How Much Has the Publishing World Changed

In looking through some old posts, I realized I hadn't talked much about the publishing industry lately. The why is even more astounding. A whole generation has passed since e-books have gone main stream.

Yeah, I know e-books have been around before 2000, but that's when companies started making inroads. I noticed them and started buying and reading them around that point. They were convenient when I traveled on business trips.

Back on November 19th, Kindle celebrated its 17th anniversary. It wasn't the first device to be a dedicated e-book reader, but it was the first to get some public traction.

Kindle Direct Publishing ("KDP") was introduced at the same time, though it was originally called Digital Text Platform ("DTP"). It changed the game. Writers were no longer dependent solely on mainstream book publishers to reach a national, or international, audience.

By 2010, the hue and cry arose from the publishing companies and trad-published writers that Amazon would totally ruin the industry with their tsunami of unfettered swill. Indie publishers responded by undercutting trad publishing's prices.

Weirdly, older folks led the charge into adapting e-book readers. They could modify the font and size of the print to make it easier to see the words, something they just can't do with print books.

Furthermore, readers had greater options. Contrary to trad publishing's claims they didn't cater to reader tastes. They expected readers to love whatever they put out. Suddenly, readers could find any genre their hearts desired at any time, day or night.

And now. . .

Now, you don't hear much of anything from anyone. Or maybe, I just stopped paying any attention. So, I went through my old blog lists. Nope. Pretty much everyone hollering back in the early '10's when I started Angry Sheep Publishing have stopped posting. The social media most common in the early '10's have been trashified, and the few folks I still keep up with are fleeing to the latest thing.

Furthermore, smart phones and multi-purpose tablets have taken over the entertainment sphere. I can read, watch, or listen to anything my heart desires on small, lightweight devices. I no longer search for purses that can fit whatever paperback I'm reading at the time.

In the meantime, wars have started left and right. We went through a world-wide pandemic. The level of hate and meanness have grown exponentially in both the real life and  virtual space. There are simply more things to worry about than whether some middle-aged lady is writing erotica in her own home and publishing it.

So, yes, it's quieter. I can carry a thousand books on my phone to read any time, any where. And I'm loving it!