Beginning October 13th, Book●ed is delighted to rebroadcast its classic interviews and book reviews on UStream … because good books don’t have an expiration date. The shows continue to be accessible in the Book●ed Archives and book excerpts are also available on the website. First up on the rebroadcasts is my thought-provoking interview with transgender author Renee James, winner of several awards for her psycho-social thriller, Coming Out Can Be Murder.
If you’re in or near Milwaukee on October 18th, come to the charming Charles Allis Art Museum for an evening celebrating the Centennial of movie legend Tyrone Power. Film historian Dale Kuntz will interview Tyrone Power’s daughter, actress Taryn Power Greendeer. The classic 1938 movie, Suez, will be shown. The moving memoir/biography Searching for My Father, Tyrone Power by international star Romina Power will be on sale. Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited and reservations are suggested.
Who doesn’t have the great American novel waiting to be written? Or maybe it’s a collection of poetry begging to spill on to pages of a book? Nearly everyone I talk to confesses at some point to harboring the dream of being a published author. Writing groups are gaining in popularity, with members ranging from the pure dreamers to ambitious authors who have prepared a manuscript and are searching for the path to publication. Are you one of these writers?
The dream of having your book published is accompanied by the expectation that it will be purchased to be read; that fortune will accompany fame, or at least cover your publishing costs. This hope exists whether your book is published traditionally or self-published.
With traditional publishers, production, distribution and related professional costs are born by the publishing company but authors have become more responsible for their own promotional efforts; and the book’s “life” is under the control of the publisher. Self-published authors bear total responsibility and costs but maintain total control of every step.
Whether you go the traditional route or self-publish, keep your day job. Until your book sells in the several thousands of copies, the only riches you will receive will be the knowledge that some people are reading your work. How can this be when hardcover books sell for $25 and up, a paperbacks sell for $15 and up, and eBooks run $7 and up? Where does the money go?
Welcome to “trickle down income” in the publishing world. If your book is published traditionally, you will periodically be paid a royalty for books sold after the publisher deducts all its costs plus its profit. If you self-publish, you pay yourself … after you pay anyone you employ to get your book into the hands of readers: editor, proofreader, technical formatter, cover designer, printer, (possibly a warehouse), distributor, marketer, (maybe a web designer), administrator.
Production is not necessarily the most expensive factor. Distribution takes a huge bite off the retail price. Authors can expect a wholesale discount of 40 percent to be taken off the retail price by major book stores and big box stores. Libraries typically take a 20 percent discount. Distributors take 15 percent on top of those discounts. Sellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble act as both distributor and seller, taking 55 percent off your retail price. If you use an agent, expect 10-15 percent off the wholesale price to be collected for services.
Ongoing promotion is a book’s life insurance. Regardless of how a book is published, authors are expected to oversee this job. Maintaining websites, arranging book signings, giving talks and doing interviews are some of the recommended promotional activities.
Some expenses occur once while others will be recurring. Every responsibility you handle yourself rather than hire out is more money in your pocket … if you know what you’re doing and you don’t mind spending your time on it … time you could use to write your next book.
Scared? Don’t be. Knowledge is power. Empower yourself by learning all the aspects of taking your brainchild from start to a successful finish. But, at least for now, don’t quit your day job.
My April 28, 2013 blog – The Great Cover-Up – discussed the impact of book covers on sales. I was reminded of the post when I learned of the uproar over a recently released edition of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It seems the latest cover of the classic book – written for children but carrying the undercurrent of adult themes – has a decidedly adult image; it features a young girl who hauntingly resembles the murdered Jon Benet Ramsey and most little pageant queens in the Toddlers and Tiaras television show.
Presumably, the girl on the cover represents one of the significant characters in the book, but she is not the most significant character or even the most significant secondary character. However, her depiction on the cover is intentionally shocking. Some critics call the new cover “creepy”.
This is a far cry from previous covers of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that are brightly colored and usually cartoonish; the most famous popular cover was the 1995 fourth edition cover, created by illustrator Quentin Blake who frequently collaborated with Dahl on his books.
While the publisher of the Modern Classic edition (Penguin UK) intended their new version to attract adult readers, it is disconcerting to readers who consider this as solely a children’s book, imagining the characters as depicted on earlier covers or through Technicolor fantasy movies.
A similar backlash was launched after the Leonardo DiCaprio movie version of The Great Gatsby became the source of a new book cover, replacing the iconic design chosen by the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
“People respond the way they do because they care, and they care about the book the way they remember it,” said Chip Kidd, a New York-based graphic designer who churns out about 75 book covers a year.
Classics are classics for a reason. People embrace the full book experience – at least with printed books; eBooks are less likely to build the same adoration. Classics remain with us, they are ageless. They feel more solid and reliable, not fleeting like the images and messages that bombard us daily through modern technology and a changing culture.
