How the Publishing Industry Is Changing Forever 

People who have been in the top positions for 10 or even 20+ years will naturally be on a higher salary and have insane benefits because of the amount of experience they have with the company. Of course those positions will be filled, as they're needed positions. The alternative is people in a lower position pick up the work for no benefit which just promotes low morale. It cuts costs because there will be a shift in positions lower down/they'll hire less people going forward. The people now going into those higher positions will cost the company a lot less as they have less experience etc. but as the company hopefully grows, so will their experience, benefits, and salary too.

Unfortunately still going strong in politics 😕

Are you sure talent and merit haven't been sabotaged already? What if these things lose their importance in the shuffle for a new power dynamic? Sorry if I seem a little cynical here, but, I have always hoped to be traditionally published because I knew that talent and merit were important markers for accomplishment. I just hope it doesn't change too much.

@@adamhenrysears3288 I try to use history as a reference. In a simple power vacuum, historically yes, another tyrant would rise. But if that power vacuum is accompanied by crisis, change is inevitable. We've cycled through innovative original Art eras (post WWII - Vietnam War,) then gotten comfortable and did nothing but badly remake the wheel for a while (current movies, songs, etc.) But I see innovation around the corner. We'll eventually cycle back to that era of Great Art being called for and recognized. ((When that happens, I'm out of a job, because I write formulaic commercial fiction hahaha))

So, what will this new clique bring? Is it going to be more of what we see on the news?

I think it's hard to say what talent and merit is in a subjective industry.@@adamhenrysears3288

Interestingly Big Six/Five had the digital model for as long as the Kindle/Amazon digital has been out (nearly 15 years), and nearly all of these digital-first publishing areas have struggled except for certain Romance and Indies. The Hybrid Model is pretty garbage, not only do YOU the author have to pay a publisher, you lose the quick response of a true self-publishing strategy.

I'm not sure if that forces them to improve the treatment of employees. Also, I think that there are plenty of authors who prefer to be traditionally published; self-publishing is similar to running your own business and some people just prefer being employees. In a traditional setting, someone else takes care of the design, marketing, distribution, licensing, sales, and, most importantly, the editing process, leaving the author to do what they enjoy best: write. As a self-published author you need a completely different mindset, not to mention, a plethora of skills. You also need to develop the ability to split your time between the aforementioned tasks, including design, marketing, distribution, licensing, sales and editing.

I agree with you. Honestly, I am going through self publishing, which I honestly wasn’t expecting, because when I signed with my publisher who they said they were minor-league to Simon and Schuster, which they are, but I was also told in the beginning that they would help me with getting a literary agent then after my book was going into being published by Talked with them about it and they said that the recruiter must’ve been misinformed because they don’t do that. They said yes they are minor-league disseminate Schuster but they’re more similar to sell publishing and they don’t have literary agents so I mean yesterday and amazing job on my book you know I had to pay a lot of money but I really felt duped so now I’m trying to get a literary agent because I want to be in the top tier of authors that are traditionally published, and I know my book has the potential heck even my auditor even said I had huge potential. And I am blessed even with my book being published through Archway Publishing because I did get a book published, which a lot of people don’t get that opportunity, even though the circumstances for me were not ideal because I thought they would connect me with a literary agent, like the recruiter said. I do get some very good reviews. I am really blessed with it. That’s one of my reviewer’s paid me a huge compliment by saying that my book reminded them a lot of the book interview with the vampire. I am never seen that movie or read that book but my husband and say it was very good. I do know it is a Ann Rice novel, which from what I understand like she is a legend in literary as specially in horror and vampires. Because my husband is a huge horror fan he is a huge Stephen king fan. So I’m very blessed that someone compared my book to one of hers. I am very honored for that. I just really wish and hope that it gets the recognition that it deserves, and someone of an agent will take notice of it, but beyond reading just a few pages because I would love to be represented by Simon and Schuster or Penguin Random House, rather than being self published, which honestly is a pain because you have to do everything yourself and a lot of it cost money that not everyone has. I know I have two bucks other box that could go in the publishing but I don’t have the money to publish them right now and it would be so much more nicer and easier to be represented by a traditional agent so I don’t have to pay that out.

Self-published books rarely compete when it comes to literature though; I've never read a self-published book that was well edited. And self-published books that do gain high amounts of sales are usually purchased by traditionally publishing companies anyway: that seems to be the goal. If self-publishing became the norm, we'd end up with a diluted and more saturated market than it is today

So glad you find my content helpful! Thanks for commenting.

The 600-pound gorilla fact in the room is that "Big Five" publishers are being quickly outperformed by Amazon publishing. It's like watching a slow motion car accident.

Agreed. Nothing could be worse than the status quo

Who tf brought up race? And what makes you think diversity means an automatic book deal? Plenty of WHITE authors write about POC. And plenty of POC are still struggling to be published. A call for diversity is just that, a call for different POVS.

You'll want to query a Literary Agent and have them sell your book to a traditional publisher. Alyssa has some great videos on how to traditionally publish and what Lit Agents are looking for, so I'd suggest checking those out.

Hi there - here's a video I made about how to get a literary agent, which might be a good place to start: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-89bljc8Za5I.html Hope that helps. Good luck in your publishing journey!

