There have been a spate of articles of late regarding the grim future of publishing, everyone in the biz fretting about the big changes that lie ahead. Check out Mediabistro's Galleycat, an industry site where all aspects of book publishing are addressed, some big name types offering their views, quite a few of them presenting doom and gloom scenarios.

Let's be clear: I don't give a flying fuck if the corporate business model is torn down, media giants cut loose their publishing arms, editors are fired en masse, agents marginalized, etc. It merely displays how dysfunctional and worthless the system has become. Too many bad books, niche books, shit writers offered ridiculous sums in the vain hope that they'll repeat an earlier success or, better yet, write the same fucking thing over and over again.

I don't regard the future with trepidation but with hope. The new technologies will eventually allow writers to eliminate editors and agents, cut out the middle man and connect directly to readers. Yes, yes, there will be a host of amateurs taking advantage of the situation to put out their collections of fudge recipes and poems about the loss of a beloved pet but how does that differ from walking through a bookstore today (as I have) and finding only a few titles out of the thousands on the shelves that are worth reading? Nine out of ten books (and here I'm being generous) produced under the present regime interest me not at all. I suspect the same proportion will prevail with print on demand offerings and blog novels. Are the latter really that much worse in terms of quality of prose than someone like Dan Brown or Stephanie Meyer?

I spent over 20 years trying to smash through the unbreakable plexiglass ceiling editors and agents imposed on me. "If you want to get published this is how to do it, these are the types of books that will do well". This from people who are now whining that books don't sell, crying poor and complaining long and loud about the down-sizing and cost-cutting being imposed on them. 

Boo-fucking-hoo.

My colleague Alexandra Kitty, who runs the alt.news site Chaser Media, insists that people are reading more than ever, it's just that much of what they're taking in is published on-line, rather than "dead tree editons" (Peter Watts uses that term and I love it). Their habits and practices have changed but they're still devouring the printed word and seeking new ways of engaging with text and information. 

Newspapers didn't see the changes new tech represented (and went kablooie). Record companies never saw what hit them. And publishers are similarly unprepared, scrambling to figure out how they can retain their monopolies, their bottom line.They're as stupid and ineffectual as King Canute, ordering back the tide. Nothing they do will have the slightest effect on people's reading habits. They are as obsolete as ringer washers and the Model T.

You'll forgive my smug satisfaction. I've been dealing with these arrogant swine for over two decades and it's a pleasure to watch them squirm...