Published 24 April 2009 · Main Posts a warning from the newspaper biz Jeff Sparrow Former newspaper media director Brendan Sherar goes Ancient Mariner in this interesting post, warning that publishers need to come to terms with technology now or else suffer the same awful fate currently besetting the traditional newspapers: [L]ately, I’ve been getting nervous when I hear people dismissively say, “Oh, people will always want the printed book. They’ll never want to read books on computers.” I’m not going to debate herein the truth/untruth of such a statement, but the sentiment really bothers me. […] Seriously, folks, the future of books is being decided now, much like it was being decided for newspapers 5-7 years ago. I’m not at all bashing e-books. I think they’re great in many ways (like being stuck on Atlanta tarmac and downloading John Buchan’s The 39 Steps to your iPhone). But, there are some extremely important questions involving books and technology these days which – left unheeded – are defaulting in a direction which may not be the world of books we want to live in. And, most of these are things that you as a citizen/taxpayer/person-who-cares can take action on now. Let us learn from history, and not be like the newspaper industry and simply Do Nothing. Some important issues / questions for starters (feel free to add your own): Who will control access to digital books – will libraries merely trade their expensive-to-maintain collections for a subscription to Google books? Are libraries hastening their own obsolescence by allowing Google access to their collections? Will Amazon’s closed-platform standard for e-books prevail (the Kindle)? Will an author’s share of revenue on e-books be a traditional fixed percentage, or a variable, we’re-not-going-to-tell-you-what-we-received-from-your-work-but-here’s-a-quarter-go-buy-yourself-something-nice percentage of advertising revenue that Google might deign to dole out (as it does with ad revenue to site/blog owners)? Will e-books have ads in them? If you’re reading a romance book, are you going to see an ad for C14L1S in it? Will any company be able to realistically compete in e-book sales that isn’t a megacorp? For that matter, will any megacorp even be able to realistically compete with Google? Will authors simply bypass all traditional distributors, publishers, and retailers, producing and promoting their books directly? In a world of digital books and DMCA, what becomes of your ability to pass a book on to a friend, or re-sell it? Will Google be given permanent, court-ordered indemnification against breaking copyright law? Will kids be allowed withing 500 yards of a book published before 1986? Jeff Sparrow Jeff Sparrow is a Walkley Award-winning writer, broadcaster and former editor of Overland. More by Jeff Sparrow › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 8 September 202326 September 2023 · Main Posts Announcing the 2023 Judith Wright Poetry Prize ($9000) Editorial Team Established in 2007 and supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation, the Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize for New and Emerging Poets seeks poetry by writers who have published no more than one collection of poems under their own name (that is writers who’ve had zero collections published, or one solo collection published). It remains one of the richest prizes for emerging poets, and is open to poets anywhere in the world. In 2023, the major prize is $6000, with a second prize of $2000 and a third prize of $1000. All three winners will be published in Overland. First published in Overland Issue 228 8 September 202315 September 2023 · Main Posts Announcing the 2023 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize ($6500) Editorial Team Supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation, and named after the late Neilma Gantner, this prize seeks excellent short fiction of up to 3000 words themed around the notion of ‘travel’; imaginative, creative and literary interpretations are strongly encouraged. This competition is open to all writers, nationally and internationally, at any stage of their writing career.
