Post 801 Crystal Gazing

“Everyone has to think differently, bigger, be open to possibilities.”
Oprah Winfrey

“For centuries, we had only the physical page, and that’s not going away.”
Gina Centrello

Gina must be relieved about that, since she’s the president and publisher of the Random House Publishing Group, which currently publishes about 500 new titles a year under its 14 imprints. When USA Today asked the publishing pro to look out 30 years into the future and envision what the publishing world would look like, time and again, she used two words: “change” and “choice.”

While the marketplace is in a state of flux, Gina believes that Random House has a clear, straightforward mission: “Acquire the best books, publish each to its widest readership, and deliver it any way the reader chooses.”

Will actual physical books still exist 30 years from now? Will there still be book stores?
Be still my heart! Yes, says Gina, but the future has arrived and digital delivery systems will continue to evolve as the digital marketplace expands.

The biggest changes are coming, not just in digital publishing, but in how authors connect with their readers and share their ideas. New ways of delivering content “will allow authors to experiment with long forms and short forms and new elements like audio and video. …”Now and in the future,” says Gina, “you and I are going to be able to choose how we read — whether it’s a phone or iPad or a hologram.”

The goal for a publisher will be to produce both beautiful physical books and appealing digital books and let readers choose how they want to encounter an author’s words and ideas. “We are living in an age as revolutionary as Gutenberg’s” says Gina. Now that sounds exciting. Write on!