Down, down, you bring me down...

Trying to get a small indie publishing house off the ground in today's publishing climate often feels like hurtling headlong in a burning car with no brakes towards the edge of the Abyss. And I don't just mean a long drop, I mean The Abyss. You know, demons and stuff.

There's so much doom and gloom around. Whether it's traditionalists panicking about the appearance of the army of ebooks cresting the top of the mountain, supported by legions of Kindles and iPads, the Google book settlement and what it means for authors, book stores struggling to turn a profit or large publishing houses shedding jobs quicker than James Patterson churns out books, I often wonder if we're not completely off our rockers to be getting ourselves into this, if indeed we know what this is.

Yet I can't help but feel we're at the start of someting, if not beautiful, then bloody exciting. Sure, it's a period of uncertainty for the publishing industry; and those who claim to know how things will pan out over the next five to ten are speculators at best, deluded at worst. But it is reassuring when respected voices such as agents Peter Cox, with this column in The Bookseller, and Nathan Bransford, with this blog post, say it how I see it.

Cynics will say it's a natural reaction from agents - to try and put a positive spin on events, given that they make their living by representing authors, and trying to find The Next Big Name, and a positive, optimistic unpublished writer will (generally) produce a better manuscript than one who's depressed because they think the world that they so desperately want to conquer is crumbling before their eyes.

I don't know Nathan, but I do know Peter through Litopia, and I don't believe he's bigging the future of publishing up because, well, it's his job. The impression I get is one of true excitement, and Peter is doing everything he can, both for his authors and the members of Litopia, to be at the cutting edge of publishing. It's a similar emotion that radiates from Nathan's blog; these guys love publishing, writing and, yes, even unpublished authors.

And that enthusiam is infectious. I feel sorry for anyone who can't share in it.

For us at Nemesis, one of the most important tasks we face over the coming few months is to learn everything there is to know about ebooks, and look to position ourselves to exploit the market, where possible. There are niche markets - such as the overseas Manx - where we know ebooks will likely present a more financially attractive proposition than a hard copy, which is handicapped by delivery costs to the US and elsewhere.

Now, if I could figure out how to bottle the enthusiasm emanating from these agents, we'd be quids in.

Till next time
JQ