An old song about books and the Internet

The Internet is the best thing that's ever happened for authors. Tools such as blogs and social networks enable writers to promote their work directly to readers, generating free publicity. Authors are just now discovering what some underground musical groups began doing a few years ago: Promoting themselves and their work on the Internet instead of waiting for someone else to do it.

In the music business, the Internet's downside has been piracy. Too many music lovers have discovered that they can download the music they want online without paying for it. Sales of CDs are in freefall, and it's hard to deny that online music downloading is unrelated.

Or is that too simplistic? Perhaps the music industry just wasn't giving people the product they wanted -- or the way they wanted it. After all, most people just want songs, they don't want albums. Finally, listeners are able to download (and buy) just the music they want, and use it the way they want.

Many "experts" have predicted this same thing will happen to the nonfiction book market: Readers will surf the Web and get the nuggets of information they need for free. People will start buying books by the chapter, or even the page.

It's all a crock, according to John Makinson, Penguin Group chief executive and chairman:

Consumers don't want albums, they want tracks. And in publishing, people want books, not chapters.

I tend to agree with Makinson. I don't see people beating down any doors trying to buy books by the page or chapter. As a matter of fact, I remember in 2005, when Amazon announced its "Pages" program to allow customers to buy books for a few cents per page. Or at least that was the plan.

Here we are two years later, and Amazon Pages is apparently still on the drawing board. Or not.
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Steve Weber is author of Plug Your Book! Online Book Marketing for Authors