When I’m home, I prefer to read hardcover books but when I travel, I choose paperbacks. The reason is obvious: portability. Eventually, I will give in and get an eReader because it trumps paperbacks for portability, except that paperbacks don’t require battery power. With digital books, I will miss the sensory pleasures one gets with the touch or smell of paper that paperbacks offer. Even with an eReader, I’ll probably still carry a paperback when I travel.
I hadn’t given much thought to the health of the paperback industry until a couple of months ago when I saw an obituary for a man named Oscar Dystel. No, I hadn’t heard of him either, but I learned he was the publisher who “saved the paperback” in the mid-1950s.
When Dystel arrived at Bantam Books, founded in 1945 to maximize profits from new paperback production advances, the company had gorged on success but overextended itself and was on the brink of bankruptcy. As Bantam’s new president, Dystel reduced inventory while expanding publication to classics, school and children’s books. He also had a keen sense for what the public would respond to: appealing covers on the outside and riveting stories on
the inside. In just a few short years, he turned around Bantam Books, setting new standards that other publishers followed.
Another major paperback publisher, Penguin, celebrated its history in 2009 with a commemorative retrospective book, The Book of Penguin. It opens, “This is a book about the most advanced form of entertainment ever. You can pause it at any time. Rewind and replay it if you miss a bit … It’ll fit in your pocket. It’s interactive … It’s pretty cheap. It’s completely free to share. And it lasts a lifetime. This is a book about books.”
In the five years since that self-celebration, eBooks have swept the market. In 2011, Amazon reported that eBooks outsold paperbacks and hardcovers combined. The upward trajectory of eBooks continued, at the expense of paperbacks. The 2013 BookStats report noted that eBook sales grew 45 percent since 2011, capturing 20% of the trade market. More ominously, Publishers Weekly said trade paperbacks saw a sales decline of 8.6 percent and total mass-market paperback sales fell by 20.5 percent between 2011 and 2012.
Before you mourn the death of paperbacks, consider this: sales reports don’t account for secondhand sales. There are no secondhand eBooks but secondhand paperbacks are wildly popular. Also, there are some genres that don’t sell well as eBooks but flourish in paperback form; popular narrative nonfiction and the pop-science books, for example.
The strongest hope for the continuation of paperbacks may lay with the intense market interest in indie books, a key force behind the growing popularity of indie bookstores. Readers are searchers. The physicality and staff experience offered by those stores offer “discoverability” – an element missing from digital books and online booksellers. Paperbacks make discoverability more affordable.
The role of books in all their forms is evolving. Fortunately, there’s a place for all of them.
In previous blog posts, I’ve promoted an early introduction to reading for children. On June 24th, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Reach Out and Read, and Scholastic Inc., working with Too Small to Fail, issued a joint announcement at the fourth annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America . Their collaborative effort is “to raise awareness among parents about early language development. It’s the first time the AARP will promote early literacy—from an infant’s very first days—as an essential component of primary care visits.” The goal is to “ensure that doctors, parents and caregivers have the information, tools and books they need to promote reading out loud to child every day starting in infancy.”
Obvious benefit to children, right? Slam dunk to launch a lifelong advantageous skill, yes? If you follow the Book●ed blog, you’re applauding this news. But not everyone is.
There’s been a curious backlash by some (a small group, I believe, but vocal) attacking the plan. The assault is based on erroneous assumptions: that the program will “push” reading on children, that it’s enough for adults to simply talk with children, that this is another unnecessary intervention and that reading isn’t necessary. Say what?
Nothing in the program “pushes” anything on a child; apparently, some adults feel reading to a child is pushing something on them they would rather not do (my guess is those adults were never read to as children). Reading to a child is engaging them. I’ve never known a child that didn’t enjoy being read to. Of course, adults should frequently engage in conversation and activity with children; that is how they learn … and they’re instinct is to learn. Learning through exposure to literature is not just taking in information; it develops the vocabulary children need to adequately express themselves. Children emulate the adults in their lives. Those who are read to want to possess the power of reading themselves.
Exposure to reading may also expose a child’s reading challenges, which are more easily overcome with early intervention, saving a lifetime of unnecessary frustration, sadness and shame.
Success in life, however you define it, is not guaranteed by early literacy exposure; but statistics show that readers generally do better than non-readers. And the love of reading can be instilled from infancy by exposing children to the wonder of books.
The backlash against the collaborative reading effort has nothing to do with children. It says plenty about a certain group of adults. But you already know that.
On July 2nd, after three years in which several thousand volunteers distributed over one and one-half million specially-printed paperbacks across America, the not-for-profit World Book Night organization sadly announced that they are suspending operations. Despite a significant financial and time commitment from publishers, writers, booksellers, librarians, printers, distributors, shippers and volunteer book givers, not enough outside financing was attained to continue the program. In an email message to supporters, World Book Night U.S. Board Chairman Michael Pietsch said, “World Book Night’s first three years have been a profound experience for everyone involved. The altruistic spirit of the givers and of industry supporters have reminded us all of the transformative impact books have on people’s lives, and of the power of a book as a gift.”
