Digital is all the buzz at BEA

I found the coverage of the Book Expo America (BEA) this year to be very telling. There's much discussion about digital content veruses the traditional book format that most of us grew up with. Perhaps this is a knee-jerk reaction to the drop in sales, but perhaps this is just keeping up with the changing times.

For years, the traditional publishing industry has resisted electronic delivery of books and other written material because it just didn't fit within their business model. I'm beginning to think that this stance is becoming more and more difficult to maintain, especially given the current economic climate. BUT I strongly maintain that the generations coming up are having a profound impact on how writers deliver their stories and other written products to their audiences.

One of the shouts at the BEA to the publishing world is don't be like the music industry. Here's the link to this reference:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6661782.html?industryid=49050

Again, the generations coming up demanded change to how their music is delivered and they have enough buying power to have a voice.

The quesiton is - how well will the publishing industry or those of us who write, listen?

The next few years will be very interesting indeed.