The changing face of publishing

It used to be that getting published followed established rules:  You finished your manuscript, put together a proposal, got yourself and agent, and submitted your book to the various publishers in hopes of landing a deal.  Like so many other things, the Internet has changed all that and the agents and publishers are now less the gatekeepers than the middlemen when it comes to getting your book in front of the public.  And the job of middlemen is to be cut out as soon as possible.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch looks at publishing in the 21st century and how it's now less like this:

1. Writers provide content (product) to Publishers. 
2. Publishers distribute that content to Distributors. 
3. Distributors distribute books to Bookstores. 
4. Bookstores distribute that content to Readers.

and more like this:

1. Writers provide content (product) to Bookstores
2. Bookstores distribute that content to Readers

Bottom line: Writers are becoming more like small businesses than publishing employees–and that's a good thing.