In England, where the program originated, it continues successfully. The problem in the U.S. was the cost of production, organization and distribution. American publishers had supported World Book Night by printing special copies of the two dozen giveaway books. Authors waived their royalties. Yet that was not enough to keep World Book Night U.S. in business.
You know you’re in trouble when Stephen Colbert gives you the finger on his TV show. On June 4th, Colbert gave not one but two fingers to Amazon. Yes, that Amazon.
Now, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Amazon for a long time. I love it when I can order something from the comfort of home, assured that the item will be very quickly delivered to my door and I’ll probably have paid less than from anywhere else. I hate it when I have to admit that my efficiency and frugality are also laziness and greed; that by ordering from Amazon, I am denying smaller businesses and local merchants much-needed income. I hate it even more when I remember that Amazon’s business model takes a huge hunk of profit out of the hands of authors and threatens the existence of local independent bookstores.
The ingenuity and entrepreneurial genius of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, deserves admiration. But I am aghast at Amazon’s unnecessary ruthlessness in its ugly battle against Hachette Book Group, the publisher (under various publishing names) of such authors as James Patterson, Scott Turow, Malcom Gladwell, Mitch Albom, Jane Hamilton, J.D. Salinger, J.K. Rowling (under her pen name Robert Galbraith) and hundreds of other authors.
Hachette had the courage to stand up to the huge wholesale discount Amazon demands on the titles it sells. In trying to negotiate better terms with Amazon, Hachette wanted “to protect the value of our authors’ books and our own work in editing, distributing and marketing them.”
Declaring war on Hachette’s attempt, Amazon took steps to discourage book lovers from buying Hachette books on the Amazon site: they eliminated presales options; removed their customary Amazon discount; are telling potential buyers that shipment could take weeks; and removed some titles from the Amazon site or are suggesting less expensive alternative titles from other publishers.
This is not the first time Amazon has heavy-handedly threatened publishers. In 2010, they removed all buy buttons from the listing for MacMillan titles during a negotiation over e-book pricing. As far back as the 1990s, Amazon routinely punished imprints that didn’t accept its business arrangements. Until now, they’ve gotten away with it as the media largely ignored the story while customers like you and I increasingly purchased things through Amazon.
As big as Hachette is, Amazon is way bigger in its dominance of the bookselling industry. Hachette is the fourth-largest publisher by market share but Amazon is, reportedly, responsible for at least a third of all U.S. book sales and somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of the burgeoning eBook market. The battle may seem to favor Amazon … but I wonder. Most of us root for the underdog when we sense an unfair fight. We tend to favor the working person (in this case, authors) over the faceless corporate behemoth (Amazon). And we demand honesty in the companies we do business with. Amazon isn’t being honest with us about book availability.
Whether moral sensibility or greed guides us, there’s no point in saving money if the seller purposely holds the product back or attempts to misdirect us, especially when it’s so easy to shop elsewhere at a marginally higher cost. Brand allegiance is a myth and if people grow tired of Amazon’s inability to provide a certain level of service, we’ll shop elsewhere.
If Amazon doesn’t start playing more fairly, they may find more people giving them the finger.
Re-read my blog post of May 19, 2013, James Patterson Said This?. Then you’ll understand why Patterson was awarded the Indie Champion Award at last month’s Book Expo America, the largest publishing trade show in America. And why he will receive the 2014 Chicago Tribune Young Adult Literary Award at this weekend’s Printers Row Lit Fest. Patterson is being recognized, said Tribune Editor Gerould Kern, “for his extraordinary efforts to reach a wide range of young readers, many of whom have not had the opportunity to savor a book.”
I’m gratified that such venerable literary groups as Book Expo America and the Chicago Tribune have confirmed what I told you more than a year ago. Looks like Book●ed beat the big boys!
When the mind is hungry, few things satisfy as well as a good book. Fortunately, there are feasts around the country throughout the year to fulfill every taste. From small block parties to massive convention exhibits, in every size and genre, there is a book event waiting for you. With the long winter finally departing, the number of book fests, fairs, exhibits, conventions and all variety of literary celebrations is growing. This is good for writers, readers and the publishing industry.
In the age of Amazon and other online booksellers, you might feel inclined to lounge in your … whatever you lounge in … and simply connect through the internet to someplace in cyberspace for a book you’ve preselected in your mind. It’s fast. It’s convenient. It’s also impersonal, colorless, bland. When is the last time, ordering online, you discovered a book or spoke with its author, experienced the “bookness” of books with all your senses (yes, a book can even inspire a taste on the tongue), felt exhilarated as if you were a guest at a banquet? Book fests can offer all these rewards and more.
