Literary Publishing in the Twenty-first Century

In the years following Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of movable type printing in the mid-fifteenth century, publishers provided a fast-growing readership with affordable works of literature, introducing an era of mass communication and permanently altering the structure of society. Today, the future of literary publishing is no longer certain, threatened as it is by a new wave of technological developments. And yet as market pressures increase and reading habits change, the paradigm shift currently underway in the publishing world is unfolding in fascinating ways.

The Internet has revolutionized the ways literature is discovered, disseminated, marketed, and read, leaving no element of the literary ecosystemwriters and readers, editors and publishers, critics and booksellersuntouched. The largest, most influential publishing houses in the U.S. have consolidated under massive corporate umbrellas, while one massive company plays a hegemonic role in the trade of printed and e-books. Readers are beset from all sides by the seductions of easily accessible entertainment. The percentage of Americans who read no books at all has tripled over the last few decades. And yet the number of us bearing MFA degrees in Creative Writing grows exponentially with each passing year, literary magazines proliferate, and independent book publishers pop up at a staggering rate.

Bringing together a wide range of perspectivesindustry veterans and provocateurs, writers, editors, and digital mavericksthis invaluable collection reflects on the current situation of literary publishing, and provides a road map for its shifting geography. How do editors and publishers adapt to this rapidly changing world? How are vibrant public communities in the Digital Age created and engaged? How can an industry traditionally dominated by white men become more diverse and inclusive? Mindful throughout of the extent and stakes of the ongoing transformation, Literary Publishing in the 21st Century invites us to consider the variety of activity and thought flourishing across the industry today.

Editors Wayne Miller, Kevin Prufer, and Travis Kurowski, have managed, worked with, edited, and been acquired by the best publishers at work today. As the editors of this collection, they've assembled the most interesting publishing professionals at work today in one place, including Erin Belieu; Sven Birkerts; Jessa Crispin; Jane Friedman; Gerald Howard; Kevin Larimer; Jonathan Lee; Richard Nash; Daniel Jose Older; Chris Parris-Lamb; Donna Shear; Daniel Slager; and Roberto Tejada.