SOME INTRIGUING OBSERVATIONS

ON THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK INDUSTRY 

A recent edition of the Publishers Newsletter produced by the Jenkins Group included some interesting comments on our industry and where it is headed in the future. I thought these were an appropriate post for this-last- of- the- year blog.  

“There may still be something to the theory, much circulated these days, that books can produce an escape from financial misery,” says Motoko Rich in a New York Times article. He cites the first year sales of a million copies of Gone With the Wind when it was released in the Great Depression year 1936.  

In the article, literary agent Larry Weissman is quoted saying that people haven’t been reading this past year because they were clicking onto political blogs for election updates every 20 minutes. But Weissman adds, ”I think and I hope …there’s a yearning for authenticity out there and people are going to go back  to the things that really matter, and one of those things, I hope, will be reading books.” 

Authors Guild president Roy Blount, Jr commented on the hit bookstore sales are taking this season, but coyly adds, “Booksellers don’t lose enough money to receive Congressional attention,“ an allusion to the government bailouts for banks and car makers. 

Blount suggests a “book-buying splurge” to help the stores because authors need them and so do neighborhoods. Blount also reminds readers that everyone will have a birthday over the forthcoming year, and books are an ideal gift. He recommends holding off GPS and flat screen TV purchases, using the money to buy books now because those appliances will be discounted heavily after the holiday season. 

A solid idea was included from Steve Rosen, author of Cincinnati City Beat. With Obama already looking like a replica of New Deal originator Franklin Roosevelt, the columnist recommends reviving the Federal Writer’s Project, one of the New Deal successes back in the 1930’s. That program put 6,600 writers of all skill levels back to work. Not a bad idea to launch side-by-side with the President-elect’s plans for a massive infra-structure works project. 

It’s reassuring to know that there are people churning up ideas to preserve the health of one of the nation’s most treasured cultural industries. 
 

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SECRECY AT THE WHITE HOUSE CONTINUES,

JEOPARDIZING ACCURATE REPORTING BY AUTHORS 

It’s an administration that began in secrecy, if you recall the nefarious maneuverings over the Florida vote count, operated for two terms in tight secrecy and is now ending in secrecy. Some things never change in the Bush world. 

The Washington Post reports that efforts by American historians to recover missing e-mail records from the White House and preserve them as historical records is facing huge opposition from the Bush administration. Thousands of administration e-mails are allegedly lost, and historians are struggling to retrieve them. Amita Jones, executive director of the American Historical Association states that there is “A context that is not reassuring.” The missing material is vital to understanding the nation’s current predicaments, the Post article points out. 

The VP’s office also is battling to withhold certain documents from preservation at the National Archives. Cheney, the administration’s Machiavelli-in-chief, contends only the limited number of e-mails that came to him directly from the President are eligible to be stored at the Archives. The master of undercover and secrecy insists that documents that relate to his own initiatives are to be considered exempt. 

It certainly isn’t hard to understand why our two “great leaders” are scrambling to cover up their mistakes and what probably are their indictable activities. There’s one consolation. Both will be gone with all their baggage in another month or so. Good riddance!

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KINDLE LOVERS MAY FIND ONLY

BLACK COAL IN THEIR HOLIDAY STOCKINGS 

While we’re talking about new innovations related to our book world, certainly Amazon’s Kindle comes immediately to mind. Jeff  Bezos’ latest innovation has been a remarkable success. Introduced last year, it sold out in holiday season 2007, and managed a replay this year.  

After Oprah’s  description of her “favorite new gadget,” sales soared and left Bezos empty-handed. Not an impressive showing for the book selling pioneer that Publishers Weekly named its Book Person of the Year. 

Nonetheless, I think we all consider Bezos a very worthy choice for the honor. Over the 14 years of its existence, he has consistently reached out for innovative selling techniques and has built Amazon into an incredibly succesful online retailer. Using the key approaches of wide selections, easy accessibility and a consistent personalized relationship to its customer’s, the company has kept growth in the double-digit realm through most of those years. 

Congratulations, Jeff! 

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APPEAL OF JUDGE’S RULLING DROPPED IN

LAWSUIT OVER HARRY POTTER LEXICON 

It hasn’t taken very long for RDR Books to drop its appeal of Judge Robert Patterson ruling that the publisher’s controversial, unauthorized Harry Potter Lexicon, assembled by Steven Vander Ark infringed on author J.K. Rowling’s copyright. RDR announced at the time of withdrawal that it was publishing an entirely new version that the publisher claims is a “lot better,” and is “following the road map” the Judge described to avoid infringement charges. 

