Publishing

Publishing has changed forever in the 21st century.

Print media (magazines, books, newspapers) no longer has the dominance it once had. With the coming of computers, and in particular the internet, it is now possible for virtually anyone to publish their own electronic publication. Even printed publications are easier and cheaper to publish than in the past, using a computer to write and compile pages, and either a computer printer (for small print runs) or a commercial printer (for larger print runs) to produce the hard copy.

Book and magazine publishers have suffered since the late 1990s as these changes have provided increasing competition. Large print media publishers are unlikely to disappear though, for several reasons.

Commercially viable publishing involves a range of skills, and it is rare to find individuals who can do the lot. Producing the work is only part of the job. Marketing and physically moving a publication from publisher to consumer are huge tasks requiring a great deal of expertise.