future of publishing

According to Lifehacker:

"Authonomy is a writing-focused social network conceived by publishing house HarperCollins. Community members upload their work, review and rate the work of others, and polish their writing for potential publication."

Springer Verlag has an august reputation for its publishing in scientific and technical fields, and when it decided to move into electronic publishing, it got several things right, thanks in part to their willingness to take the advice of librarians:

Jason Kottke discusses a recent article by Ken Auletta, who has found strong performance by ebooks at Amazon. (Auletta: "If the same book is available in paper and paperless form, Amazon says, forty per cent of its customers order the electronic version.")

Kottke then makes a point that aligns well with our arguments on behalf of social publishing:

So now a publisher weighs in on the question of delaying the release of an ebook edition until after a hardback release.

There are moments of reason in the case she makes, but it's hard to get around the dubious assumption that a publisher will be able to suppress content in the digital age:

A voice of sanity, but not one, alas, from a publisher:

There is a lot of customer grumbling going on these days. After this year’s BEA, the (big) idea that emerged was the need for more direct conversation between publishers and readers.... It’s not that all problems can be solved in 140 characters or less (would that this were so!); it’s that the company hears what is being said and is working to address the problem.