Home to Richard Eoin Nash, RNash.com is one of those helpful sites with a high-speed shutter that freezes the blur of fast-moving cultural events. In a little more than an hour I was able to get my bearings on a host of issues, as well as place those issues in context.
For example, in a linked-to piece I found this quote from a front-line report on how the publishing industry is keeping pace with changes brought about by all things digital:
And that’s when moderator Deborah Schultz broke the news to us. We (the audience) were the ones who were supposed to provide the ideas.
“We’re here to learn about what you want.”
Without warning the panel discussion was turned into an impromptu focus group. A twist that was met alternately with skepticism, amusement, and open hostility.
Read the whole thing. I laughed myself silly.
And here’s another interesting link, about an effort to get books — books! — into the SXSW conference, which has been a very hip place to be for years. (Nash is involved in this as well.)
As for Nash himself, here’s a quote from an editorial he wrote recently for Publishing Perspectives:
Instead of using the ever-increasing array of cheap and free tools now available to offer new ways to structure the writer-reader relationship, we’re using the technology to either thwart the readers (see: DRM) or to hustle them, using social media to move product, not have a conversation.
The title of the editorial was, “Why Publishing Cannot Be Saved (As It Is).”
He’s right: it can’t.
— Mark Barrett
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