designaday:

And now we have iBooks. Once again, the store will be open to independent authors. Amazon claims that they sold more digital books than paper ones over the holiday season. I have no doubt that we will see digital books grow in popularity over the coming years, relegating bound books to fine art and collectibles. It will likely take a long time, but it is inevitable. As this happens, publishers will become less relevant. The costs of printing, binding, shipping, and stocking books will melt away leaving the author, her story, and her audience. Digital storefronts such as Apple’s will take their small cuts, and the author will receive her due majority of the profits. The ultimate result is that it will be easier for new writers to get their first work published.

Democratization of content production is a powerful force, and I’m excited by the potential found in Apple’s expanding model.

This is what I’m talking about, and what inspired my indelicate rant previously.

Seriously, folks, if there’s one form of cultural production out there that doesn’t need democratisation, it’s book publishing. I’ve read the freaking Eye of Argon and that shit is Shakespeare compared to the vast majority of unsolicited manuscripts.

Anyway, see Charlie Stross’s blog for a more informed take on the way publishing is going.

The next person who tries to argue that the rise of e-book stores (or iBook stores) means the death of publishers when they clearly have no idea what publishers actually do (hint, it’s not just printing text onto paper) gets a slap with a wet fish. I swear to god.