The publishing community and the Long Tail

“One of the things that the publishing industry has clearly grokked is the fact that their works, God knows which ones (but certainly including those Not in Print) definitely possess “long tail” value. And capturing that value is only really possible through digital distribution, in some manifestation. I think this is one of the most basic reasons why litigation over the rights to digitize and distribute old dusty books won’t go away quickly. There are at least a few in the publishing industry, after all, who read Wired. It’s all about revenue.” – Peter Brantley, who is with the California Digital Library and organized the Reading 2.0 conference.