Let’s see, HarperCollins is closing Bowens Press, folding Collins division, folding the imprints into Morrow and HarperCollins. This is the latest in a whole roster of reductions in the publishing world. At this rate, we’re not going to have a whole lot left in the way of substantial publishers and imprints. We’ll be narrowed down to reading Binky, Grisham, King, Koontz, and a handful of other “popular” authors, most whose work I consider unpalatable, even worthless.

Of course, the indie authors are simply giddy with themselves, because they somehow think that this proves their formula as exceptional. Well, it doesn’t. The majority of indie published work is a waste of time and resources (read trees). There isn’t a good process out there to weed the good, professional work out from the drivel. I sincerely hope that Dawn over at The Deepening or somebody somewhere can come up with some workable way to wade through the dross so that we who enjoy reading don’t wind up reduced to rereading what’s on our shelves.

I can see that, in the real world, libraries might be able to fulfill a quality control function. But libraries are suffering, too, and a lot of them are just turning themselves into Internet cafes and DVD outlets.

Sigh.

Recently:

• Treading the Dangers of Fiction
• Infighting About Grammar & Punctuation
• Scary Writers
• New Novel, Chapter Two
• To the Book Store
• New Novel Amid Chaos
• Raw Gore, Explicit Cruelty, Debased Sex in Novels
• Back from Summer Hiatus
• Self-Publishing IS Better
• Sold My First Copy of To Inherit a Murderer