Imagine what it would be like to be a professional baseball player—you’ve worked your way through the system for a couple decades, and after t-ball, little league, high school, college, then the farm system, you’ve finally hit the big leagues.
Then they change all of the rules.
Now high school kids and grandmas get their turn at bat. Hundreds of new leagues pop up around the world and each create their own niche. You played by all the rules, became the best at that game, you’re ready for the money and the fame—then the rules change.
This is the feeling that everyone in the publishing industry has right now. We all see the rules changing, but we don’t know how to prepare for what’s coming.
The adoption curve of eReaders is growing like crazy. Between the Kindle, Nook, and iPad readers everywhere are switching from paper books bought at bookstores and through websites to eBooks bought in the big three eBook stores.
The people that own eReaders are the folks that read the most books. If we play off our baseball analogy, these are the folks that were buying season tickets, own several players jerseys, and watch the away games on TV. The world is changing for publishers and authors.
The smart ones (and lucky ones) are going to carve out their niche and this is going to be the best thing ever for them. A lot of others are going to be looking for a new line of work.
Have you switched to an eReader yet? If so, why?
