Eoin Purcell
Andrew Crawford of my favourite online retailer
Has a blog today over on The Bookseller. What I like about it is the way he happily turns book publishers worries on tehir heads and back again. For instance:
What should worry retailers is that publishers are the market makers: they filter, spot trends, create demand and even support retailers to promote their products. Large publishers are in a position to become better booksellers than some retailers, and this will be increasingly apparent with the take-up of electronic content.
Parried rather excellently by this bit:
Amazon has the power to connect an author to a large number of readers directly. Publishers truly add value, but it is not unfeasible for Amazon to acquire publishing talent to really beef up BookSurge’s proposition. Remember that Barnes & Noble bought Sterling Publishing and SparkNotes, and now has a thriving classics line.
So I’m left wondering if I should be terrified or hopeful! Worth reading.
Not impressed by the return of Gladiators
Eoin
Eoin Purcell's Blog 
I think the key thing about Andrew’s post is that there is (always) everything to play for. Nothing is settled and the Internet is always there to shake things up again when it looks like things might be calming down.
Will e-books finally come to kill off the codex book? Will publishers become booksellers and leave booksellers out in the cold? Will Amazon take over the world!? Who knows!
What we do know is that the businesses that will thrive are the ones that keep on their toes! And just at the moment when the market seems rigged right against you is the time to see what (potential very big) opportunities exist in the margins …
Hello Mark,
I think that’s fair. I think Andrew’s blog was very useful because it forces a rethink of entrenched position.
Eoin