hello world

The publishing industry is wildly entertaining to me. I started reading about it a few months ago and found that I really like to keep up with the happenings. It's like one big soap opera. The book business is in a state of transition so I guess a few bumps in the road are inevitable.

Self published books are gaining popularity. I read the other day that more than half of the books published today are self published. That sends the old school into a tailspin. I've written about that before so I'm not going to take up much room in this post for that subject.

We have ebooks. Discussion. Every one is discussing digital formats, where they're going, where they are or will be sold, if they will replace our beloved tree killers of old. Random House just marked their digital territory with a letter to agents and authors claiming digital rights to old titles. People are cheesed off about that.

Then there is the debacle that is Google books. If you don't know, Google books decided they could scan public domain and out of print works and slap them up on the internet for every one to see-read-download. That one has been in court for a while.

My new hobby is watching this whirlwind from a distance. It seems like any change puts the pros in a tizzy. The key word for book business in the future is ADAPTABILITY. Say it with me, now. These people getting bent out of shape are stuck in the old way of doing things. They will change only begrudgingly and then they will find that they have been left in the dust.

Ahem. Now for something that will probably only amuse computer geeks like me. When one begins to study a new programming language, educators frequently first teach you how to do a hello world program. This is a simple - look I can make it go program that spits out the words - Hello World. Upon reading about the name switch for the e-book store Shortcovers to Kobo, I clicked a link to Kobo's website and this is what I found.

Um, you forgot something, namely the entire website. But hey, newbie, at least you know that you have the power to greet the world!