Book fests may simply be large book sales, but most combine presentations, workshops, readings, book signings, exhibits and social gatherings, along with sales. Some of the biggest and best American book fests still to come on this year’s calendar include:
In other places around the world, top book fests include: Sydney Writers’ Festival, Australia, May 19-25. Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye, Wales, May 22-June 1. FLIP, Paratay, Brazil, July 30-Aug. 3. Festival Letterature, Mantova, Italy, Sept. 3-7.
If you’re looking for a way to spice up your literary life in 2014, feast on a book fest!
Want to know the most popular eBooks readers are downloading (not from Gutenberg) across the U.S.? Scribd has compiled a list of the most downloaded books, state by state. You’ll find the list at BuzzFeed.
Recorded books date back to the 1930s, when the Library of Congress created a “talking books” program for the blind. For years, audio recordings of books were considered the realm of the sight-impaired. Changes in lifestyle and advances in technology have changed all that. Whether travelling, working out in the gym, engaging in some rote physical activity or simply taking a long walk, booklovers everywhere are using audiobooks to be informed, entertained or enlightened. Not only has technology transformed how we listen to audiobooks, it has expanded the choices of what we listen to. And booklovers are listening!
The Audio Publishers Association (APA) is the organization that monitors and promotes the audiobook industry. It reports that audiobook products, services and sales have been growing steadily for more than a decade and estimates that the total size of the audiobook industry, based on the dollars spent by consumers and libraries, exceeds $1.2 billion.
Audiobooks have followed the same technological path as music records, freed from bulky plugged-in machines with disks to portable cassettes to more portable CDs and, now, as downloads to smartphones. Production costs and purchase prices are dropping deeply while demand is climbing. But price, along with convenience and portability, account for only part of growing audiobook popularity. Selection and quality have also dramatically risen.
Just as we started to see new book titles go straight to eBooks without first being available in print, new titles are showing up in audiobooks that were not previously in print. It’s not surprising that the digital evolution is starting to pair eBooks with audiobooks. Audible, a company owned by Amazon, has paired some 26,000 eBooks with professional narrations. The company is adding more than 1,000 titles a month and aims to eventually bring the number to around 100,000.
“Professional” narration often means professional actor narration in the audiobooks being produced today. It’s not unusual to find your favorite movie and stage actors narrating books. Seeing great potential in audiobooks, producers are investing in high-quality production values. Max Brooks, author of the zombie novel World War Z scored a huge audiobook winner with 60,000 CDs and digital-audio copies sold in advance of the release of the movie taken from his novel. The success was fueled by an elaborate production with 40 cast members, including some A-list actors.
While sales figures indicate the public’s embrace of audiobooks, the format does have its critics who are concerned that this format will diminish the pleasure or comprehension of reading, even reduce the appreciation of the printed word. Many worry about a potential recession in traditional print books. Scientists, authors and booklovers debate the benefit and detriment that audiobooks might bring to literacy and literature. You be the judge.
If you’re an author, wondering if self-publishing could be a viable route to getting your book produced, you should read this Wall Street Journal article about prolific best-selling self-published author Russell Blake. This article should also interest booklovers who have shied away from self-published books in the past because they thought only traditional publishers produced good books.
I have a bone to pick with the concept of “best books of the year” lists.
To begin with, there is no concurrence about what books comprise the top 10 in any category. Books get rated in many ways, including by sales, by genre and by critical review.
Booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble issue their lists based on their own sales data. The established arbiters of literary achievement, such varied media as the New York Times, NPR and Forbes, present their own critics’ annual list for your consideration. Some websites will offer their readers’ top ten favorites based on online votes. Some lists are specific to a genre while others embrace all genres. The Daily Beast aggregated 40 major lists to offer “a ranked ultimate guide” based on critics’ lists – a list from lists.
Regardless of which lists are consulted, rankings of “the top books of the year” help guide readers to books that have achieved recognition for a variety of reasons. All well and good as far as that goes.
Here’s my issue: these widely publicized lists routinely omit self-published books and almost all books published by small presses. The lists are dominated by the few big traditional publishing houses with hefty promotional budgets and access to booksellers’ coveted store positions. Meanwhile, many thousands of fantastic self-published and small press- published books remain in obscurity. The authors who write those marvelous works are denied the financial support they need to continue producing quality books while booklovers are denied the treasures these books offer.
As you peruse the various lists of “Best Books of the Year”, remember that there is more than meets the eye. Much more. Certainly, you should consider reading some of the books on those coveted lists. But don’t cheat yourself of the rewards of great self-published and indie books. You’ll find some of them (along with more traditionally published books) at the Book●ed website. That’s a good start.
Another excellent source worth checking is the list of Indie Book Award winners (you’ll find Echoes of Earth on their award list; a book excerpt and interview with author L. Sue Baugh can be found at Book●ed). A third source for finding independently published gems is the Independent Publishers IPPY Awards list.
