Knock, Knock – the Publishing Barbarians are here!

Posted on 17. Jul, 2009 by Chris Matney in Book Publishing, Front Page Posts

BookExpo America 2009 had an interesting series of videos posted on blip.tv covering all sorts of publishing topics. The video that really struck me was one by Richard Nash talking about the future of the publishing industry. He talks about a transition of power from the old guard of publishing giants to the emerging small press hordes – “the gatekeepers get pissed when the barbarians show up”.

The main gist of the video is that traditional publishing has isolated readers from authors, allowing readers feedback only by buying or not buying a book. Mr. Nash’s point is that the entire ecosystem of the industry – writers, readers, librarians, and booksellers – has a mutual interest and a relationship with each other. Instead of publishers acting as “bouncers at the door, controlling who gets into the club”, emerging publishers need embrace book clubs and other means of generating a network of like-minded readers. His advice: be open to readers and acknowledge they can write back.

I also liked Mr. Nash’s quote that the book business is a tiny industry perched atop a massive hobby. Publishers need to delve down into the hobby and not just sell books from the few authors at the top of the pyramid. His word was “nichify”. I like that. With over three million geeks (and by some estimates many, many more), there are plenty of readers for Trapdoor titles without attempting to publish fiction that appeals to all readers all the time.

Hmm – sounds like a geek fiction community to me.

The talk has spun off a couple of editorial commentaries, also worth reading. One of those is Why Publishing Cannot Be Saved (As It Is) posted on the Publishing Perspectives website.

Mr. Nash has put his money where his mouth is and started a business to promote this idea of nichified books. I guess that I have too.