How Has the Internet Changed Book Culture?
In the meantime, there was a scramble among publishing entrepreneurs to gain market share for their books, not unlike the jostling we see today for control of search, social media, and apps for mobile devices. Printers pioneered consumer-friendly features such as the small-format volumes (octavo size, the equivalent of today’s paperback books), new
... See moreAbby Smith Rumsey • When We Are No More: How Digital Memory Is Shaping Our Future
Before the internet demanded our attention 24/7, television, radio, and lifestyle magazines had a very specific grip on the zeitgeist, combing youth culture to determine the next craze. Now, gauging cool is a far more democratic endeavor, and the escalating speed of digital culture means that fads can come and go before they even peak. Mediated thr... See more
Jason Parham Culture • The Age of Everything Culture Is Here
There are several: books don’t die anymore and disappear from the competition, and in fact, books that were thought to have died have been brought back to life in the digital no-inventory-necessary world. That adds further competition to face each new book as it is published and makes the challenge more difficult for each new commercial effort.
Mike Shatzkin • The Book Business: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Bookstore and other retail shelf space is shrinking at the same time that total title output is rising. The shift to online sales combined with the shrinking retail shelf space hurts the biggest publishers the most because their competitive advantage is largely built on their ability to put books on shelves at scale. Sales moving online could ultim
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