A note of interest: some bestselling books started out as self-published works before they were picked up by traditional publishers. Titles you might recognize include The Joy of Cooking; The Tales of Peter Rabbit; The Celestine Prophecy; John Grisham’s first book, A Time to Kill and Tell My Sons (you’ll find a book excerpt and interview with co-author David Murray at Book●ed).
Calling all short story authors: The January 31st deadline is quickly approaching for the Chicago Tribune annual Nelson Algren Short Story Contest. This highly esteemed contest, established in 1986, has launched such writers as Stuart Dybek and Louise Erdrich. There is no entry fee. Winners get cash prizes and their stories are considered for publication in the Tribune’s Printers Row Journal. Submission guidelines are available online from the Chicago Tribune.
Do you remember the 1982 sci-fi movie Tron? It’s about a computer programmer who is transported inside the software world of a mainframe computer, where he interacts with various programs as he tries to get back out. I feel like that programmer nearly every time I start working at my computer. An endless universe of cyber-choices, with tentacles reaching out, sucks me into a virtual vortex, devouring real time.
This dizzying experience happened again as I started preparing my blog about Self-Publishing. My original goal was to provide an update of industry statistics about newly published titles in 2012 and show the value of Book●ed as an innovative marketing concept. I started with Bowker, the official ISBN agency for the U.S. and its territories. “ISBN” stands for “International Standard Book Number”. An ISBN is a number that uniquely identifies a published book or book-like product, facilitating the sale of the product to booksellers and libraries.
Bowker’s report for 2012 says ISBNs show nearly 60% more self-published works than in 2011. Self-published titles in 2012 jumped to more than 391,000, up an astonishing 422% over 2007. Just one year earlier, Bowker had reported nearly 346,000 new titles published (traditional plus self-published), of which self-published titles accounted for 43%. Ebooks continue to gain on print, comprising 40 percent of the ISBNs that were self-published in 2012, up from just 11 percent in 2007.
Critics of Bowker claim the figures should be far higher because an increasing number of books are coming into the marketplace as direct author-to-reader sales without the ISBN numbers that enable tracking. That means self-published titles are even higher than reported!
The bottom line for authors is that it is easier than ever to get published but harder than ever to compete for sales and readership. This is true for traditionally published books but much more so for self-published works. Authors can no longer view themselves purely as artists creating literary works. They now have to also don the hat of business owner; the business is selling their book.
Our rapidly evolving literary marketplace has created a new service infrastructure in publishing to fill the needs of authors with books to sell. In addition to companies that actually produce print, digital or audio books, companies offer a variety of post-production services. For the uninformed author, the new infrastructure is a dangerous minefield. As I wrote on this Blog back in February, authors need to be aware of “the good, the bad and the ugly about self-publishing.”
And so we return to Tron, trolling the internet, seeking information about resources for authors and feeling overwhelmed with choices. It has never been easier for authors to get published, or to be separated from money without getting adequate help to sell their books.
If you have written a book you want to publish, whether you pursue traditional or self-publishing, print or digital, traditional booksellers or direct to reader, tread carefully! “Biggest” is not always best and “cheapest” is rarely a bargain.
Get a first, second and possibly third opinion from people with experience at successfully producing and marketing books in your genre. Join writing groups, attend conferences, talk with consultants and network. Read leading industry magazines, take classes, read the insides of books to look for names of publishers, editors, agents and others who helped bring the book to you. Get to know published authors. Immerse yourself in the literary world, including both the writing craft and the marketing know-how. Read the Book●ed blog! Feel free to contact me for more information. You may feel overwhelmed at times but, like the programmer in Tron, you will emerge victorious.
Amazon’s latest generation of E-readers, the Kindle Fire HDX got a rave review at NYTimes.com, noting improved battery life, lighter weight and sharply defined images. PCMag.com takes you through a comparison of the current top eReaders.
Congratulations to 451 Degrees, the book club at Chicago’s Lane Tech High School that I mentioned in my March 31, 2013 blog. They recently won the Illinois Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Award for leading a protest after the book was banned from Chicago public schools and libraries. The clubs efforts via traditional and social media gained enough supporters that the ban was rescinded. 451 Degrees founder Levi Todd said, “A lot of books banned are really good books. They make for great discussions.”
Learning to read is probably the most difficult and revolutionary thing that happens to the human brain and if you don’t believe that, watch an illiterate adult try to do it. – John Steinbeck
It was disheartening to learn that a study conducted in late April by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy found that 32 million adults – 14 percent of the population — in our nation can’t read. Among high school graduates, 19 percent can’t read; and 21 percent of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th grade level. Only 29 percent displayed a “basic” reading level. The U.S. illiteracy rate hasn’t changed in 10 years.
Illiteracy impacts so many aspects of society in general and countless individual lives. It denies people economic security, access to health care, and the ability to actively participate in civic life. Illiteracy is often a legacy handed down from one generation to another; parents who don’t read are much more likely to have children who don’t read.
