Salt Lake City Tribune:
The Salt Lake City Tribune wrote up my speech at Pub West.
It’s the best of times for
readers whose access to books has never been easier. But with book
sales looking flat for the foreseeable future, it may be the worst of
times to be a publisher, said Internet entrepreneur and writer Kevin
Smokler.
"The contradiction seems to be it’s the best time in history
to be a book lover, but it’s not the greatest time to be a person
making books," Smokler said Friday.
What is happening to books is the same thing happening to
music, movies, television and newspapers. Digital technology is
strengthening the hand of consumers at the expense of companies that
provide culture, entertainment and information.
"Those millions and millions of cultural consumers who are out
there, they are in charge now. Not us, not the producers of what they
consume," said Smokler, who spoke to the Publishers Association of the
West, which is meeting at The Canyons Resort through today.
Side Note: The Trib mistakenly called Soft Skull Press an "online publisher." They publish regular ole’ paper books. I brought them up as examples of innovators marketers in the publishing space.