In spite of rumors to the contrary- Very Persistent rumors!

Yes, book publishing is alive. But, it looks like it may be morphing into something that looks different from what we're used to. It's like on a soap opera when a character supposedly dies going over a cliff in his fancy red sports car, but then he shows up one day, announcing he didn't really die, he just got washed down a river and lost his ID and they found him in some far away town, and he has had major reconstructive plastic surgery and been rehabilitated by this totally cute nurse, and has now come home to reclaim his position as CEO of his family's company, but it turns out his wife has gotten remarried to his brother and his children don't recognize him, but he marries the nurse and they fight to get his company back, and eventually his children love him again even more than they did before (because before he was a real workaholic who never paid attention to his kids, but now he knows his kids matter more than money).

It's just like that with book publishing too.

Book publishing has gone over a cliff in a fancy red sports car. And, it's currently going through some major reconstructive surgery to become better, faster and stronger. There are a bunch of really sweet nurses who believe in and love this new book publishing -- early adopters from every segment of the book community. And when book publishing gets through with the rehab and all that, it's going to win back all the readers and industry players who were so skeptical about whether or not a different looking publishing model would be able to meet their needs. Of course, there will probably be a few illegitimate children showing up every now and then, and unfortunate poisonings, and affairs with the pool boy, but that's to be expected.

Here's a clip, courtesy of Denise Berthiaume of Verso Advertising/Digital, featuring the 7 x 7 x 21 panel at BookExpo America this past May. In it you will notice a bunch of us "cute nurse" types gushing about how much we love being part of publishing's rehab.

I was so psyched to see this video. It is just the perfect pick me up after a long day of working through the arduous (yet rewarding) process of reconstructing publishing. Yup, right now around Quartet Press things are basically the publishing equivalent of a "General Hospital" surgery scene. Let me just tell you, after we get done with it, publishing is going to be so hot, it's not going to need the fancy red sports car!