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Downtown Writers Network is a resource for independent writers in central
Ohio. |
A Writer's Guide to E-PublishingPart 2 -- The OutlookPublishing Economics
E-publishing is about the means of production and distribution of a product, both of which are the domain of publishers rather than of writers. Hence, publishers have the most to win or to lose in this electronic revolution.
E-publishing will probably lower some of those expenses, especially for raw materials and warehousing. If print-on-demand technology works, books need only be printed when they are wanted. No wasted paper, no wasted space. E-books already eliminate the need for paper and shipping expenses: the book is simply downloaded over a phone line. But other business expenses will remain unchanged. However the books are being produced, the process will still require equipment that has to be operated, repaired and constantly upgraded. Editors, sales staff, marketers, layout and design artists, managers and the rest of the staff will still need to be paid. In most publishing houses, the future will look a great deal like the present. For a printer friendly version of this article, click here. Contents of this
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It's tempting to predict the
electronic revolution in publishing media will create a better world for
writers, a future of greater opportunities and higher wages for the work that
we do. But that would be unrealistic. The hype about e-publishing says that
this is the greatest media revolution since Gutenberg, destined to liberate
writers from market constraints by offering a host of publishing options that
they can control without interference. That would be nice to believe. But the
issues at stake are economic ones, and economic realities about the publishing
industry should ground some of these fantasies.
One
economic reality always to consider: publishing is an expensive business. Book,
newspaper and magazine production requires staggering amounts of raw materials;
plants full of presses and elaborate machinery operated and maintained by
staffs of technicians and workers; warehouses and transportation facilities;
staffs of editors and distributors and salespeople and marketers and
accountants and artists and researchers; office buildings, parking lots and
human resource expenses.