For those of us who love reading, it may seem unimaginable that others are so diminished by their inability to read. What we need to understand is that, like many skills, there is an optimal period of brain maturation in which to develop reading skills. For many reasons, children may miss learning to read during this period, finding themselves illiterate by the time they graduate from high school. Having lost the chance to fall in love with reading at a young age, they may feel unable to learn this crucial skill and lack the motivation to take on the challenge.
Schools and libraries have developed programs to encourage reading and to help those struggling to become literate. As booklovers, there are some things each of us can do to support literacy. We can read to the children in our lives. We can volunteer at schools, libraries, houses of worship and other places that offer literacy mentorships. We can also get involved with World Book Night, an annual celebration dedicated to spreading the love of reading, person to person.
Each year on April 23 –Shakespeare’s birthday– tens of thousands of people in the U.S. go out into their communities and give a total of half a million free World Book Night paperbacks to light and non-readers. World Book Day is celebrated in the UK and Ireland by giving schoolchildren a book token. World Book Night was introduced in 2011 in the UK and Ireland to bring attention to books for adult readers.
With its launch in 2012, World Book Night U.S. chose to continue the focus on adult readers,
with a few books for teens and middle readers included. Many, many other wonderful programs already exist to get books to young children, and they are essential. But World Book Night U.S. fills another important need: Encouraging reading in the teen and adult population, especially those who may not have access to printed books for reasons of means or geography.
The goal of World Book Night is to seek out adult readers wherever they are, in towns and cities, in public settings or in places from nursing homes to food pantries, low-income schools to mass transit. We owe it to our society to help lift others out of illiteracy. As booklovers – readers, writers, editors, agents, publishers, booksellers, librarians and teachers – we can join World Book Night to spread the love.
There’s encouraging news for those of us who value our local independent bookstores. The American Booksellers Association, a non-profit industry association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in North America, reports that its membership rolls have gone up every year since 2009, from 1,401 four years ago to 1,632 this year.
At the same time, the National Endowment for the Arts reports that only 47% of Americans say they read a book for pleasure last year. Read my Spreading the Love blog post to learn how you can help improve this statistic.
The 2013 Nobel Prize winner in literature, Alice Munro, just announced her retirement at age 82. The author of 14 books was also the 2009 winner of the Man Booker International Prize for her body of work. Several of her short stories have been translated into movies. The wonderful 2006 film Away From Her was adapted from Munro’s The Bear Came Over the Mountain, which originally appeared in The New Yorker in 1999, was reprinted and is available for reading in their October 21, 2013 issue.
“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” ― Maya Angelou
Malala Yousafzai was only 12 when she wrote a blog under a pseudonym promoting education for girls. She became a women’s rights activist in a region known for Taliban attempts to ban girls from attending school. By 13, her real name and face were well-known from interviews and a documentary film about her life. On October 9, 2012, the 15-year-old Pakistani student was critically shot in the head and neck by an Islamic extremist as she sat on a school bus, targeted for speaking out against laws that would restrict girls’ access to education.
Miraculously, Malala survived but she continues to face threats of death against her and her father by the Taliban. Giving a face to courage, she refuses to cower to the threats, choosing to defend books and the right of all people to freely read.
This year, Malala Yousafzai was featured on Time magazine’s front cover as one of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World”. She won Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize and was nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. On her 16th birthday in July, she appeared before the UN, calling for worldwide access to education. Speaking at a ceremony in The Hague where she was awarded the 2013 International Children’s Peace Prize, Malala vowed to continue her campaign for education.
It seems fitting that in England, where Malala has been residing since her medical treatment and recovery, she presided over the opening of Europe’s largest library on September 3rd. During the ceremony at the Library of Birmingham, Malala announced, ”I have challenged myself that I will read thousands of books and I will empower myself with knowledge. Pens and books are the weapons that defeat terrorism.” She added, “There is no better way to explain the importance of books than say that even God chose the medium of a book to send his message to his people.”
Perhaps drawing from her own life, Malala observed, “Let us not forget that even one book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world.”
Malala, and others like her, are prepared to sacrifice their lives for the right to pick up a book and read. It reminds us of the true value of books are in our lives. Books are life transformed and they have the power to transform life. Even a young child knows this.
“I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself and then I am satisfied. I know that I’m a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage.” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
Trends in retail sales of books to U.S. consumers from 2010 to 2012 showed that e-commerce (Amazon and other online booksellers) grew by 18.7% to capture 43.8% of the market. Large chains (Barnes & Noble and the like) shrank 12.8% to hold 18.7% of the market. Helped by the folding of the Borders chain, independent bookstores saw a 1.3% uptick but still represented only 3.7% of retail book sales. As singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell penned, “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone? They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.” For many, the neighborhood independent bookstore is Paradise.
What a wonderful start for the Book●ed webcast shows! Thank you to everyone (from the U.S. and around the world) who have been watching and, especially, to those who took time to congratulate me and my team on our successful launch on July 8th.
