Book Business raised some interesting questions (for me at least)

I didn't like Epstein's Book Business at first. When I started reading, I had a lot of the same problems with it that everyone else had: his obscure word choice, name-dropping, and rambles that didn't seem to be going anywhere. But I also didn't like it because it wasn't what I expected. After reading King's and Lukeman's opinionated books, I expected Book Business would also contain obvious advice. I thought he would discuss how to make it in the publishing industry, what skills would be necessary in an increasingly technological age. I expected to find industry terms and policies that Epstein believes are prerequisites to a literary career.

Though it wasn't what I expected, I definitely feel reading this book was helpful. Buried in Epstein's dense personal anecdotes were impressions of a changing industry and truths about the way people buy books. His book showed that the industry, though money-driven, employs a lot of people who are passionnate about their work. A lot of his frustrations over the years seem to result from the increasingly corporate nature of publishing. Epstein grumbles about red tape he'd had to overcome to complete his projects. He reminisces about the glory days in his early career when there was a lot of personal interaction. Later in the book, he talks about the decline of independent bookstores. Like the intimate feeling of publishing imprints, these bookstores seem to capture a flavor he craves. The book got increasingly depressing as I read on. Epstein seems to point out more problems than solutions. He describes publishing's trouble spots and then abruptly ends his book, almost as if to say that his part in the industry is done; now it's our problem. This book posed more questions than answers. What happens when the large bookselling chains collapse? What happens if people frequent libraries or used bookstores and book sales drop so low that they're no longer profitable to produce? What makes it possible for some independent booksellers to stay afloat? Will more of the larger publishing groups gobble up their competitors until eventually all the smaller companies are controlled by a large parent company? How will the internet and other digital media continue to affect the publishing industry?