IndieReader contributor Amy Edelmen has written an article whose title ends with a question mark. This is the title: “The Death of Literary Fiction?” (Spoiler: No.) It’s an interesting piece on the economics of e-publishing and the survival of fiction in the 21st century. Says Edelmen:
Let’s examine the assumption that literary fiction is somehow under threat from the digital revolution or self-publishing. It seems to be based on the relative absence of literary writers from the Top 100 of the Kindle Store, and the “genre” bent of all self-publishing success stories. While this is true – to an extent – I think it’s a grave mistake to assume that things will always be this way, or that literary fiction will therefore fare worse in a digital world.
Literary fiction has never been the biggest seller and has always been dwarfed by romances or thrillers. However, even if literary fiction is doing relatively worse in e-book form than in print, I still don’t think that’s any reason for dismay.
Also of interest, and tangentially related, is this article over at The Millions.