The future of print books.

As I walked around Barnes and Noble today I asked myself if I’d be doing this again a year from now. All those lovely paperback, hardback, and coffee table books tucked into every square inch of the store put a smile on my face and a twinkle in my heart. (Not sure what the heck a twinkle in my heart is… but it sounds good) Still, with the closing of Boarders, and the utter devastation of all the Mom and Pop bookstores of years gone by, I wonder where the future of bookstores is headed.

I know first hand the digital market is where we are right now today…and where we will be in the future. Hell, my 12 year old son said and I quote “Books are soooo 3000 years ago, Mom.” Smart A$$...still he has a point and a very perspective view on what’s going on, even when the big publishing world doesn’t. B&N tapped into the Nook long after the Kindle took off. One has to wonder if Borders would have had a different outcome had they not placed their heads in the sand years ago when digital was in its infancy.

If a 12 year old isn’t inclined to pick up a paperback to get his information, chances are he isn’t alone. When he goes to college… “Please, Lord let him go to college.” His textbooks will be on a Kindle or a Nook and his newspaper will be delivered automatically to the same digital format or directly to his inbox. Either way, the paper trail is ending my friends. I think we’ll always see ‘some’ books in print. A coffee table book about our National Forests simply wouldn’t be the same if not in print… thought even I have seen those futuristic coffee tables at Disneyland where they have pictures and a touch screen below your coastered drinks. Those blockbuster authors will have books in print… but have you noticed how many of said authors are self-publishing (taboo until the last couple of years) their books via the digital format? Who knows, maybe even they won’t have print books 10 years from now.

As an author, I hate to see print go. I love holding my own books… probably because this is what I grew up with. I’d imagine a musician my age misses vinyl. Kinda hard to picture a platinum hard drive framed and hanging on a wall. LOL - *sigh*

The big six publishers are cutting back, (can’t blame them when they aren’t making the money) and not signing back their mid-list authors… said authors are self-publishing the work their publishers won’t buy and making a good living for the first time ever. And you, the reader, are able to eat up books for under a buck on your e-readers.

Where are we going to be a year from now?


*sigh*

Agents for today's authors

With all the changes in publishing, small press, e-press, self publishing and everything Amazon... where are agents going to be in the entire process ten years from now? At this point, I do see where a good agent is going to help an authors carrier, help open doors, help get proposals read by people who can publish them. But the days of only having your work published because you landed an agent first are behind us. I know that certain houses only want agented queries. They don't want a slush pile the size of Mt. Saint Helen's before she blew her top, but will it stay that way?

Seems to me a lot of really good authors are branching out on their own. Self publishing for an author has always been considered a vanity publication. A book not wanted by a reputable publishing house put out by an author. Now authors are looking at the digital market as a way to ensure a steady income for years to come. An agent isn't going to help this process. A good editor now... that is a different monster.

Here is what I predict... not that you really care, but I hope my words make you think a little outside the box. Agents might need to diversify their portfolio in the very near future. They might have to figure out a way to be useful to an author determined to self publish good work. The standard for an agent is that no money exchanges hands from the author to said agent until a manuscript is sold. Anything less and the agent is one you need to stay away from. But a good agent is also a good editor. Many times, they are the first editor. So isn't is plausible for an agent's job for a self published author to be that of an editor and perhaps a coordinator or cover art and formatting? I see a new title for an author assistant. Where the job description is editing, cover art, formatting and uploading to Amazon and websites selling digital books.

Years ago when digital books starting hitting the market many big publishers didn't think it would have the impact on the market that it does today. Now, many of them are starting their own digital imprints, asking for unagented queries... To me, this means that an agent might be left out.

Tell me, dear reader, where do you think agents will be in ten years? How do you think their role will change?