I can’t say I’m shocked to witness the revolutionary changes happening in the magazine and newspaper industries. Why? I’ve been a long-time follower of Bob Sacks, a blogger, e-newsletter editor and publishing industry vet who’s held every conceivable position in the business.
Editing the BoSacks newsletter, one of the longest-running e-newsletters covering the publishing industry, Bob keeps his readers informed, engaged and occasionally agitated with his honest and insightful commentary.
When I was working as a magazine editor, Bob was one of the few voices I counted on to tell the truth about what was really happening in the industry. So I’m honored that he checked in with Editor Unleashed to answer a few questions about reading, writing and the future of the printed word.
1. You’ve been predicting the newspaper and magazine meltdown for years now. Can you summarize some of your thoughts about how traditional media can get back on solid footing—or is it even possible at this point?
Actually, I don’t think I have been predicting a meltdown, so much as a complete change of business as usual. Perhaps the way you have just poised the question is at the heart of the matter. You ask how traditional media can get back on solid ground. It can’t. However, any media company that had its roots in the time-honored methods of information distribution can do exceedingly well if they forget that they are a traditional media company.
As I have said for over a decade, print is not dying, it just feels that way. There will be printed products for generations, but the predominant way that people will read will be digital. Any company that wishes to be part of the next golden age of publishing will have to accept that reality. Really what is so hard to understand? The digital reading experience and the platforms that they exist upon get better and more useful every day. I suggest that the digitally read word will be relied upon more than the printed word.
2. Do you think traditional media’s websites should be behind a pay wall? Why or why not?
I continue to be fascinated by this question. It is my experience that people will pay for quality. That is the saddest part of this current literary historic journey. The captains of the ship, none of whom are actually writers, have forgotten that our real franchise is words and the thinking that those words can impart. In their haste to meet bottom line constraints, they have thrown out the lucrative baby with the confusing bathwater. They have fired good writers, copy editors, and the real creative engines of our businesses.
I say that if you put up a unique genuine quality product, the citizens of the reading world will pay for it. It is that simple. Magazines have slipped into a “good enough” mentality. Some of us now know that just good enough actually isn’t. If we actually paid for the best writers the industry can find, you would see that the reading public would pay for the privilege of reading those extra fine insights, those humorous essays, and quality research presented with grace, style and pathos.
3. What are your thoughts about whether or not E-Readers will garner mainstream acceptance in the near future?
E-readers are already on the march to doing so, and they have done it with primitive equipment. Well, it will seem primitive in just a year or so as the next technology wave heads our way, and it will be here in 10 months or less. There is no going back, and why should we? The electronic word should count for more. It actually does more than the written word.
Let me ask you something. Why don’t we consider the billions of computers out there as E-Readers? They are, in fact, the first generations of the Kindle-type portable platform. They will get better and better at what we do with them. We can read anywhere we want, at any time we want, under any lighting conditions. This is just another step, this time an electronic one, in the democratization of knowledge on a global scale.
4. In your opinion, will there ever be a return to print as a dominant medium or is the shift to digital a permanent shift?
It is clearly a permanent condition. They only thing to undermine that claim is the possibility of some sort of Armageddon and a forced retreat to a less complex and more agrarian society. I do not see that happening in the near future. Technology will march on and it will drag us with it willingly or no.
Why should print return to dominance? Can a printed book or article or section in one of those, be instantly verified for its authenticity? Can anything printed link you to associated material on the same subject? How about dated material? Can a printed product be updated? The list is endless why the next generation will actually demand digital products first. They will still read printed books, but the majority of the reading will be digital.
We are minutes away from the near perfect substrate which can be read in any light conditions from bright sun light to candle light. People will cozy up to the new reading platforms and wonder what all the fuss was all about.
5. With all of the media fallout, many writers are left wondering if and when there will once again be paying venues for their work. Any advice for writers who are trying to scrape by in this unsure environment?
Yes. Find a successful mentor to help you learn the craft. Then hone your craft to the very best of your ability. I think one of the most overlooked attributes in great writing is the development of a personal voice with which to tell your tales. It is not only what you have to say; the way you say it is of equal value. Find that voice and write with it from the heart. It is the uniqueness of your written voice that will have traction with an editor and with readers.
