Two days ago, we considered the dying book review, and observed that book reviewers in the mainstream media are primarily useful to the publishing industry in that they serve as an inexpensive way to let readers know when new books have been published—a function that is in the process of being distributed across many more lines of communication. With respect to the consumer market, the trick for publishers is to figure out which lines of communication readers will come to regard as the most reliable, and to make sure they’re keeping those lines open. The mainstream media is likely to continue to have a seat at that table; but it’s become increasingly clear that they’re going to fight a little bit harder for the drumsticks. (Not the greatest metaphor, we know, but we ask your indulgence.)
Librarian “Liz B.” raises an important point at her blog A Chair, a Fireplace, & a Tea Cozy, though: what about reviews for the professional market? “Teachers and librarians will still need reviews from School Library Journal and Hornbook and Booklist and Kirkus, to support their buying decisions, place the book in the right area of the library, and to defend against challenges,” she reminds us, and rightly so. When you get right down to it, that’s what makes the still-ongoing effort to find somebody willing to take over Reed Business Information important for people in the industry.
It’s not about the news-gathering: Publishers Weekly and its sister publications may maintain their strengths in that regard, and their legacy isn’t about to become less impressive any time soon, but rival operations such as Publishers Marketplace or Shelf Awareness have made significant inroads into the audience, and various websites are proving capable of competing on coverage of specific issues such as electronic publishing or the comics field. When it comes to providing a reliable mechanism for librarians and booksellers to stay informed about what is coming out when, however, along with what is likely to generate consumer interest, the field has not significantly expanded, so it’s here where the effects of any major transformative developments in the RBI situation would most likely be felt. And any large-scale changes in the ways the book world’s real gatekeepers make their ordering decisions would absolutely reverberate throughout the industry.
That’s not a doom-and-gloom prediction, despite the uncertainty that increases the longer RBI remains unsold—the problems there aren’t with PW or this service mission it’s fulfilling, but with the financial baggage surrounding all RBI’s trade magazines—baggage that has the parent company, Reed Elsevier trying to scrape together a reported $1.2 billion in financing (about a quarter of that their own money) to make the deal more palatable.