The Author’s Guild on State of Publishing and My comment

The Authors Guild has a good summary of their position on Amazon.com and the state of publishing at their blog:

http://blog.authorsguild.org/2012/01/31/publishings-ecosystem-on-the-brink-the-backstory/

There are a lot of good comments I agree with, about how the AG does not exactly have clean hands in all this. I said, "Monopolies [like what Amazon.com aspires to be] are generally evil, and I hold no brief for Amazon.com– although why Amazon’s evil makes Barnes & Noble and Big Publishing into good guys is beyond me. B&N with their end-of-the-aisle bribe stacks and books with a shorter shelf life than yoghurt. Puh-leeze.

"I personally have published with big publishers, small ones, university presses, and an independent co-operative press. While I am, at least for the moment, still a member of the Authors Guild, I do not find them representing my interests. AG works for Scott Turow and others who make a lot of money selling books. I’m glad Mr. Turow and his ilk have a guild to represent them, but don’t let the Authors Guild fool you into thinking it does anything for people who don’t sell a lot of books.

"So we’re living in interesting times. Lean back and enjoy the ride."