From Dickens to Substack: Is the Future of Books an Old Idea?
What if the future of publishing looks surprisingly like its past?
After more than a decade away from fiction, billionaire novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has returned with a new novel—and instead of following the familiar path through a traditional publisher, she is bringing the work directly to readers through Substack.
It sounds thoroughly modern.
But Charles Dickens might have recognized the idea immediately.
Long before the hardcover launch, the airport bookstore, Amazon, or the Kindle, millions of readers encountered novels in installments. Dickens built enormous audiences…
The skinny
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