The Bookseller.com

22nd November 2008

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Publishing 'dying of conservatism'

23.05.07

John Crace, writing in the Guardian, says that the internet has shifted "the balance of power" in the music industry, but by contrast publishing is "dying of conservatism". "You might have imagined that much the same thing was going on in the publishing industry. . . Take a look at the bestseller lists and you can see it's the same old, same old that dominate."

"The picture is actually even bleaker than it looks. It's not just that publishers have been a bit slow on the new technology uptake and are playing catch-up with the music business; off the record - as it were - most publishers will now admit it's harder than ever to break new writers and are increasingly unwilling to give them a chance."

Publishers and booksellers operate a cartel, says Crace, with little incentive to break new writers. "A medium that was once the springboard for radicalism is in danger of dying of conservatism."

Guardian

Publisher digital