Open Road Media - Not All is Lost in Publishing, After All.

*****DISCLAIMER*****

Just so there is no doubt about my integrity as a blogger and as a reader, the following post is not a paid advertisement, nor have I received any e-books from the publisher gratis that would prompt me to say the praise I do. I have purchased Open Road Media titles with my own money and now own 23 books published by them. In comparison, I have received, upon my request, four e-books for review from Open Road. I hope that clears the question of integrity and any hidden motives. My motives are out in the open: saying thank you for doing a great job :-)

*****END DISCLAIMER*****

It is not very often that I write about publishers. Most of the time, I'm more interested in literature and reading than in the companies that allow me to have access to that literary world. However, precisely because of what I just wrote, I realized that my attitude may be unfair and equal attention should be paid to both, even though my love of books will always take precedence.

I won't beat the dead horse here speaking of the future of publishing. Others have done it better and more extensively than I ever would. My short opinion here is only shared as an introduction to why I chose to make a publisher a main subject of this post. Amid the outcries that publishing is breathing its last, that e-readers, e-books and self-publishing are taking over the world so tightly held in the hand of traditional-format books, I am not worried in the least. Yes, the change is happening as I'm writing this. But change is good. Change is progress. Without change, we still would be burned on the stake for daring to read the Bible ourselves, instead of relying on the Church to read it to us (in the language the masses couldn't even understand). I like to go forward with the times. Consequently, I like and appreciate publishers who are open-minded and bold enough to go forward with the times as well.

Enter, Open Road Integrated Media. This is the forward thinking company with people equally willing to see and make change happen.

Celebrating the past. Building the future. 360° e-publishing.

And they do indeed come through on their promises.

Celebrating the past - check.

Building the future - check.

360° e-publishing - check.



For the past couple of years I have been noticing Open Road's steady rise on the e-book market and in the publishing world altogether. I have to say that this company is doing a fantastic job in giving readers one of the biggest compilation of e-books across the literary genres to choose from. They have biographies, mysteries, thrillers, translated works from across the pond. I think the best part of their contribution to the world of e-books is bringing back to life all the titles that up until now have been unavailable to owners of e-readers. Now, if your little heart so desires, you can have your fill of Pearl S. Buck, William Styron, John Gardner, Octavia Butler, Stephen Coonts, Jonathan Carroll, et al. Really, my head is spinning looking at the list of all the authors, whose titles Open Road offers. There are so many and of such great quality that it's impossible to list them all. But here, go take a look yourself and see if your excitement doesn't start growing dangerously fast.

If the names of all the writers aren't enough, you can always look at all the partners working with Open Road Media. It's simply fantastic what crazy choices there are. Just the thought of all the future releases brought right to our electronic doorsteps makes me dizzy with anticipation and...that's right, excitement. Because this is what Open Road people do best and why they are so important:

Open Road Media publishers will make us, readers all over the country, finally excited about the future of publishing and the future of books. No gloom and doom here. All you have to do is enter that wonderful world of electronic publishing and see if you don't feel like never turning back.

Last but not least, I would like to extend a very special thank you to Iris Blasi, a Marketing Manager in Open Road Media, who is just about one of the nicest people in publishing I got to correspond with. Very coincidentally (although I believe things do work in strange ways like that), when I was in the process of composing this post, I received a personal email (not an automated response) from Iris after I requested one of their titles for review. In it, for the first time since I started blogging over four years ago, I received a 'thank you' for doing what I do and I was encouraged to  'keep up the excellent work'. It was unexpected and, I'm going to be honest here, greatly needed for my own morale. It warmed my heart, truly.  Thank you :D.