Jokes aside, there’s something we need to talk about that I reckon will have a bigger effect on our trade than the constant discussions concerning ipads and ebooks. There were three articles in the Guardian (and Observer) this weekend that seemed to indicate a need for change in what we understand (or are told) to be the ‘literary establishment.’
Pages of Hackney, via looceefir - an v interesting question posed here about whether ‘if we lose the very idea of big name, big reputation authors will people stop reading ambitious and literary work?’ (via jeanhannah)
Despite being a techno-minded writer, I’ve struggled to accept the idea that e-books and the like will eventually take over. But now I think we can all be pretty sure that they will. And that’s fine, so long as we still have some mechanism in place that separates the wheat from the chaff.
Fine, revolutionise the publishing industry. But let’s not pretend that the ability for anyone to write, upload and publish their work is entirely positive. Publishers, editors and agents are more than a distribution network. They are our shit-filter. And it’s important that we have one.
