Hay Festival debate: Are we publishing too many books?

With the Hay Literary Festival in full swing, Front Row asks the question "Do we publish too many books?"

In front of a live audience, Samira and the panel discuss some of the pressing issues that face the publsihing industry today: has the emergence of digital books diluted the quality and undermined the value of books? Is self publishing a route to new and exciting authors or a path to derivative mediocrity? With so many authors, is it possible to make a living as a writer and are the writers who do make it representative of the diversity of modern Britain?

Taking part: Philip Jones editor of the trade journal The Bookseller, Crystal Mahey-Morgan Digital Sales and Marketing Director at Zed Books, Alexandra Pringle, the group editor in chief of Bloomsbury and Ali Sparks author of 41 books for children.