Is "the Precious" Middle Earth's stereotypical ADHD equivalent of "squirrel"?
- There might be someone concerned with publishing who hasn't heard about the proposed purchase of Penguin (the trade-publishing arm of conglomerate Pearson) by Bertelsmann (the conglomerate parent of Random House) by now, but if so, I haven't met them. One must initially ponder why publishers get big through anything other than success with their lists; a snarkier, and probably more accurate, response is that intellectual property and marketing are the new real estate boom from the 1960s... but without the sophisticated, preexisting legal and business structures for doing something with the land other than just farming it or building a house on it. Bloomberg Business almost gets the corresponding question right by asking whether the merger will raise e-book prices (answer: not predictably, particularly since this will bring Random House more firmly into the Wormyfruit antitrust lawsuit), presuming that the merger passes antitrust scrutiny (which is far more possible than it should be). The better question is the monopsony effect on authors, but nobody pays attention to that. Meanwhile, so-called "independent publishers" are either searching for silver linings or proclaiming that they own the future, all the while ignoring nationalistic and market-segment-oriented barriers that only the behemoths seem able to buy (or "license") enough politicians to confront. Meanwhile, changing marketing paradigms and measures of success are making much of the argument over the future of publishing seem rather silly... especially when one looks at the nature of what has been proclaimed as an e-book bestseller and compares it to any coherent description of a/the/some market for "books."
- As a member of the reality-based community, I'm going to have a great big slice of schadenfreude pie to celebrate yesterday's electoral results. Being old (according to the AARP), male (yup, just checked), angry (certified by Dr Banner), and non-Hispanic pale (but not, ethnically, Caucasian), it gives me great glee... especially since so many down-ticket races went in favor of the forces of good, from Massachusetts through Hoosierdom and proclaimed, but not actual, skepticism to LaLaLand. The Minnesota 6th was a disappointment... but then, they elected her in the first place...
- That election result in LA that I referred to above has some rather immediate implications for musicians, too... even aside from musing about whether arts education matters anywhere, particularly in the UK as to the US "music industry" and its discontents. There's a very, very close connection between these two items, both concerning "exposure and appreciation" — that is, market development and definition.
- Those of you who have been reading this blawg for very long will probably recall my constant reference to non-US law in understanding consequences for US-based authors (et al.). Here's an example concerning intellectual property wound up in illegality that should give y'all food for thought. Now, if only the UK courts had been so solicitous over the years in dealing with libel complaints against books that originate over here...
- In the end, though, we're all food for worms... and one kind of worm in particular.