Update: Books Will Continue to Exist

Thank God for The Atlantic Monthly.

Based on the record, I have one certainty: books will endure even as those of us responsible for them are in a perennial, sometimes frenetic contest to keep pace with change.

That’s awesome. Thanks to Peter Osnos for his dispatch on the future of publishing.

Alas, it’s hard to take very seriously the words of a publishing professional who can write this:

So here we are, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, and publishing faces what everyone in the industry agrees are its greatest challenges yet. The overwhelming power of Amazon, both in print and e-book sales, makes the days of Walden and Dalton feel quaint by comparison. Amazon is also making a determined foray as a publisher and producer of audio books.

I’m sorry, dude, but Amazon isn’t a “challenge” to your industry. Amazon IS your industry. It’s things like this that really make me question whether commercial New York publishing is going to be able to change with the times enough to survive.

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