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I'm more familiar with publishing books than I am with publishing music. Getting a publisher for a book has traditionally been very difficult. Self-publishing i

I'm more familiar with publishing books than I am with publishing music. Getting a publisher for a book has traditionally been very difficult. Self-publishing is now a viable option (you have access to a retail channel that reaches a huge percentage of book-buyers). It may not be the best option for everyone, but I do think it makes contributing to literary culture possible for more people than ever before. I also think that people having the ability to buy books (or music) from anywhere, and to choose from an effectively unlimited selection is something that ultimately benefits literary culture.

sedachv 12y ago
Oh, ok. Sorry, I wasn't aware that you were talking about books from your original post.
williamcotton 12y ago
to choose from an effectively unlimited selection is something that ultimately benefits literary culture Prove it.
- williamcotton 12y ago
  Well, there you have it. A quantum of "downvote" passes for an intellectual response. All I'm trying to point out is that a rather broad statement about literary culture was made with no attempt at justification. Perhaps one of the problems with HackerNews is the reliance on quantified measurements to score a discussion? It's almost like the article in question was bringing up issues related to this kind of philosophy...
- GabrielF00 12y ago
  One of the biggest complaints that I hear from literary figures is that people are not reading. E.g. Philip Roth saying that the number of serious readers in America is going to drop to almost zero. So I would imagine that readers being able to find whatever book they want wherever they are located and buy it instantly would remove some of the barriers to reading. I would also imagine that having cheaper books would encourage people to buy more. And I think that all of the other new ways of getting books to people (Audible for example) are also vehicles to get people reading. I also think that ebooks open up a lot of possibilities for experimentation. For instance, in the past it may not have made a lot of financial sense to write a 60 page novella - you couldn't really put it on a shelf in a bookstore by itself, it would have to be packaged with other work. But with an ebook there's no reason you can't write a 60 page novella and charge $3 for it. I think a good analogy is print journalism and commentary vs web journalism and commentary. There's a lot more crap on the web, and a lot of the traditional institutions are hurting, but there are also so many more opportunities for new voices and for innovation.
  - williamcotton 12y ago
    There's a lot of unquantifiable knowledge and experience contained within these traditional institutions that are being ignorantly cast aside. You can't just think about the consumption side of things. You have to think about the production side.

sedachv 12y ago

Oh, ok. Sorry, I wasn't aware that you were talking about books from your original post.

williamcotton 12y ago

to choose from an effectively unlimited selection is something that ultimately benefits literary culture Prove it.

williamcotton 12y ago
Well, there you have it. A quantum of "downvote" passes for an intellectual response. All I'm trying to point out is that a rather broad statement about literary culture was made with no attempt at justification. Perhaps one of the problems with HackerNews is the reliance on quantified measurements to score a discussion? It's almost like the article in question was bringing up issues related to this kind of philosophy...
GabrielF00 12y ago
One of the biggest complaints that I hear from literary figures is that people are not reading. E.g. Philip Roth saying that the number of serious readers in America is going to drop to almost zero. So I would imagine that readers being able to find whatever book they want wherever they are located and buy it instantly would remove some of the barriers to reading. I would also imagine that having cheaper books would encourage people to buy more. And I think that all of the other new ways of getting books to people (Audible for example) are also vehicles to get people reading. I also think that ebooks open up a lot of possibilities for experimentation. For instance, in the past it may not have made a lot of financial sense to write a 60 page novella - you couldn't really put it on a shelf in a bookstore by itself, it would have to be packaged with other work. But with an ebook there's no reason you can't write a 60 page novella and charge $3 for it. I think a good analogy is print journalism and commentary vs web journalism and commentary. There's a lot more crap on the web, and a lot of the traditional institutions are hurting, but there are also so many more opportunities for new voices and for innovation.
- williamcotton 12y ago
  There's a lot of unquantifiable knowledge and experience contained within these traditional institutions that are being ignorantly cast aside. You can't just think about the consumption side of things. You have to think about the production side.