Election Unlikely To Mean Anything To The Publishing Industry

The election results yield a new government landscape. Will there be a new president? A new Congress that leans more Republican or more Democrat? There will be change on the state, city and local levels as well. No doubt, the election will yield numerous changes for the nation and the world. But will there be significant change for the book publishing and media industries?

One might guess that if Barack Obama wins again, for better or worse, we’ll have more of the same, and hopefully continued improvement in the economy. Another might argue that a Mitt Romney win could mean all kinds of changes, including ones to the tax code that may create a list of new winners and losers. But in terms of the publishing industry, neither presidential candidate has indicated he would do anything great or terrible for the industry.

Certainly, the more government changes, the more likely there will be change of some kind to our society and economy. And change in the real world, yields new books about such changes. Look for a lot of quick-to-press books about the new government coming into power.

The only distinction I can see if the Republicans get into power, as it relates to publishing, is that they are likely to support mergers of big companies, like Random House and Penguin, and behemoth monopolies like Amazon. Democrats are more likely to favor the little guy, in whatever shape and form that takes.

Go out and vote and make your voice heard. Support the candidate who values libraries, bookstores, publishing, the First Amendment and the craft of writing. The election results may prove to be something to write home about.

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person.