Tradition

I think that the predicted demise of traditional book publication is completely, 100% fake. Traditional book publication will never die because the market for physical books will never die. I do not think that the desire to hold a bound collection of pages instead of an electronic device will fade over generations. Actually, it comes down to more than just the feeling of that one book in your hand. It’s the way the books fill the shelves. It’s the smile that creeps across your face as you brush your fingers across the spines of your favorite novels as you walk past them. The books will eventually start to spill onto the floor into messy stacks, and you’ll chuckle as you realize you need more bookshelves. The thought of thinning out your quantity of books never crosses your mind — these pages are your home, your shelter. This feeling and love for books is not something that will disappear over time.

An article on The Wire points out that the appeal of digitizing books was making the publishing process simpler, but it actually does the complete the opposite. While the different formats of physical books are not extensive, there are hundreds of different types of formats for online files. How is that any less complicated?

In my opinion, physical books and traditional publication are here to stay. As a writer, I am not worried about the introduction of e-books into the publishing world. The article on The Wire also points out that e-book growth is anything but steady. E-books are the newcomer in the ring, and while they may stick around in a small way, they’ll never take down the champion: traditional publication.

(If you are interested in reading the article I mentioned, titled “Printed Books are Not Dying a Slow Death, They are Here to Stay,” you can find it here: https://thewire.in/books/printed-books-non-death-here-to-stay)