I recently had the privilege of attending Book Expo America, the world’s largest book convention. In attendance were thousands of booksellers, publishers, authors, distributors, and suppliers. There were panels with CEO’s discussing the future of the industry. There were technical sessions, keynotes, and workshops. And there was an incredible reality-distortion field that seemed to have descended everywhere.

• The large publishers were trying to justify high ebook prices as a reflection of “value”. (The truth: large publishers have a cost structure that requires the support of high prices.)
• Independent booksellers were trying to position themselves in a “curatorial role”, selecting and discovering books for their “collection.” (The truth: all but a handful of booksellers will end up just like horseshoe cobblers and record stores – gone.)
• Most people were straining to find a way to maintain the “literary culture.” (The truth: for better or worse, our culture is now post-literary – books are sold from skids in Costco, digitally at Amazon, and people consume their information via YouTube, TikTok, and blogs – not newspapers and books.)

It was fascinating to observe people repeating the same things to each other, wishfully hoping that through repetition, that the industry could be as they wanted it to be.

These are the dynamics and challenges in the publishing industry, but each industry and organization has its own conventional wisdom and sacred cows. What are yours?

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