​@@AlyssaMatesic Are you an editor for children's literature as well?

@@elementeight8 Tried the self path and it was a disaster. Not going back to that. Rather quit writing all together.

Taste is subjective and so when a select group of tastemakers are the gatekeepers as to what material is "good" and "bad," certain material gets neglected because it isn't favorable amongst powerful people. That's why diversity is a concern - it allows for the proper appraisal of work.

@@troydaum4728 Possibly. But I'm a firm believer in archetypes and their role in forging the human psyche and humanity's perception and interpretation of the human condition. There are certain things that are timeless and represent us. Then there is writing in and of itself. There are ways to formulate a sentence that is both excellent and poor. As long as quality of writing, story, and character are the paramount aspects of an editor's pursuits when helping an author publish, then everything should be fine. If people are pursuing an agenda based on identity--something that is an aspect of, but not the definition of character and story--then we are in trouble. Diversity has its weaknesses. I am not fooled into believing that diversity is only a strength. There are two sides to every coin.

Diversity should absolutely be a concern if there are gifted, talented authors whose stories are being silenced DUE TO their identity, and nothing more. Which you alluded to, meaning you know that is a fact. So being that that is and has been the case for decades, then yes, it should be a concern. Anyone who reads from authors of all walks of life would know that some of the most beautiful, moving, and brilliant pieces of literature come from a collective of humanity. So my question is, why would someone, knowing that people of certain “identities” are being overlooked, then argue against diversity in any way? You must think that diversity and talent are mutually exclusive. Spoiler alert: they’re not. Integrity of literature would not be compromised for the sake of “identity,” (It’s literally just hearing from everyone) nor was that ever implied. I’m genuinely curious why this idea always comes up, or it’s called an “agenda” whenever authors of “color” are given a chance, but when traditionally favored “identities” have been given an unfair spotlight over everyone, that’s never looked at as an agenda. If completely stifling most voices in literature except people from ONE PARTICULAR group isn’t an “agenda,” I don’t know what is lolol I want to live in a world where all stories are told. It’s sad that this is even a conversation.

@@Buttercup360-k7m It reads as if you're arguing based off of an agenda. On the one hand you agree with me, and on the other you prove my counterpoint. Simply because someone is "diverse" doesn't mean they can write for shit or tell a good story. I honestly don't care about the author's proposed, supposed, or actual diversity. If they're a stellar writer and write an outstanding novel, I don't give a crap if they came from Mars, what matters is, they wrote something amazing and I'd like to read it. We're talking about the publishing industry, not cultural political science issues. Novel writing is certainly a platform for that, but if the work is terrible, it's terrible. Publishing it anyway because the person is "diverse" is preposterous. Do you agree?

Of course I agree with that. I believe anyone would. But my question was, why on earth would that be happening? Who said anyone who couldn’t write was being published? Where did that idea even come from, and why is it only brought up when diversity is mentioned? You act as if year after year, non diverse writers don’t put out their fair share of dribble, I’m sure you’d agree with that, let’s be honest. People have been complaining about the quality of writing and lack of editing for a while now, and its been well before this “diversity” movement. And on top of it, I’ve seen several non diverse writers already proclaim that they’ll have no problem using AI to write all together, and have no respect for the craft at all! Do you have an issue with these authors who can’t write, or only the diverse ones? Believe me, I see the point you’re making, and I appreciate your perspective. The standards shouldn’t be lowered based on race, and writers who can’t write should absolutely not be published solely based on their identity. My argument is that that is not what’s happening. Diverse writers go through the same process of publishing as everyone else, just watch their interviews. And I have one more question. You keep mentioning an “agenda.” What about publishing diverse writers is an agenda, and what does that agenda entail? I can understand the push for a specific sexual orientation being an agenda, I can even see extreme liberalism being pushed as an agenda. But simply publishing romance and fantasy about dragons and wizards from authors who happen to be of color? Again, how exactly would that be an agenda, and what would that agenda entail? Please be specific.

😅

with the rise of booktok, this industry isn't going broke anytime soon.

Agree one gabillion percent.

Reading is a more popular leisure activity now than 50 years ago. The format of books and how/which ones get published will change, but books aren't going anywhere.

@@StarryEyed0590 Both me and bf are under age 30 and prefer physical books. We're also from different countries as well. So some young people do prefer the physical hold-in-hands books.

@@Anonymuser0 Personally, I prefer physical books too. But even if physical books stopped existing, which won't happen, e-books and audiobooks are bigger than ever.

100% The push to only publish people who look a certain way or believe a certain thing takes the focus away from the quality of the product and will tank the trad system. It barely gave living wages to authors (based on sales) or to its agents who often had to have another job just to survive. Now indies who just know how to be consistent are making living wages by learning a thing or two about marketing and realizing with the current tech revolution they can do it all themselves.

Define woke.

@@brockb3692- he can’t or won’t, because he’ll then very obviously look foolish.

@@brockb3692 what is a woman?

@@BooksForever Low-quality content with the inclusion of what the majority of people don't want to see.

@@DrakeEastwood - sounds like you are struggling though life if you are asking such questions at all, let alone in the wrong forum. Go ask your mom.