One thing I think is certain in the uncertainty is that there will always be a thirst for knowledge, and a quest for self-improvement. It is the nature of humanness. The day this stops being true is the day the we have all ceased to be human. And that is not going to happen in the lifetimes of anybody reading this blog in present time.

So the challenge is to look at the crumbling asphalt and instead of seeing a pothole of death that will consume all that is familiar and good, to see that the asphalt must give way in order to provide an opening to something more expanded – so expanded that we have a hard time imagining how it will take form. Within the excitement of any new possibility is the terrifying uncertainty of a reality not yet manifested.

There is always the choice to keep a death grip on the familiar because it provides the illusion of security, but the only security that really exists is the artful ability of going with the flow. Resistance is futile. And really… is that the kind of people we really want to be?

Terrific. I think a little “zen” is what we all need as we attempt to navigate the most uncertain waters of the book world.
And I loved this line:
“We’re in the ADD phase of the information age and nobody knows where we will land.”

Ideas have to get passed from person to person, and writing is still one of the most refined ways to do that. But you might have to keep reinventing yourself and your business to ride the line between authors and readers.

Zen enough?
STEVE O’KEEFE

For publishers, on the other hand, figuring out how to compete and be profitable with digital media has been an uphill battle. And look what has happened to the newspaper industry — it seems to be on its last legs. The new issue of Vanity Fair has an article about Rupert Murdock and how he is trying to force publishers to make consumers pay for newspaper content. Will be interesting to watch!