Rest, Rats, and Publishing

Winter break is a fantastic phenomenon that I had almost forgotten. I cherish these days off because I recognize just how rare they are. It seems that only students and Europeans know what it means to take a month off at a time.

It's a time to rest, but it's also a time to take on projects outside the walls of the school. So, I've put on my publicity hat and begun to help my dad with his first book. The (dying) publishing industry has long been an interest of mine, although I've never formally worked in it. The old guard is unquestionably on its way out, and while on-demand publishing leaves much to be desired, we are on the brink of a meaningful change in the way books are publicized and distributed.

Consumers now have a voice (beyond simple purchasing power) and it's not much of a stretch to ask why a high-profile reviewer at the New York Times or WSJ is necessarily more capable of writing a sound critique than some of the most prolific reviewers on Amazon.com.

But reviewers and publishers alike need to protect their interests and with some degree of success they have created barriers by simply closing their networks. Reviewers won't even look at a book unless it's from a major publishing company. In turn, publishing companies won't look a book unless it's from a specific sub-set of agents. And, increasingly, the only relevant question that an agent or publisher asks is "what's your platform?" not "how good is your book?" There's nothing overtly unethical about this paradigm, but just consider all the good literature that you, our culture and our world are missing out on because of it.

Aptly, my dad's book, which I will blog more about later, is about business ethics. Specifically, the book addresses the rat-like behavior that greed creates and corporate structures endorse. It's no doubt timely, with Madoff representing merely the latest, high-profile example of business gone awry.

Our challenge will be to break down those traditional barriers that publishers have created, or of course, given the opportunity, to sign on with one of them. After all, it's just business.