-makers, people in the know, who know other PITK.
Key question every author should ask – "What can you do for me with the new Gatekeepers?" Can you promote digitally? How many reviews, and what level in the rankings can you get me to? Who can really get the word out – globally. How much money can you make me this year? Agents – Think Jerry's Manifesto – the one that got him fired. Oh yeah, and have fun 
