Comments on: Garrison Keillor On: When everyone’s a writer, no one is http://www.socializedpr.com/garrison-keillor-on-when-everyones-a-writer-no-one-is/ Thu, 17 May 2012 06:32:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Garrison Keillor Thinks The Kids Have Already Left His Lawn: Future of the Book edition. « The Inverse Square Blog http://www.socializedpr.com/garrison-keillor-on-when-everyones-a-writer-no-one-is/#comment-3923 Garrison Keillor Thinks The Kids Have Already Left His Lawn: Future of the Book edition. « The Inverse Square Blog Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:02:21 +0000 http://www.socializedpr.com/?p=750#comment-3923 [...] be sure, there was a fair amount of blog traffic on Keillor’s jeremiad about the book industry, at the [...] [...] be sure, there was a fair amount of blog traffic on Keillor’s jeremiad about the book industry, at the [...]

]]> By: Scott http://www.socializedpr.com/garrison-keillor-on-when-everyones-a-writer-no-one-is/#comment-3709 Scott Thu, 27 May 2010 21:05:42 +0000 http://www.socializedpr.com/?p=750#comment-3709 That everyone can write and publish has certainly increased the level of noise in the field, but "everyone" is now reviewer, editor and arbiter of trash from treasure. The publishing companies no long have the monopoly on discriminating taste. The crowd will still figure out who's worth a read, who's worth following and who can actually charge for their intellectual wares. The publishing model has changed, but the marketplace has remains the same. Keillor's just winsomely nostalgic for the age of elitist book houses. I don't think they'll disappear, but they have competition. As we have fashion mavens and movie critics, a portion of the public will still want someone else to tell them what's good and what's "fit to print". That everyone can write and publish has certainly increased the level of noise in the field, but “everyone” is now reviewer, editor and arbiter of trash from treasure. The publishing companies no long have the monopoly on discriminating taste. The crowd will still figure out who’s worth a read, who’s worth following and who can actually charge for their intellectual wares. The publishing model has changed, but the marketplace has remains the same.

Keillor’s just winsomely nostalgic for the age of elitist book houses. I don’t think they’ll disappear, but they have competition. As we have fashion mavens and movie critics, a portion of the public will still want someone else to tell them what’s good and what’s “fit to print”.

]]> By: Erik http://www.socializedpr.com/garrison-keillor-on-when-everyones-a-writer-no-one-is/#comment-3707 Erik Thu, 27 May 2010 18:19:29 +0000 http://www.socializedpr.com/?p=750#comment-3707 There will always be intermediaries, gatekeepers, curators, and other folks who will help us sift through the morass. Perhaps there will be even more of them than there are now. They just won't get paid by those large, comfortable companies that created a byzantine cost-masking infrastructure in the 19th and 20th centuries. We're definitely no longer living in an era of typewriters, cashmere sweaters, and long, thoughtful conversations. But I'm not sure we ever really were. Intellectualism has, for most of America's history, been tolerated at best and often vilified. Broadcast media have only made it worse. I'm inclined to look on the bright side. The tidy, orderly publishing arrangements of old are fast disappearing, but more options will give life to a variety of new approaches, some of which may give writers and readers more than what they've been getting from publishers. There will always be intermediaries, gatekeepers, curators, and other folks who will help us sift through the morass. Perhaps there will be even more of them than there are now. They just won’t get paid by those large, comfortable companies that created a byzantine cost-masking infrastructure in the 19th and 20th centuries.

We’re definitely no longer living in an era of typewriters, cashmere sweaters, and long, thoughtful conversations. But I’m not sure we ever really were. Intellectualism has, for most of America’s history, been tolerated at best and often vilified. Broadcast media have only made it worse.

I’m inclined to look on the bright side. The tidy, orderly publishing arrangements of old are fast disappearing, but more options will give life to a variety of new approaches, some of which may give writers and readers more than what they’ve been getting from publishers.

]]> By: Yvonne DiVita http://www.socializedpr.com/garrison-keillor-on-when-everyones-a-writer-no-one-is/#comment-3706 Yvonne DiVita Thu, 27 May 2010 17:58:03 +0000 http://www.socializedpr.com/?p=750#comment-3706 Interesting - on one level, it's true - when everyone is a writer, it diminishes the serious authors. But, on another level, does that mean because we can all think and speak, we're all philosophers? No. Writers come in all shapes and forms and some are good, others aren't. The traditional publishing model does not have the key to being a successful author. They put out as much or more garbage as POD companies and self-published authors. Today, the question is: do I want control of my work, or am I willing to sell it? Most people opt for control, rightly so, IMHO. Yv Interesting - on one level, it’s true - when everyone is a writer, it diminishes the serious authors. But, on another level, does that mean because we can all think and speak, we’re all philosophers? No. Writers come in all shapes and forms and some are good, others aren’t. The traditional publishing model does not have the key to being a successful author. They put out as much or more garbage as POD companies and self-published authors. Today, the question is: do I want control of my work, or am I willing to sell it? Most people opt for control, rightly so, IMHO.
Yv

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