Publishing, perishing

Economy | Both Christian and secular publishers are giving in to the same economic pressures | F. W. Baue

"Of making many books there is no end," says the Good Book, "and much study wearies the body" (Ecclesiastes 12:12). It has always been this way: Writers write, readers read, books are made. Within that context, however, change is coming fast, for both secular and Christian publishers.

First, the two dozen or so formerly independent New York publishing houses have been bought up by 10 major consortiums, six of them foreign. For example, Putnam was bought by Matsushita, Macmillan by the British Rupert Murdoch group, and Doubleday by Bertelsmann, a German company. With the consolidation comes increased influence on business decisions by bean counters and lawyers instead of traditional book people.

Parallel to the demise of family publishing is the disappearance of the family bookstore. The old mom-and-pop bookstore was supplanted by mall-oriented sellers like Waldenbooks and B. Dalton's. Now these are themselves being superceded-or acquired-by megabookstores like Borders (once owned by Kmart) and Barnes & Noble. Like farming a generation ago, the word in the book business today is, "Get big or get out."