movabletypenyc:

But I wonder how better we might all be at our work if we worked to rescue the “reader” from those unfortunate, conceptual quotation marks: would we publish differently, and perhaps more successfully, if we were better connected to the individuals we hope will buy what we publish? …

With the seemingly inevitable collapse of Borders, hopefully publishers will take the opportunity to rethink their relationships with intermediaries and realize that a strong direct relationship with readers can result in a more vibrant marketplace for books all around. It’s not about commerce, it’s about community; the latter leads to the former, rarely vice versa.