Literary Optimism
People bemoan the decreasing readership in this country. Perhaps rightfully so. But no matter what anyone says or predicts, I can't help but have hope for improvement. I may just be naive, and most people wouldn't classify me as an outright optimist, so I may have a point.
First of all, I completely agree that the publishing industry is screwed up. For substantive improvement in the numbers of readers, they have to straighten up and create a better literary environment than the one we have now. I've written on and on in this blog about how they need to publish better books at lower prices. Scaling back mass market paperbacks in favor of more expensive trade paperbacks will only drive sales down further because people only have so much money to spend. Lower prices for books means book lovers can afford to buy more books.
They also need to find a way to bring along newer writers, not just ones that ghost for James Patterson, Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum. This takes some marketing effort, which takes money. How about less astronomical advances for the Big Names (let them make it up on royalties) and spread a little on the up and comers? This would be a massive improvement over the method of publish these six guys and see which, if any, happen to sell. Then we'll drop the rest and keep that guy...
If you're publishing a book by an author with talent, you shouldn't want to put yourself in that situation. Find ways to expose him/her to a readership. Publishing a book based on the idea that the big chains will order thousands is a process that consumes the present and excludes the future. It's not healthy for the industry or the reading community.
But my main point is a sort-of rebuttal to the folks who say there's no evidence of the Harry Potter phenomenon carrying over to other books. Hogwarts, I say. Er, hogwash. I do believe that if there were other books of that caliber available, there would be an immediate spillover. That only makes sense to me. Eragon and its ilk are too derivative, I believe, and as such lack the magic (forgive the pun) and sparkle of the Potter books. BUT millions of people, of all ages, have been turned on to these books in a very significant way. How can that help but have a positive effect in the future?
Couple that with the fact that this is even a topic of conversation. Take the No Child Left Behind Act (which I think is enormously flawed in concept, but that's another story), the increasing leeriness as to the advisability of unfettered video game usage, add it to the growing concern about the size of readership in this country, and you have pieces of an awareness that form an overall picture that calls for action. More emphasis on education should mean more children comfortable with reading. More parental control on the use of video games and a greater realization that reading is a good thing will help, as well.
If there is any truth in this, though, it will take a long time, years and years, for our society to reap the gains. So while the situation may not be good now, I don't think it means that reading is dead, merely sick or depressed. I still can't get over how many people I see on Friday and Saturday nights at Barnes & Noble. Those are the two nights that I'm worried about finding parking spaces. I find this to be remarkably cool.
Just don't ask what the hell I'm doing there on Friday and Saturday nights. You might spoil my rep.
First of all, I completely agree that the publishing industry is screwed up. For substantive improvement in the numbers of readers, they have to straighten up and create a better literary environment than the one we have now. I've written on and on in this blog about how they need to publish better books at lower prices. Scaling back mass market paperbacks in favor of more expensive trade paperbacks will only drive sales down further because people only have so much money to spend. Lower prices for books means book lovers can afford to buy more books.
They also need to find a way to bring along newer writers, not just ones that ghost for James Patterson, Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum. This takes some marketing effort, which takes money. How about less astronomical advances for the Big Names (let them make it up on royalties) and spread a little on the up and comers? This would be a massive improvement over the method of publish these six guys and see which, if any, happen to sell. Then we'll drop the rest and keep that guy...
If you're publishing a book by an author with talent, you shouldn't want to put yourself in that situation. Find ways to expose him/her to a readership. Publishing a book based on the idea that the big chains will order thousands is a process that consumes the present and excludes the future. It's not healthy for the industry or the reading community.
But my main point is a sort-of rebuttal to the folks who say there's no evidence of the Harry Potter phenomenon carrying over to other books. Hogwarts, I say. Er, hogwash. I do believe that if there were other books of that caliber available, there would be an immediate spillover. That only makes sense to me. Eragon and its ilk are too derivative, I believe, and as such lack the magic (forgive the pun) and sparkle of the Potter books. BUT millions of people, of all ages, have been turned on to these books in a very significant way. How can that help but have a positive effect in the future?
Couple that with the fact that this is even a topic of conversation. Take the No Child Left Behind Act (which I think is enormously flawed in concept, but that's another story), the increasing leeriness as to the advisability of unfettered video game usage, add it to the growing concern about the size of readership in this country, and you have pieces of an awareness that form an overall picture that calls for action. More emphasis on education should mean more children comfortable with reading. More parental control on the use of video games and a greater realization that reading is a good thing will help, as well.
If there is any truth in this, though, it will take a long time, years and years, for our society to reap the gains. So while the situation may not be good now, I don't think it means that reading is dead, merely sick or depressed. I still can't get over how many people I see on Friday and Saturday nights at Barnes & Noble. Those are the two nights that I'm worried about finding parking spaces. I find this to be remarkably cool.
Just don't ask what the hell I'm doing there on Friday and Saturday nights. You might spoil my rep.
posted by Rick Ollerman at 5:05 PM
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