People I know in the business continue to lament the ongoing changes. I had dinner with a friend who's published dozens of books, many marine related. He has a great manuscript now with tremendous potential. Suddenly nobody wants it. He gets new responses like, "Why don't you start a blog first",.... "Can you go back and take video footage of those interviews",....this is crazy. Some publishers simply can't pay the writers any more.

Needlesss to say, he's beside himself. On the other hand, some publishers with long track records are reviving some of his old successes. Prints not going out, but it'll never be the same. Times simply are changing in the publishing world. My friend realizes these are odd times and not in his control.

A relative long in mainstream print publishing says the internet has she and all her colleagues working longer and harder for less money. Hard to deny that statement. Used books sell cheaply, no royalties to pay. Advertisers are looking for the best deal, guess where some are going?

It's a new time and I see it evolving rapidly before our eyes. It looks like fun to me.