Joe Lansdale on publishing (and other things)

I just caught up with the Reading and Writing Podcast 008, a great interview with Joe Lansdale. As well as spilling a heap of good stuff about his writing, Joe also talks at some length about the current state of the publishing industry. He's got an interesting argument: that publishers always used to be small family businesses, and it's only since the 70s and 80s that the 'blockbuster mentality' crept in, much as it did in the movie business. The resurgence of small presses is evidence that things are levelling out again. Turbulent times, and bad news for the big boys, but maybe good news for writers like me (and thousads of others) who don't attract big advances and tend to fall under the radar of those aforementioned big boys. There's more, but you're best listening to Joe, who tells it far better than me. Oh, and if you haven't read Joe's work, go out and find yourself some right now!