Writers, Editors, Publishers, and the Marketplace of Ideas

Freeland Writing Jobs' August 16, 2007, post, "Is it too easy to get published online?" is a pretty good discussion of the shift from the good old days of overworked editors deciding who did, and did not, get published, to the current age, when any yahoo can get published online, and often does.

I'm not sure if the typo in the title is intentional, to illustrate the lowered standards, or not.

The post is a good reminder of how much has changed. It also can be a reminder to unedited online writers, like me, that there's nothing standing between them and global embarrassment except their own good sense and proofreading ability.

As for the lack of those professional, old-school, editors and publishers, online, I don't think we'll miss them all that much. "Why Blogs Will Thrive" cites an example of why I think the marketplace of ideas is a better idea than a specialized caste of gatekeepers.