Those Who Forget the Past Are Condemned to Republish It

I have a feeling of deja vu reading this article on Simon & Schuster launching their ebook retail Web site. It reminds me of a few years ago when it launched its SimonSays.com retail Web site. The same quote, practically, appears (this is not the fault of the writer): how do readers know who published a book? They don't. The brand is, if anything, with the author or the series (Chicken Soup, Dummies, etc.). Rarely, if ever, with the publisher. I have the good fortune to have written several books for Peachpit Press, which is known by name in the computer book field, and almost wrote a book for O'Reilly - ditto for them. Mass market publishers are fooling themselves yet again if they believe that customers will find them and not head to sites that list all ebooks available. I mean, did anyone ever analyze SimonSays.com's financial returns? Appears not.