Sometimes I despair about late-stage capitalism. The recommendation of "hire more people, let them actually do their job" is basically "Stop doing what you've BEEN doing to squeeze out more profits to shareholders, namely more work for fewer people." (See: CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM for a longer explanation about more of that.) It can feel impossible to fight the whole system.
But your article gives me hope, actually! All it would take is one big publisher (...of which there are only 4 now? Or still 5?) ...or even a medium one, like Scholastic or Disney, to decide to prioritize reader experience. I bet that in a few years they'd have all the biggest hits, and then other publishers might follow suit.
I think we're still at five since the VC (I forgot the name) bought S&S, rather than PRH or Harper. But yeah, we were close to four!
I agree, though. If one of the big publishers decided they were going to make life better for everyone in their company, the talent would head over there immediately. The quality would jump up. And readers would respond. Other publishers would scramble to do the same thing!
Great insight, Jodi
So many good insights here. (And thanks for linking to my piece about exclusive editions!)
I think about it ALL THE TIME.
Sometimes I despair about late-stage capitalism. The recommendation of "hire more people, let them actually do their job" is basically "Stop doing what you've BEEN doing to squeeze out more profits to shareholders, namely more work for fewer people." (See: CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM for a longer explanation about more of that.) It can feel impossible to fight the whole system.
But your article gives me hope, actually! All it would take is one big publisher (...of which there are only 4 now? Or still 5?) ...or even a medium one, like Scholastic or Disney, to decide to prioritize reader experience. I bet that in a few years they'd have all the biggest hits, and then other publishers might follow suit.
I think we're still at five since the VC (I forgot the name) bought S&S, rather than PRH or Harper. But yeah, we were close to four!
I agree, though. If one of the big publishers decided they were going to make life better for everyone in their company, the talent would head over there immediately. The quality would jump up. And readers would respond. Other publishers would scramble to do the same thing!
We can hope. :)