Publishers Gone Wild

HarperCollins Puts Its Money on New ‘It Books’ Imprint
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/books/05harper.html.
“Tapping into the zeitgeist” with the “It Books” imprint? “The collected works of Twitterdom”? Please pass the barf bag.

Instead of recognizing that the publishing industry needs to set itself apart from the fierce competition of other media, doing what only it can do well – like discovering and publishing new fiction and meaningful non-fiction -- they run like a moth to the flame. They want people to turn from TV, movies and the Internet to books by publishing the very kind of content best suited for their competition, content aimed at those who are addicted to the competing media? “Escapism, fun, and style” in book form -- lots of luck with that kind of strategic thinking. Might as well send those titles directly to the remainder tables.

Makes publishing nothing sound like a more attractive strategy. http://lacunaemusing.blogspot.com/2009/02/plastics-and-publishing.html
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