Article of the Day: “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the Publishing Industry in 10 easy Pages” (title mine)
New York Magazine (Sept. 14, 2008)
Summary (theirs):
The book business as we know it will not be living
happily ever after. With sales stagnating, CEO heads rolling, big-name
authors playing musical chairs, and Amazon looming as the new
boogeyman, publishing might have to look for its future outside the
corporate world.
Thoughts (mine):
A strong summary of the mess that is book publishing right now. The further I get from when my own book was published, the harder this stuff is to swallow. I’m probably angry and hurt, yes, but also sad that an industry where I had once seen my future will probably now only be a small part of it. It’s not that I think there’s no room for me. I just wonder if there is any real future at all.
Here’s where I’d love to say "Oh well," and skip higgildy piggildy on my way. On some days I can and return to my latest book project, an idea that I’ve been chasing for a few weeks now and hope to make real.
As I sit in the Mechanics Library, trying to imagine myself, again, on the shelves in a building like this, I’m writing out on the little table in front of me…
"I hope this is one of those days."