Comments on: Publishing is about profit . . (Oh and books!)

By: Mick Gordon

Mick Gordon — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 05:53:08 +0000

Eoin, You are a publisher and no doubt your company puts out a worthwhile product, no insult intended by my comments. I was feeling a little fired up as I wrote and maybe my way of saying things was a little abraisive but I believe my comments were not wrong. As I said, “it is only my opinion” and it would appear that we both agree, the idea is to make money; why else operate a business? In providing the least back, I am not talking about all publishers, I am well pleased by my publisher, it is why I went with them – I liked their product. By “putting little back”, I am referring to unique content. If I look for a book on rocks for example I will find the same information thrown back and forth and the only real difference is the pictures. Having read the first book, I know the rest will likely be pretty much the same, “General, repetative info.” The reading material for which I am looking is obscure, though I recognize that obscure does not make $ and so obscure is almost impossible to find. Do I blame the people producing this stuff? (general fluff) No! They are just trying to survive. Do I blame most people for their taste in books? No! It’s just what they enjoy. Do I feel frustrated by what I perceive and know to be the trend? Yes! So it is not an attack on you or any other publisher or an attack on people’s reading preferences, it is just an expression of my frustration.

By: litlove

litlove — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 21:12:03 +0000

Fair enough. You make a good case for it.

By: eoinpurcell

eoinpurcell — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 19:26:48 +0000

I guess I treat it the same way I do most issues where the line can be very thin, with caution. In principle I think it is fine but I do think the temptation to stray into copyright infringement would be my key worry. So long as that boundary isn’t broken I am fine with book packagers.
If you think of publishing an industry designed to make profit from talent then book packagers treat authors like girl and boy ban managers treat the “stars”, merely vehicles for banal trash that sells well.
Some of those authors though might actually have talent and emerge as real creative forces themselves. In that I can see value and if some readers were entertained then great.

By: litlove

litlove — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 19:04:11 +0000

What is your stance on book packagers, who ‘train’ young writers by doctoring the content of their novels and arranging excellent publicity for them? Many people think that kind of literature is a bit of a con, with profit motive provoking a rather unscrupulous approach to new talent. Would you agree?

By: Paddy Purcell

Paddy Purcell — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:39:23 +0000

Eoin would I be right in saying that this Mick from rockwatching really got up your postier or am I totally misreading it.
I do have to admit that I’m not sure what is ment by “Fluff” but I get your point about different tastes. Remember it was you Grandfather Purcell who always mantained that
“If beauty is in the eye of the beholder and music is in the ear of the listener then love is in the heart as everyoine’s mind turns at different speeds in different directions and on different levals”

Slan Tamaill

Paddy P