Deal News
Among the newest deals: Sarah Palin's next book, a "celebration of American virtues and strengths"; Maureen Callahan's Lady Gago bio POKER FACE; a book from Florida State University's football coach Bobby Bowden; THE UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER PARTY BOOK; and more.
I want you to tear off my face. My whole face. And then, on the one-in-a-million chance that I might learn Braille and accidentally thumb through one of these books, please chop off my hands.
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11 comments:
I just don't understand it...
So much money for so much garbage when so much of real value waits to exist.
-ce.
And who on earth BUYS this shit? Someone must, or they would stop publishing it . . . but have you ever spotted someone reading, like, Tori Spelling's memoir? (I read my copy in the bathroom so no one will know. That Tori, she's such an enigma.)
Yeah, obviously they think there's a market for it since they're putting it out. It kind of reminds me of DFW's essay, "How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart." (I keep citing essays from Consider the Lobster because I'm currently reading it and constantly surprised at its poignancy in my everyday conversations.)
I like to tell myself that these shit books are funding the publication of good books that just don't get so much airtime. Sure, Sarah Palin, you keep making a profit for Harper Collins so there can be another Colum McCann paperback out next year. (Okay, McCann's books probably make a profit, too. But probably not enough to carry the criminally-demanding margin expectations of whatever evil conglomerate owns Harper Collins. And you thought I was being positive here.)
Maybe . . . but I'm not so sure about that trickle-down theory of publishing anymore. Now I wonder if shit books don't just fund swollen advances for more shit books.
Maybe they do. But I don't think so. More people buy and read books than ever before in history. Money is being made by these companies, or they would stop. And there are very good editors in every house asserting the role of literature in that publishing world. Here is a story collection by an unknown author being put out this month and wholeheartedly promoted by Random House: http://www.amazon.com/Loved-You-Would-Tell-This/dp/1400068576/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267772490&sr=1-1. The marketing effort has been thorough and the author feels very supported by the press. It got paid for somehow.
It's easy to be skeptical or even a little bitter. I spend a lot of time in one or the other of those moods. But there is ongoing, meaningful good news in publishing, and it's not because Robin Black's wonderful story collection is going to make Random House's greedy parent company a billion dollars.
Yeah, and another example, look at some of the stuff Harper Perennial puts out, with good press and marketing backing.
And even beyond the big houses, the indie/small house world is thriving these days thanks to ye' ol' internet. If I ever meet Al Gore, I'm going to thank him profusely for enabling the rise of independent music and literature via the web. So, to the degree that you're willing to dig around online, you almost don't even need to look at the big house presses, though I suppose this still doesn't mean anything regarding the inordinate amount of money going to shit books, there's still plenty of amazing, challenging writing finding a home.
I do sound bitter, don't I? The funny thing is, I don't feel bitter. As sure as I am that the old Blockbuster-based system is bad for business and literature (as happy as I am for Robin Black, I have to call that situation an anomaly; a big house getting behind a story collection is about as common as a three-eyed toad) I'm just as sure that the next publishing revolution is nigh. That's right, I said nigh. Need any greater proof of my optimism?
I didn't mean to call you bitter so much as to acknowledge my own bitterness, B. Robin's experience may be an anomaly, or it may be a turn of tide, which will, of course, recede cyclically as they always do. There are other examples in recent years and lots more forthcoming of big houses promoting story collections by unknown writers, and doing it well. (A quick Amazon search for short story, sorted by date, brings up pages upon pages of forthcoming collections, many of which are big-house titles.)
The bottom line is that publishers are now responsible only to the shareholders of their parent companies. There's nothing inherently wrong with this--it's just the way it is. When consumers demand good books, publishers will buy, print, and promote them. It's our job as writers and community members to continue building and feeding that demand. I don't think that's an impossible task or a lost cause. If this makes me a nitwit, I can accept that.
I feel a good bit of optimism about the coming years; I mean, there's the example of Black's latest you gave, Justin Taylor's latest, EVERYTHING HERE IS THE BEST THING EVER, recently out on Harper and getting a decent amount of backing (I default to Harper because they're pretty seem to be forefronting some good, challenging stuff), Shane Jones's LIGHT BOXES being reprinted at Penguin, Harper again with Blake Butler's upcoming novel, &c. Granted, I suppose you're perhaps looking more toward story collections, but under the big tent of "worthwhile reading," there's a decent amount still coming out of the big houses, I feel. But, I've been accused of being overly optimistic more than once.
Guys, I'm no expert on the business of publishing. And I'll admit that part of my frustration here might be as base as, "Hey, why does Bobby Freaking Bowden get a book when I don't? I've been working so hard!" Which is an ugly and childish sentiment, I know.
But if the business model was so great, then why have we seen all these layoffs in a time of record book consumption, as V noted earlier? And does it seem right that the fate of a hundred midlist authors depends on the success of a Lady Gaga biography?
The system seems to be predicated on an old system of Reaganomics (remember voodoo economics? Take care of the rich, and they'll take care of everyone else? Except the rich just took care of themselves, and the politicians continued to take care of the rich?)
There's no denying that a good number of amazing books are out or forthcoming; I'm just suggesting that these books are coming out despite the dominant model in publishing.
At least they're coming out, though. That's something to be thankful for.
And, yes, we are the only ones who can change this; as book-buyers, we are the straws that stir the drink.
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