The entire world found out earlier this week that US special forces killed one of the most wanted men in the world. It was everywhere. Information is still sketchy and there are thousands of web-sites feeding information to the general population.
The book industry has also responded with announcing a few “instant books.” These are titles that are put together in a few weeks and rushed into stores. In the past, the physical book was a means of telling how the story unfolded. It was more than a magazine piece although done by a journalist. Today, I am not sure of the value of these “instant books.” At least not on the physcial side. By the time these books hits stores, it will be 2-3 weeks old. New information will have appeared and it will not be in the books.
Hell, the morning newspaper is out of date by the afternoon. News travels instant on-line. Books are out-of-date before they hit the stores.
eBooks definitely are much better than paperbacks in this case. But even those can be out of date quickly.
The world has changed. The instant book -so much an opportunity for publishers in the past – is now that important at all.
Adapt or die.