Every Monday, at 8 PM (EST), a new show is featured on the Watch Shows page of the Book●ed website. The show is also streamed on UStream (with 50 million unique viewers of their shows every month). Don’t fret if you miss a featured show because it is always available at www.bookedwebcast.com and www.fenmark.net in the Archives.
If you are a new visitor to this Blog, I hope you will take some time to browse through the weekly posts since its inception earlier this year (more than 6,400 visitors and more than 95 registered fans so far). You’ll find a wide variety of fascinating topics relating to books, written in a light, reader-friendly style and supplemented with links to additional information. With the launch of our webcasts, my blogs will alert you to the next book review and author interview. Of course, I’ll continue to bring you news and fun factoids. So come along and read with me!
My debut interview with Renee James — talking about her multi-award-winning murder mystery, Coming Out Can Be Murder, her challenges in getting published, and how her own life experience as a transgender woman helped shape her novel – was so fascinating, we extended it to a second ½-hour interview. If you missed part one, visit my Archives page to watch; then check out part two, starting at 8 PM (EST) on July 15th. I promise you won’t be bored! To read an excerpt from Renee’s book, go to the Book Excerpts page on this website. If you like what you see and want to purchase the book, there’s a “Buy the Book Now” link.
Take a moment to look at the sidebar of this Blog. You can register on the RSS Feed to follow my weekly posts with helpful reminders when the updates appear. You can even let me know what you think about my Blog, ask for future topics to be covered, or share information you think other readers would be interested in. After all, as I’ve always said, this Blog is for you!
Pop the champagne corks! After nearly a year in the making, the debut global webcast of Book●ed happens at 8 PM (EST) on Monday, July 8th. The book reviews and author interviews you’ve been waiting for will be just a mouse-click away, 24/7 anywhere in the world that you have internet access. You’ll be able to watch interviews, read excerpts and buy books via one very user-friendly website: www.bookedwebcast.com. The webcasts will also be available at other websites, including www.fenmark.net, and UStream.
As a writer moving in writing circles, I’ve learned that authors are very interesting people! And there’s almost always a back story to their book that is as interesting as the book itself. Meeting an author enhances the reading of their work. This is what my webcasts are about!
Book●ed will entertain, inform and enlighten you. It’s an innovative concept tying in modern technologies with time-tested communications techniques to connect authors and editors with booklovers. I invite you to join us on this exciting journey and let me know what you think. This concept is all about serving YOU!
For my debut show, I selected a multi-award-winning book that has broken new ground with a character that stays with you long after you’ve turned the last page. Bobbi Logan is the memorable protagonist-narrator in Renee James’ contemporary suspense/mystery/thriller, Coming Out Can Be Murder. Bobbi Logan, a sensitive, articulate transgender woman takes us on her personal journey as she transitions from a life as Bob Logan to her true gender. The very difficult, often heart-wrenching challenges she faces in her own life are entwined in the search for the brutal murderer of her best friend, another transgender woman. This page-turner takes place in and near Chicago, in evocatively-painted places that may be familiar or new to the reader.
The theme of “familiar” and “new” run throughout Coming Out Can Be Murder — in plot, place and character. Renee James brings years of editing experience to her forceful writing. She takes people, places and situations we may think of as “other than us” and helps us see the human qualities that make us more alike than different. She knows this well because she is a transgender woman.
Please join me for a fascinating book review and author interview with Renee James, starting July 8th at 8 PM (our shows are always available for viewing by visiting the Archives at www.bookedwebcast.com).
Could be!
Who knows?
There’s something due any day;
I will know right away,
Soon as it shows.*
I’m thrilled to report that Book●ed will debut its weekly half-hour video webcast on July 8th!
You’ve waited patiently. Now come the rewards. Every Monday, starting July 8th, Book●ed will present a lively new book review with an author or editor interview. From the moment the show is first broadcast, it will be available 24/7 from any computer with internet access. After one week as the featured show, it will remain available in our Archives. You’ll be able to find our shows at several websites, including (my favorite, of course) www.bookedwebcast.com and www.fenmark.net; also via UStream.
The Book●ed website will also debut a Book Excerpts page where you can find every book we’ve reviewed, easy to locate by the book’s cover, air date, title or author. Each excerpt will include a “Buy The Book Now” link, among other user-friendly features. You can go from watching an interview to reading an excerpt, or vice versa, then buy the book — all through the Book●ed website.
Book●ed is an innovative concept. Our marriage of new technologies with proven PR techniques is attracting great authors with noteworthy books that we present to booklovers around the world. The authors I interview have fascinating back stories that enhance the reading of their books.
As I writer, I know it is easier than ever to get books published but harder than ever to get read. Many worthwhile books get lost in a vast universe of 350,000 new titles annually. As a former award-winning public relations pro, I know how to build awareness among target audiences. As a booklover, I’m thrilled to find shining stars in the book universe and bring them to you.
