Big Publishers Protect Us from Self-Published Dreck, Bring Us Bieber Fever and Lohan Lowdown

As you may have noticed, one of the recurring whines from large traditional publishers lately has been that they earn the right to force exorbitant non-discountable ebook prices on readers (through the agency price-fixing model) because of all the value they add in their intermediary role between authors and readers. There's the editing, the formatting, the holding of authors' hands, etc.

But one of the really important roles they play is that of the literary gatekeeper, ensuring that our reading sensibilities are not too often tarnished with self-published dreck. They sift through stacks and slush piles of manuscripts and make sure that the only books that are published are the Crème de la Crème, and then they make sure to target their marketing dollars effectively so that works of real distinction rise to the top of the bestseller lists.

We should thank our lucky stars for that, eh?

So I'm pleased to report this morning that HarperCollins will bring out a new official memoir from the multi-platinum selling 16-year-old pop superstar Justin Bieber in October. The tome will tell the behind-the-scenes story of his journey to superstardom, but the really good news is that there are a lot of pictures. Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story includes never-before-seen photos of the Canadian teen. The hardcover book is already available for pre-order at a nice discount from Amazon, but alas, there's no word on an ebook release. If there is an ebook, this may be a good opportunity for Apple's iBooks store to build market share.

Update: This is starting to feel a bit like the 1920s when Joyce, Lawrence, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner were all publishing simultaneously, but now there's word that Lindsay Lohan may also be soon to release a jailhouse memoir!