Comments on: The Maw of the Conglomerate http://wordshepherd.com/2008/08/the-maw-of-the-conglomerate/ Editor and writer, stalwart and fink. Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:37:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: trishsmith426 http://wordshepherd.com/2008/08/the-maw-of-the-conglomerate/comment-page-1/#comment-2 trishsmith426 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:46:33 +0000 http://wordshepherd.com/?p=17#comment-2 From the perspective of a reader (one who does not select her reading materials from the NY Times Best Seller List or from the Oprah Book Club List [shudder]), I wholeheartedly agree with you. The result of all this madness is that, in my experience anyway, it becomes harder and harder to find good books. When marketing and publishing decisions are made without the guidance of editors who care about the quality of the books they are publishing, and the decision of what to publish is based upon profit margin, then the only logical conclusion is that the quality of books being published today is significantly lower. A brief perusal through the local chain bookstore will affirm that conclusion. One question that begs to be asked is, who suffers from the current state of affairs? The answer: everyone. The reader, for whom it is harder and harder (though far from impossible) to find quality material to read; the writers, both new and established, who find themselves forced to produce "best-sellers" instead of quality (although the two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, when quality is not striven for, it tends to disappear); and the industry itself, which is driving itself to its own well-deserved end. Thank goodness some books worth reading actually do slip past the great maw of the conglomerate, or else us readers might be truly screwed. From the perspective of a reader (one who does not select her reading materials from the NY Times Best Seller List or from the Oprah Book Club List [shudder]), I wholeheartedly agree with you. The result of all this madness is that, in my experience anyway, it becomes harder and harder to find good books. When marketing and publishing decisions are made without the guidance of editors who care about the quality of the books they are publishing, and the decision of what to publish is based upon profit margin, then the only logical conclusion is that the quality of books being published today is significantly lower. A brief perusal through the local chain bookstore will affirm that conclusion.

One question that begs to be asked is, who suffers from the current state of affairs? The answer: everyone. The reader, for whom it is harder and harder (though far from impossible) to find quality material to read; the writers, both new and established, who find themselves forced to produce “best-sellers” instead of quality (although the two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, when quality is not striven for, it tends to disappear); and the industry itself, which is driving itself to its own well-deserved end. Thank goodness some books worth reading actually do slip past the great maw of the conglomerate, or else us readers might be truly screwed.

]]>