Starting next week, this blog will feature details about upcoming shows.
Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something’s coming, something good,
Come on, something, come on in, don’t be shy,
Pull up a chair!
The air is humming,
And something great is coming! *
*with thanks to Stephen Sondheim whose lyrics from “West Side Story” I’ve borrowed and re-arranged
To sample chapbooks and so much more, come to the 29th annual Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest June 8th and 9th. This is the largest free outdoor literary event in the Midwest with more than 150 booksellers from across the country displaying and selling new, used and antiquarian books. Several renowned authors will offer insights and entertainment at various presentations throughout the event. All events are free but tickets must be reserved for select programs. For details visit Printers Row Lit Fest.
Have I misjudged James Patterson? This best-selling author, known primarily for thrillers, has received mixed reviews from his peers. Many consider him more of an industry than an artist, churning out book after book. I’ve shared that view.
Honestly, I haven’t been fair to the man. I haven’t read any of his books. I tend to be suspicious of authors who constantly publish new work and self-promote on TV. Although I enjoy psychological thrillers (his predominant genre), I don’t know if his style is my cup of tea. But I’ve decided to check out Patterson’s books.
What made me reconsider Patterson is his recent Salon interview on trying to save an imperiled book industry. In the Salon interview, Patterson cites how governments of other countries support their publishing industry and suggests ways our country can step up to the challenge. The Salon interview followed on the heels of ads Patterson published in the New York Times Book Review and Publishers Weekly calling for individual, corporate and government support of book stores, libraries and reading.
Some have accused Patterson of using this platform to sell more of his books. I disagree. For several years, without fanfare, he has established hundreds of educational scholarships and donated thousands of books to libraries. He also created ReadKiddoRead.com, which helps parents, teachers, and librarians find the best books for their children.
In the world of commerce, change is inevitable. The emergence of self-publishing provides more opportunities for writers to get their work produced; eReaders make books more portable; online booksellers and big box discounters offer books at lower prices. If we are complacent, these good changes will come at a cost we cannot afford: losing the traditional publishers that produce enduring classics, along with the bookstores and libraries that keep the classics in circulation. It would be wonderful if support came solely from private interests but it has not been enough. There is a role for our government to assist in the promotion, protection and preservation of enduring American literature. Our role is to demand this assistance.
As noted in last week’s blog, I went to Boston for my son’s graduation. While there, I visited the legendary Harvard Coop in Cambridge. Being in a place so filled to the brim with books and other treats for bibliophiles, I was reminded of a scene in the 1984 comedy-drama film Moscow on the Hudson where Soviet circus performer-turned-defector Vladimir Ivanov (Robin Williams) visits his first U.S. supermarket. Confronted with rows upon rows of various toilet paper choices, he is overwhelmed and faints. That’s how I felt at the Harvard Coop: all that artistry with stories, language, facts and imagination tucked into these magical things called books! I couldn’t buy all of them but how could I choose from among so many temptations?
Away from the obligations and distractions of home, I also leisurely dipped into the New York Times Book Review. It reviews only 2-3 percent of the books that are submitted, only books published in the United States and available through general-interest bookstores, and generally not self-published books. I marveled at the variety of new works that were elevated by appearing in the Review. Those books would soon find their places alongside the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves at the Harvard Coop, other stores around the country, and countless internet bookseller sites. But what about all the great books they didn’t review?
As daunting as it is for readers like me (and you) to choose books in which to invest our time, money and attention, imagine how challenging it is for most authors to get us to choose their books. This challenge is amplified many times over for newer authors, who have not developed a following. Like the Hollywood studio system of yesteryear, the publishing industry that rolled out new authors with national promotions and nurtured their careers no longer exists.
There is a lot of literary talent left in the shadows because most authors are not marketing-savvy. With the emergence of self-publishing services alongside an increase in small publishing houses, authors have new avenues to get their work published. But being published does not automatically equate with selling books, as many a disillusioned novice author has discovered. Authors must maximize their marketing efforts if they want to sell their books.
After months of anticipation, I am happy to announce that my webcast show Book●ed is about to go into production, with a global launch date coming this June. The show will be a lively, entertaining half-hour introducing authors and their recently published books. A new edition of Book●ed will debut every week and then be available 24/7 on our website, as well as other websites and social media. The marketing mix offered to authors is unique among literary webcasts. To find out more about the webcasts and follow our guests, please visit www.bookedwebcast.com. Don’t forget to sign up for email reminders of our weekly blog updates. If you’re an author with a great recently published book, check my website for submission guidelines.
Booklovers visiting the Boston area should take the T red line to Harvard Square and visit the Harvard Coop and (for used scholarly books) Raven Used Books.
Banned Books Week 2013 will occur September 22 through 28. See Banned Books Week for information and resources for getting your library or organization involved in this event.
