The Columnless Column

Many of you may have noticed there was no column this Monday morning. (Hey, I gave ya two last week...) I had an idea all ready to go, but halfway through the writing of it, I realized it still needs to simmer a bit. So lemme ask yous guys something. The column is called "Author Up or Author Down," and it's about reversing the current business model and putting authors in the driver's seat rather than the publishers.

So my question is this. What role do you think publishers should have in the 21st century? Are they still valid "gatekeepers"? Is there any reason why publishing wouldn't work as a service to the writers, rather than the writers essentially working for the publishers? Let me know.