Monday, February 5, 2007

Further signs of the demise of print book reviews

I saw this morning over at Galleycat, where the Associated Press has decided to discontinue its book review package, no doubt because there is less demand for it given the ever shrinking news hole in most newspapers. It's a shame. When the AP kills something like this it's a bad sign. The AP exists to help newspapers get content they don't have the resources to provide on their own, and if there's not enough demand nationwide to justify doing them anymore, it is truly a sign that book coverage in the traditional media is in bad shape.
The flip side of this is, of course, the Internet, which is clearly where the future of the book industry lies. As book reviews do a vanishing act in print, the Internet is where bibliophiles, publishers and authors alike can meet up and write, read about and discuss books without having to worry about column inches.

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