Public Service Announcement

"They were all in love in God and they were drinking from a fountain that was pouring like an avalanche, coming down the mountain."-Butthole Surfers, Pepper

Alright, given the time of year it's time for me to make a public service announcement: Give books for Christmas this year.

Sure, it seems like a no-brainer for me to say that, but seriously, here are a few reasons it's a good idea:

1.) You'll be supporting an industry that's pretty much all-American, from stage one to the bookstore. Books are written, acquired, printed, stored, distributed, and sold in the U.S. When you buy a book, unless it's translated or brought over from the UK (damn you Rowling!), most of your money will be staying here. In our economy. Helping it get back on its feet.

2.) Hardcover books still say, "I care," or at least, "Here's something I think you should have around for awhile." Trade paperbacks give a similar effect. Cheap paperbacks say, "Here's something fun. Don't take it too seriously and pass it on when you're done." Either way, it's a good gift.

3.) Books encourage the dreamer and the storyteller in all of us--and I really mean this. There is no other form of entertainment that gives the reader such a large role in the creation of the story as it happens. Not movies, not videogames (they offer "interactivity" of a different kind), not TV. Only Dungeons and Dragons might have books beat for stimulating the imagination. If you want your kids, or anyone else, to be creative, spoonfeed them books with great characters and great stories. You won't be disappointed.

Okay, that's my spiel for the day. Now go buy some books. Everyone deserves pulp fiction in their stocking at Christmas.

Good News

"I will buy you a new life..."-Everclear, I Will Buy You a New Life

Good news! Publishing may be tightening its belt, but apparently it's not all doom and gloom. Thanksgiving weekend went well---perhaps a precursor for Christmas sales? Perhaps consumers have decided that $8 for a book that will give them at least a few days of enjoyment is a better buy than $20 for a DVD that they'll watch once for two hours?

Also, according to Kristin Nelson's blog publishers are still acquiring briskly. Sounds pretty good to me. Who knows? Maybe there will even only be this one round of layoffs and that'll be it. Not too bad of an escape, given the state of the economy. Either way, things are looking up. Expect less chicken little and more about writing next week.

Eeew

"Disaster's in the air!"-The Lion King, Can You Feel the Love Tonight? (film version)

Headline: Terrible things happen in publishing! Jobs lost! Houses restructured! Big names step down!

Upside: Only one house has announced it will be acquiring less (Houghton Mifflin) and they seem to be backing away from that stance. Companies are dropping big names and higher payroll numbers first. Shakeups may eventually inject new life into an industry that was getting a bit stodgy in some ways.

Downside: Scary time to be working in publishing. Time to keep your head low, not take risks, and hope to keep your job. They will probably come after the small names and smaller payroll numbers next. Less likely to find someone who'll go out on a limb for you. There will be fewer buyers for books and more competition for jobs.

Upshot: Who knows? Seems like there's going to be a lot of people with a great deal of publishing experience and pull jobless in the near future. I find it hard to believe that these people will remain out of work for too long. It wouldn't surprise me to see new small presses, agencies, or other publishing entities forming within the year. It also wouldn't surprise me if the elimination of some of the more high paying positions in the publishing hierarchy makes room for more people willing to work for a pittance.

Bad time to be looking for a job in publishing? Absolutely. But the industry will recover and as it does, there will be room for new blood. Bad time to be trying to get a book published? Probably. Maybe sit on it for a few months until things calm down. It'll keep.

I have yet to read a comprehensive rundown of what's going on in the industry. When I do, I'll pass it on and give my opinion. In the meantime, stay tuned to the blogs on my sidebar and Publisher's Weekly if you want to enjoy the fun. If not, I suggest hampsterdance as a sunny alternative.

The Future of Books?

"So I dub thee unforgiven..."-Metallica, Unforgiven

Alright, so I had an original blog post planned for today, but my sister sent me a link that I couldn't resist passing on to others. The NY Times online has a great article about the future of books. It focuses specifically on the agreement between Google, publishers, and the Author's Guild regarding Google's digitization and searchable index of every title it can get its hands on.

It's a short read, a very interesting perspective, and a source of optimism in the face of what seems like a fairly pessimistic situation. I'm not entirely sure I agree with the article's author, however. Personally, I can imagine my hypothetical kids bringing a Kindle on vacation with them instead of two or three books. On the other hand while children's books may become a tough sell, I can also imagine reading paper books becoming a sign of maturity--like drinking wine. The market may change, and will probably shrink, but I doubt it will ever disappear entirely.

And besides---even if publishing moves completely to e-books, someone still has to vet and market the untold billions of e-books out there, someone has to negotiate the contracts, and someone has to produce the e-books themselves. There will always be a publishing industry, and if it looks different 20 years from now, well, what industry won't? And what industry looked the same 20 years ago? That's just life.

WoW Lessons Pt. 2

"What we are is the sum of a thousand lies, what we know is hardly nothing at all..."-Rise Against, The Strength to Go On

I was thinking more about the storytelling that's being done in the World of Warcraft expansion, and I realized that there's another interesting facet to what they're doing. Basically--everyone's character is doing the same quests. On the surface, it should be very difficult for players to buy that their character is special at all, because they know that every other character is getting the exact same storyline played out for them. This may be why quests until this expansion pack were fairly bland--it's easy for you to believe that everyone has to kill x amount of wolves so Farmer Brown's cows can survive. It's more difficult to believe that the greatest villain the world has ever seen is taking a personal interest in every single adventurer that comes close to his lair.

And yet it works.

I think that's a testament to the oft-maligned imaginations of videogame players, many of whom, by the way, are adults. Somehow, we've all managed to either suspend our disbelief or construct a narrative in which our character is one of maybe a few thousand very special people, which is still pretty cool. It's a surprising phenomenon, and one I'd like to get some more information on. Maybe I'll e-mail the people over at the Daedalus Project and see if I can get them to do a survey on it.