E-publishing. the new writer's boon or bust?

I'll share with you, an email i recently received from my agent. You writers out there might find it interesting:

Hi Everyone: I thought you'd like a report on my findings of the last 5 weeks through meeting in New York. I have met with the C-suite executive editors covering the many imprints of Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins, and Macmillan. I have appointments lined up with Random House, Hachette, and Penguin through late April and May. So this is straight from the horse's mouth. Those I have met with, say that there are changes taking place with all the majors. The situation right now as they describe it is "the first major revolution in publishing since the arrival of the paperback."

As they did all those years ago, they are now feeling themselves in a state of crisis and unavoidable change. Let me give you the words of an exective editor at HarperCollins. According to her, the acquisition process has changed and is changing week by week. They have implemented a process whereby two editorial boards must pass on an editor's desired acquisition rather than the previous structure of one editorial board to reach consensus. At the first editorial board in addition to the usual suspects they now have added 1) a representative from the middle readers or YA editorial team, and 2) two specialists from their electronic multiplatform design group. The first reps reads 30 pages to see if the work can be adapted for young readers by editing and the second group evaluates EBooks, IPad adaptations, Iphone apps, games, merchandising, and all electronic marketing possibilities as well as TV and film adaptation. If the property meets consensus from all at the first board then it goes out to reps from a selection of other divisions of the company and a second evaluation takes place. That's it. In a nutshell. They are holding meetings with the executors of dead authors who are looking for revenues and reissuing classics for middle readers. ALL new acquisitons are now simultaneously released to book stores and as EBOOKS on the same date (Not one year later as it used to be with paperbacks.) Huge numbers of lawyers have been retained to work out the electronic rights details. This for some celebrity authors has become a cause celebre as they can self publish on line and keep more royalties. For the debut author there is no negotiation. The working situation is stressful. Many editors have been laid off or left. Editorial assistants are now jobs filled by interns. One of those assistants we knew last year has been unemployed looking for work in publishing after serving the editor in chief at S&S for a year, and unable to find a position in spite of numerous calls on his behalf by her personally. Some of the editors I met with had currently works under submission by authors I represent. I carried this news to them and they have been working on proposals of how they can adapt their work to the new market. Another has withdrawn his manuscript and is totally revising it into another project with electronic application.

So, there it is. A changed playing field. I've been through the paperback revolution and I'm sure we'll survive this one.

With regard to the literary novelists which I represent, of which you are most dear to me, there is a changed course, however. I cannot survive financially on the advances paid by a small, independent, prestigious press. Not only will that find me in bankruptcy, but I cannot afford the time it takes to persevere pitching and followup to those editors. Right now, I have to concentrate on providing manuscripts to the trade that meet their qualifications. Having content that is topical is irrelevant if the multiplatform proposal is not made clear to the initial editorial boards. This is where the current sales are going. All of the editors I've spoken with say that they are eager to find serious literary work for young readers from 12 up. They are willing to work with an author who has adult fiction to adapt for the younger reader. (That's good.) Will I be able to pursue small presses and independent presses again? I hope so. However, the reality is that none of my novels have sold recently , except Brian's which is an old fashioned tale of pirates in the 17th Century.

I know I'm selecting talented writers. One of them was just awarded $84,000 for the Truman Capote Fellowship for FIctionWriters last month. I still cannot break him through. I don't know how long this craziness about technology is going to impact on the major houses. I still have many more editors I want to see and test on what the others have told me. I do know that more than one editor told me that the news releases about advances at auction are a myth at lest for the last two months.

Pease let me know what you think you can contribute in the way of ideas for multiplatform apps for your work. We can have a think tank if need be with several of you. We'll get past those editorial boards eventually.