I suspect I could go through an entire ream of paper printing the pages of discussions I've read on this subject in the years since I started following it, which I'll admit occurred only after I became published. You see, like many who aren't immersed in the publishing world, I didn't realize this was such a huge issue...until I understood how it affected my bottom line. But that's human nature, isn't it? This is also why I think many fellow writers who are not banished to the black section of the book store really cannot understand what this means to those who are.
One moment...I just had to check my calendar to make sure this is 2011, because there's no way I'm using language such as "banished to the black section" in the second decade of the 21st century. But, yes, it is. And, yes, I am. Excuse me while I heave a huge, disappointed sigh.
I had no intention of rehashing this issue yet again. I've written about it before, and it has been discussed ad nauseam by countless bloggers. But as I read through yesterday's Tweets and clicked through some of the links, I stumbled upon an interesting observation. Someone suggested that eBooks will bring an end to the racial segregation that several major book retailers have practiced for years.
Could it be true? Can the death of this unjust practice that has hindered authors for years be a byproduct of the eBook revolution?
To test it, I went to a major eBook retailer's website and searched for "football romances" to see if my football romance would be listed with all the other football romances available to readers. It was. And on the first page.
Does this prove that the race in publishing issue may be coming to an end? I'm not in any way convinced that eBooks will usher in a significant change, but my little experiment did give me a small, single-speck-of-fairy-dust, measure of hope.
What are your thoughts?
0 comments:
Post a Comment