Miskatonic Books blog today on the importance of the passionate genre book collector. Collectors pass-from-hand-to-hand otherwise neglected works, and equally importantly write articles about them, until one day changing tastes and new audiences eventually combine to bring the work to the attention of a wider readership…

“The purpose of the book collector is a considerable one. Genre fiction written within the small press will one day be seen as treasures by many rather than few. And we, as collectors, are simply the caretakers of these treasures. For example, society is just now starting to see the real influence that H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction has had on American literature, film and art nearly a half-century after his death.”

I think there may be a little more to say on the subject though. I mean in this ‘age of abundance’ and ebooks, is there such a thing now as pseudo-scarcity promoted by small publishers? And is this antiquated business model actually damaging to some sorts of authors? I mean, I can see the value of the beautifully printed and acid-free small-press book for passing the work on to the far future. And there are some types of books that require print but which only have perhaps 50 interested people and libraries in the world, such as Blurb POD photobook photo-essays on obscure topics. As for contemporary fiction, I think Cory Doctorow points the way to the future. Actually give away multi-format ebooks or sell then at very low sub-$2 prices, but then also sell an affordable print-on-demand paperback edition and a sumptuous top-of-the-line $300 hardback for collectors.