What does all the publishing fuss mean to you, the reader?

Bookstores going out of business. Authors publishing books on their own, without benefit of a publisher. Fewer and fewer new authors being published by the Big Publishing Houses. What does it all mean?

I don't have a crystal ball, so I'm not sure. But in addition to being a published author, I'm also a reader, and I can make some guesses.

First: I'm betting small, independent bookstores might make a comeback in the next few years. They won't have massive inventory and they won't stock a bazillion copies of each best seller. I think the Big Box Bookstore is on its way out, or it may be reconfigured in such a way that books are only part of what is sold.

Second: more and more books will be bought online. This is sort of a no-brainer with the proliferation of e-reading devices. I'm tickled pink about this since I've used an e-reader since the mid-90s (yep, one of the old Rocket Readers) and I've discovered a LOT of favorite authors that way, broadening my reading horizons more than I could ever have done in a bookstore.

Third: it will become harder and harder to find quality books online and in print. That second bit ('in print') may surprise you, but think about it. Print publishers can't afford to take a chance on new authors, surprising authors. They have to stick with big-name authors, and let's face it, sometimes big name authors write lousy books. Or the publisher thinks readers are itching for a certain kind of book (think werewolves and vampires) so they buy a bunch of books with those themes and the quality may be...iffy. Online: well, if anybody can publish a book, then, well, anybody can publish a book.

So what does it mean to you as a reader? Did you ever really care who the publisher was of a book? Did you ever look at the spine of a book and say, "Oh, Random House. Must be a good book." I never did. I looked at the author's name, the cover, the blurb, then I bought it if it sounded good. Now, of course, I download a sample chapter on the Kindle (the equivalent of leafing through the book before buying it in a bookstore). So in that respect, nothing much will change.

Some of your favorite authors may go away as publishers close print lines (Harlequin, for example, closing out or merging some lines). I view that as a natural progression, though. Some writers retire, others come along to take their place. If those authors have books in electronic format, they aren't really gone -- the books will still be available.

I think that's the biggest difference you're going to see. If you read via an electronic device, you'll start to see vast offerings of books, back-list and otherwise, from authors whom you thought were gone. You'll have a chance to revisit old friends and old titles. And, hopefully, to discover new ones. And let's face it--you'll have a few authors who will be auto-buy and you'll buy them no matter what they write and no matter who publishes them (the author or a publishing house).

It's all a brave new world, I guess. Let's try to make the best of it since publishing life as we know it will never be here again. Onward!


Promotion alert: I have two new books out this year (Lie To Me, a sexy romantic suspense and Leap of Faith, a sexy paranormal. Check my web site for details. We now return you to this post).