P.S.

After I've at least half-convinced myself I'm an ignorant buffoon with a laptop, as well as vaguely recalling an Ambien-fueled entry from last night, I came across this quote from a gentleman that published his book about the making of a certain television show through iUniverse:

“I knew that I wouldn’t be in bookstores, but I didn’t realize how devastating that would be,” said Rosenzweig. “Not having a warehouse full of books that will accept books back from booksellers if they don’t sell really puts a crimp in your ability to sell. Booksellers are not interested in becoming book buyers.”

So maybe I am right about being nervous about the new HarperCollins imprint that I've been writing about lately. On the other hand, perhaps reform requires a revolution and this is where it starts.

I still doubt it, though. "Preliminary estimates" from the Association of American Publishers show that total industry sales rose 3.2% last year. This may be a modest gain but the industry is still nearly 25 billion dollars strong. Which, again in my ignorance, seems kind of big to me.