Turn of Phrase - The Irrelevance of Bookstores

"Treating authors like shit, when authors are essential to the process, is bad business.

Treating readers like shit, when readers are essential to the process, is bad business.

Bookstores and publishers and distributors are NOT essential to the process. You should have evolved."

- From author Joe Konrath, in a recent blog post about the book industry ("Amazon Will Destroy You"). In his "open letter," Konrath declares that bookstores, publishers, and distributors have no one to blame but themselves for their own irrelevance in the future of bookselling.

As a longtime bookseller and wannabe published novelist, I am intrigued by differing opinions on the evolution of the book industry. Konrath, whose work has been published in both traditional and electronic formats, is a huge advocate for digital publishing, largely because of the more equitable treatment (and payment) authors receive from Amazon. He also argues that Amazon owns the future of bookselling for two simple reasons: they listen and they innovate.

In the full blog post (linked here), Konrath pulls no punches, as he rightfully reminds the traditional book industry that no one likes a whiny loser, and that victors have always gotten the spoils.