<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/e8503428-20d5-442c-9c35-86c789ed35d4/10E317D7-A2B5-44EF-85E6-FE8348D8D213/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301730_2.html?nav=rss_print/bookworld" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301730_2.html?nav=rss_print/bookworld" style="font-size: 11px;">www.washingtonpost.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301730_2.html?nav=rss_print/bookworld"><P>According to a study by Alan Sorensen at <A target="" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Stanford+University?tid=informline">Stanford University</A>, "In 1994, over 70 percent of total fiction sales were accounted for by a mere five authors." There's not much reason to think that things have changed. As Albert Greco of the Institute for Publishing Research puts it: "People who read fiction want to read hits written by known authors who are there year after year."</P><P>So we're experiencing the literary equivalent of a loss of biodiversity. All those people carrying around an 800-page novel looks like a great thing for American literacy, but it's as ominous as a Forbidden Forest with only one species of tree.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301730_2.html?nav=rss_print/bookworld">In "The Long Tail," Wired editor <A target="" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Chris+Anderson?tid=informline">Chris Anderson</A> suggested that new methods of distribution would shatter the grip of blockbusters. Niche markets would evolve and thrive as never before</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301730_2.html?nav=rss_print/bookworld">It's a cheering notion, but alas, the big head still pretty much overrules the long tail.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/10E317D7-A2B5-44EF-85E6-FE8348D8D213/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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