http://conversationalreading.com/those-disaffected-middle-class-chinese Reviews, interviews, news, and lots of opinion on world literature Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:22:43 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://conversationalreading.com/those-disaffected-middle-class-chinese/comment-page-1#comment-1929 Richard Nash Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:45:01 +0000 http://conversationalreading.com/wordpress/2010/01/those-disaffected-middle-class-chinese.html#comment-1929 It'll depend on how we define the term—the word publisher might not survive the decade, but there will be tens of millions of intermediaries connecting readers and writers all over the work. Remember, bookshops have existed for only about one quarter of the lifespan of publishing. Though note I didn't say all the bookstores would go, either, just that the chains would go. Amazon will likely still be with us, along with several hundred bookstores/boutiques/dealers/community centers. (My predictions focused on what's likely to happen with the corporate pubs, it didn't address what I expect to be the massive proliferation of alternatives, with a great many business models.) See also my essay on 2020 at http://publishingperspectives.com It’ll depend on how we define the term—the word publisher might not survive the decade, but there will be tens of millions of intermediaries connecting readers and writers all over the work. Remember, bookshops have existed for only about one quarter of the lifespan of publishing. Though note I didn’t say all the bookstores would go, either, just that the chains would go. Amazon will likely still be with us, along with several hundred bookstores/boutiques/dealers/community centers.
(My predictions focused on what’s likely to happen with the corporate pubs, it didn’t address what I expect to be the massive proliferation of alternatives, with a great many business models.) See also my essay on 2020 at http://publishingperspectives.com

]]> http://conversationalreading.com/those-disaffected-middle-class-chinese/comment-page-1#comment-1928 steve Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:32:33 +0000 http://conversationalreading.com/wordpress/2010/01/those-disaffected-middle-class-chinese.html#comment-1928 fascinating stuff, but my question is this: what will all those disaffected middle class Chinese writers do AFTER they've produced all their novels? If all the bookstores are gone, if all but a handful of the publishers are gone (and that handful are only putting out Stephen King novels), what will the new 'means of distribution' be? fascinating stuff, but my question is this: what will all those disaffected middle class Chinese writers do AFTER they’ve produced all their novels? If all the bookstores are gone, if all but a handful of the publishers are gone (and that handful are only putting out Stephen King novels), what will the new ‘means of distribution’ be?

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