Disaster struck the publishing industry last week, and I've neglected to pass along the links.
Advanced Marketing Services (AMS), the distribution and wholesale company responsible for circulating books between giant chain stores and smaller publishers, just declared bankruptcy.
Everybody from Random House to Soft Skull Press will feel this blow. Many bloggers are worried about the fate of Publishers Group West, the indy distribution company that got bought out by AMS a couple years ago. PGW is responsible for 150 of the brightest small presses in the business.
The literary blogosphere has united, providing the most comprehensive coverage of a news issue I've seen in awhile.
Edward Champion has been my main source for information, and you should be following his links. This news will eventually affect all readers and writers in the independent literary scene.
Some highlights of Champion's links:
"Matt Wagner suggests that consolidation may not be good for small presses, even if PGW’s huge volume allowed for independent presses to get into big-box stores. Sarah points to the Canadian impact. At The Beat, comics publisher Actionopolis/Komikwerks offers a response ... Dean Haspiel: 'BOTTOM LINE: in order to succeed, the author has to become the publisher and the publicist and, sometimes, the printer, too.'"
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