This morning, I opened the Washington Post — I both subscribe and read the newspaper on paper — and read an article about the demise of publishing on paper. At BookExpo America, held in Manhattan, a speaker predicted that books on paper will be a thing of the past.
“If you read a book on paper, you’re going to be definitely stamped as retro,” Mike Shatzkin of Idea Logical Co. said.
One exception will be print-on-demand.
As for manufacturing new ones [books], well, the traditional press run may be facing extinction, but with print-on-demand technology, “pretty much as long as anybody wants a book they’ll be able to have a book.” Mike Shatzkin at BookExpo America, quoted from The Washington Post
Do you recall the days when people turned their noses up at online magazines? Do you remember when people turned their noses up at print-on-demand (POD)? Now POD is the way of the future. Goodbye, press runs! Authors no longer have to worry about selling out of copies. The whole concept of “first edition” goes out the window.
While I can’t imagine curling up with a child and a Kindle to read Good Night Moon for the 53rd time in two days, I can envision people reading books on electronic devices about 90%, or more, of the time.
What about you? Are you reading more online than on paper these days?
Thanks to Chilihead via the Creative Commons license at flickr for the photo.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I was at BEA over the weekend and it was an eye-opening experience. There are some in the industry who are adamant that books will be online or POD, and those that completely disagree. Yet, there are still others that are on the fence.
I personally don’t like reading online or through an e-reader because I’m on the computer all day and prefer to read for pleasure in paper form. I’m not sure if I’m in the minority or not, but that’s ok with me. I can always turn to the classics on my shelves if paper-based books are gone.
Thanks to POD, it sounds like we’ll always be able to get books on paper.
Let’s hope so!
Both, please. I always want to have both. Yes, I read The New York Times and my local newspaper online. I read blogs and conduct research (wonderful) online. And I wouldn’t be averse to using Kindle or its competitive counterparts in the future when I am traveling. But I am still buying and checking out bound books like crazy. Several times a day, I reach for old favorites from the shelf to remind me of an author’s thought, a turn of phrase, or a time in my own life — or occasionally just to look at a well-done cover and feel the weight and heft of those words in my own hand.
I forgot to say that I, like Deborah, read my local paper online plus subscribe to the print edition. I live too deep in the southern piney woods for daily delivery of the NYT, however, and am grateful for online access.