In its Arts section, Time magazine has presented what may be the best assessment of the future of books and the publishing industry of the past few years--and a lot has happened in the past few years. By Lev Grossman , it tells the amazing story of self publisher Lisa Genova and continues with a mini history of books and the novel. It includes important facts for the assessment of our own future as writers--things like "It isn't the audience. People are still reading. According to a National Endowment for the Arts study released on Jan 12 (2009), literary reading by adults has actually increased 3.5% since 2002, the first such increase in 26 years." This article will help you see where books are going--and where you are going with your career.
Here is the link:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1873122,00.html
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lev grossman, time magazine, carolyn howard-johnson, sharing with writers, future of books, e-books, ebooks, lisa genova, arts, books, publishing, history of books, novels, fiction, history of novels,
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog.
THAT was a fascinating article! I know some publishers who would blast the writer of that piece, too, espcially the claim that anything decent EVER came out of a vanity press.
ReplyDeleteThink I'll go read it again!
L. Diane Wolfe
www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
www.spunkonastick.net
www.thecircleoffriends.net
I saw that article as well. Very interesting. As with the recording business, I believe the future of publishing is in going digital. The Kindle, for instance, is an amazing first foray into the digital age of book reading. I never would have believed I'd be a supporter of digital readers--I have entire walls of my house lined with books--but these devices are an incredible innovation. People ARE still reading; they're just reading new ways.
ReplyDeleteGoing to check out the article now. Allyn
ReplyDelete