We know that there are more writers trying to become successful than there are places for them—but that was also true when the only outlet was ink on paper. In a sense now is no different, except that you have an unlimited number of places to either submit your work, or develop your own network for written distribution. In all cases you must keep up with the digital changes so you are prepared to take advantage of them as they continue to develop. Resistance to these changes is futile. You might as well jump on, learn the new ways and figure out how to network them to your advantage.
I believe that we are heading to the next golden age of publishing. On the negative side, there will be more outlets for junk than ever before. But on the positive side, there will be an opportunity to reach out to a global readership of millions, even billions.
Visit Bob Sacks at his website and be sure to sign up for his daily newsletter to get the inside scoop on the magazine and newspaper industry.
-Maria Schneider
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To concur with what Bob says in Point Two about readers paying for quality. I was lucky enough to hear the editor of the literary journal Meanjin (Australia’s second oldest literary journal) speak a few weeks ago at the Byron Bay Writers Festival. She basically said that people were sick of 600 word articles which said nothing, both in print and on the internet, and that people were willing to read and pay for, publications which offered well thought out, well written exploration of bigger issues and themes in society.
She also said, and the other panelists agreed, that despite the economic downturn, all three of their small journal publications were exceeding subscriptions expectations – because people were willing to pay for quality. They all actually believed that the crumbling newspaper industry was actually playing into their publishing hands.
The freedom which digital medium offers writers for the first time, should be grasped with both hands by writers and readers. No longer will readers be at the mercy of what big publishing houses and their marketing and accounting departments believe will sell.
For myself, as a writer and aspiring publisher – digital delivery is offering all manner of opportunities which could only have been dreamed about a few years ago. In November we will publish our first anthology as a digital and POD product, and as the forerunner of a bigger and hopefully innovative platform. Something like this would have been impossible for my business partner and myself a few years ago, to act in the capacity of editors to create this project. How quickly things have changed and are continuing to change.
http://chinesewhisperings.com
Hi :)
Wow.
What an amazing interview.
I cut & pasted it to my permanent Writing folder.
Such great wisdom contained herein.
Thank you for having Mr. Sacks here, and thanks to Bob Sacks for sharing his keen insight today.
:)
All the best,
@RKCharron
xoxo
This is a great interview. I am really intrigued by the subject and felt like this gave me better insight into the changes happening.
Thank you
Very interesting interview. I’m pleased to find someone in the industry who isn’t afraid to tell the full truth, unvarnished. Indeed, why should the trend shift back to more printed than digital? It doesn’t make sense.
Jai
Mr. Sacks makes sense and it’s good to hear that even in the digital age people are still going to be willing to pay for a “true voice and good story full of substance”. Thanks, Maria for making this possible and thanks to Mr. Sacks for sharing his thoughts.
DeborahB
Relevant and timely and well-spoken. The challenge is to connect the standards, values and experience of people like Bob (and like-minded editors like us) with people who understand blogging and web marketing.
It seems that many bloggers lack the editorial integrity that print media was so adamant about. On the flip side, print media lacks the adaptability of the digital medium.
The reason publishing is in upheaval is because the two haven’t yet met halfway.
Bob understands both and speaks the truth: quality and voice will prevail.
Hi Charles,
I totally agree with you. Actually, I’m kind of surprised that more journalists aren’t getting into independent blogging–it seems to me that’s where everything is heading. But then, it’s a long-term commitment to build an audience, as we all know. :)
That’s right, Maria, which is good we’re starting now. By the way I’m impressed by the evolution and consistency of Editor Unleashed. Seems you’re getting up there!
Baen’s Universe, a solely digital publisher of the highest caliber which was also well-backed and run by experienced people, just went down. Their failure was not based on lack of quality. They had the highest quality in the genre.
Maybe it will be an aberration. We’ll have to see. It was not encouraging.
As far as blogging and web marketing, the lack of a function for editing and no function for writers to be paid for their work is pretty problematic. We’ll have to see where it goes.
Man, I like this guy. Thank you so much for introducing him to me, Maria. I really do think digital is the wave of the future.
~jon
Thank you for sharing these insights. Digital publishing is easy and there is a lot of freedom to publish and distribute. Some digital publications score very well on quality also. But, I think its premature to predict the demise of traditional book publishing, atleast in parts of the world where access to digital media is still costly. More than internet, its the visual media ( TV industry in particular ) has occupied the space that earlier belonged to print media. But I think the consumer’s preferences and education level determines the future of various media.
Wonderful interview–I see why you followed him for so many years! I like this point of view that print isn’t dying, it’s changing. I finally feel open to it myself.