The new paperback will be released on January 12 and will be titled The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials. 

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HO, HO, HO! SANTA’S HERE TO HELP YOU

SELL LOTS MORE OF YOUR BOOKS 

The “Get Caught Reading” promotion mounted from coast to coast by the Association of American Publishers just picked up a new celebrity to add to its list of avid readers. Posters of Santa reading are available for bookstores. Internet booksellers can obtain digital art to use on their web sites. Even e-cards picturing St Nick  are available on the “Get Caught Reading” site

(www.getcaughtreading.com). E-mail them to your customer list.

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CHAIN BOOKSELLERS REPORT SLIPPING VOLUMES 

Borders’ announcement this week that total third quarter sales fell 10% comes on the heels of the recent report from Barnes & Noble that its volume fell by 4.4% for the quarter. The 12.8 % decline in Borders’ comparable store sales (sales in stores that were in operation last year) was also somewhat greater than those posted by B&N (7.4%) and Books-A-Million (9.9%). 

Despite the poor showing, Borders announced that it has withdrawn from consideration of a sale, and will continue to operate as an independent, publicly-traded company. 

Executives at most booksellers point to slow customer traffic, especially in September and October, as the reason for the sales slippage. Although polling results showed that books were among the four most likely items for holiday gifting this year, the lead-up to the holiday rush was anything but encouraging. 

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CANADIAN AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS

ARE FEELING THE ECONOMIC PINCH THESE DAYS 

With the Canadian exchange rate against the American dollar careening to unexpected low levels (vacillating in the 75 to 80 cent range), publishers are desperately attempting to adjust pricing on new books hitting the market for the holiday selling season. 

Under Canadian law, booksellers are allowed to “sticker” higher prices on the books, but publishers are not permitted to do so.  

Many like Indigo, the biggest book retailer north of the border, are not changing prices. Some are using the exchange rate to promote books as the perfect bargain gift. You can rest assured that any new printings will carry the adjusted prices, and that too will add to the confusion and create a more difficult situation for the booksellers who will have to adjust titles to a single price. 

THE REAL ESTATE CRISIS HAS

PUBLISHERS WONDERING WHERE TO TURN 

The subprime mess has already reached into the publishing world. Some book publishers are betting that it will stimulate a much higher demand for titles guiding home owners and potential buyers through the currently morass. Others have seen sales to both booksellers and readers plummet because home sales activity is so far down.  

In an article published earlier this week by Publishers Weekly, writer Juan Martinez sums up the uncertainty. He reports that industry officials are wondering “(a) will readers seek books that offer big profits or books that help them stay afloat? and (b) will the book market take a big hit or will investors turn to real estate books in bigger numbers that ever before?”  Interesting questions! 

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NPD GROUP STUDY LISTS BOOKS AS FOURTH

HIGHEST CHOICE FOR GIFTS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON 

While on the subject of book sales amidst so many predictions that the holiday season will be dismal across the board, it is cheering to find that NPD Group’s consumer survey ranked books fourth among the top ten items that shoppers plan to buy as gifts. Only apparel, toys and movies topped books. 

The study found that 26% of consumers surveyed will spend less overall this year than they did during the 2007 holiday season. It should come as no surprise that 60% of those surveyed indicated they would head to stores and web sites that offered sale prices and special values. 

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GWEN IFILL TAKES HEAT FOR MODERATING DEBATE

AFTER WRITING A SOON-TO-BE-RELEASED BOOK 

The first Vice Presidential debate is over, and finally the din has died down about TV personality and author Gwen Ifill moderating it when her book Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama is scheduled to be released soon. Some consider it a conflict of interest. 

Ifill, who is a consummate journalist and a very fair and objective person certainly performed without prejudice to either candidate. She was right down the middle as she posed her questions.  

If I had any complaint about her performance it is that she did not step in to control the “peripatetic” Sarah Palin who wandered from every question Ifill posed and used the bully pulpit to orate on unrelated subjects as her debate camp instructors obviously told her to do. 

The losers, as a result, were the millions of viewers who never heard Palin’s responses to a number of Ifill’s questions that were key to helping voters make their decisions. That left many of us wondering whether Palin really is capable of answers on issues that are critical to the successful functioning of top level officials in Washington. 
 

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