Watching this video, it becomes apparent that Tom Hanks is trying out for some role as a new media specialist. I guess he went completely method shaving his head and then he making up the unlikely name "Clay Shirky" and even landing a spot at this Web 2.0 conference.
OK, I actually talk about Clay Shirky often. And this probably isn't Tom Hanks, but watch a little bit, and tell me your sure. Shirky's first book Here Comes Everybody is quite brilliant, and I'm impatiently waiting for his next one, due this year.
His argument here is really on target for the publishing world. The only real question about how does publishing evolve is "What does the filter look like?"
The publishers only have one real function anymore--filter, and they do a lousy job at it. Proof lies at both ends of the mechanism. How many rejection letters did Kathryn Stockett get? Something like three dozen, I believe. When she finally does get published, The Help just sells and sells and sells. That's a bad filter at work.
Ask any publisher how many books they pulp each year. That's a bad filter at work.
The reason that self-publishing is such a challenge is that there is no trusted filter from the writer to the reader. As a consumer, there is no one to tell you which self-pubbed book is any good. If that mechanism is created, then Random House is in big trouble. And that filter is coming sooner or later.