Is the coming of e-books and CreateSpace, and all those other POD companies, payback time?

Is it a time when even the humblest writer can stand tall and proud? Is it a time when it will finally be less embarrassing to admit you self-publish, than confess to enjoying regular and meaningful relationships with sheep?

Maybe it is; maybe this really is the time when literature regains its soul, with a return to unbiased capitalism and a truly open market.

Then again, maybe, over time, nothing will change. Maybe celebrity dross will still dominate the best-selling lists; maintained by those seeking intellectual stimulation after so many years spent overdosing on back-issues of Hello and OK magazine.

Or maybe, just maybe, this really is a time when the previously-unpublished meek of the literary world truly will inherit the earth.

Right now the jury’s out, but I certainly hope so.