Ask anyone with a business degree and they’ll tell you that the business publishing model is broken. For example, isn’t it crazy that unsold goods get to be returned for credit? What other business model allows for the manufacturer to shoulder all the risk?
It’s either time to change or watch the traditional publishing industry struggle to make it from this generation into the next. Bob Miller, the CEO of HarperStudios, is engaging industry leaders in a discussion about where publishing is and where it is going. The first response he has posted is George Jones of the struggling Borders.
While I am interested in hearing what everyone has to say on this topic, I do wonder at Bob Miller’s imprint and how revolutionary it really is. After all, over fifty percent of his releases in 2009 are from celebrity authors who already have a built in base. There is only one fiction book.
Via Galley Cat.
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George Jones wrote:
Mr. Jones is implying this e-service is beneficial for all but simply, it shifts personalized ordering with a clerk onto the customer and allows for reduced stock, pending popularity of a title. And while “marshmallow resisters” may be willing to wait for an order, many others would rather buy a book already shelved.