Interesting (if a bit opinionated) article on the rise and (claimed) fall of the "right-wing book market" — whose pundits were pleased as punch to see publishers set up specialty imprints and the like for them when things were heating up a decade ago, but are now complaining that they are being marginalized and stuck in a "conservative ghetto" with other folk who have jumped on the bandwagon and glutted the market.
It's a cautionary tale for any sort of entrepreneur. There's some early value to being identifiable as the best garlic-guac-burger maker in town with a big sign that says "HOME OF THE GARLIC-GUAC-BURGER" — but what happens when a bunch of other garlic-guac-burger joints open — or when people get tired of garlic-guac-burgers and want to try tandoori-banana-brats? Then that big sign isn't getting you business, it's driving it away.
The Right-Wing Book Market is Dying a Free-Market Death
The free market is a cruel beast, which is something the book publishing industry has been made acutely aware of in the past decade or two. But now, even in one arena where that industry …