Colour me cranky...I didn't get one of the fellowshippy things I applied for, one of my children is having a bit of a crisis, there's way too much on for a friday evening (I JUST WANNA VEGE PEOPLE!) and well...I'm just a tad fed up with all the doom and gloom abounding in this industry. Yes recessions are not sunny happy things and yes, look what technology did to the music industry and now its hungry again and is it eyeing up the book industry? Well folks, I keep buying books, and whats more I keep writing them too. And all you other writers out there are DOING THE SAME! We love books. Heaps of us love books. This is what author Jeff Somers had to say about the death of the book... Go Jeff! There is nothing we can do but keep writing and reading and hoping. And the next person who starts warbling on about the terminal nature of the book industry better keep out of reach of me!!
And btw children are still reading. I've seen them. We've talked about it. And I'm not talking about my own kids (although they do read too). I was in an article about the new library opening at Owairaka Primary School in last wednesday's Central Leader Newspaper along with fab author Kyle Mewburn. When we visited, the whole school was just fizzing about their new library. The children were excited about books. And I was so happy to find out that some children chose my books to write about for NZ Book Month's ASB wordbank competition. I would be super sad if focusing solely on the bottom line led to the decline of book publishing. What would that say about our society? Probably something similar to what some people's desire to dismantle the anti-smacking law says. Folks you have to think about the bigger picture and stop using only one colour to colour it in.
3 comments:
I have an idea for the perfect best seller- called 'Smacking Lightly' a parents guide to beating your kids whilst leaving no marks; just psycological scars. It will be a Christmas edition for all those endless summer days with the kids irritating you into senseless rage when you just wanted to concentrate on how depleted your finances are.
(I didn't get the fellowship either)
xxx
It drives me nuts all this talk about how soon no one will read books anymore, blah, blah, blah.
I LOVE books ... old scruffy ones, new shiny ones, slightly tatty pre-loved ones. My book shelves are over flowing and I've boxes of the things and I STILL don't have enough. I'd love to own a bookstore - but then I'd have to sell the books. I wouldn't be able to keep them all just for me.
Books are our friends. They are our past, our present and our future (and our other possible worlds, if you like fantasy) and personally I think all the hype and fear is just another Y2K panic about nothing and an excuse for the publishing world to tight-fistedly fuss about their bottom lines.
Thanks for letting me rant! :D
http://bit.ly/5pfCE Virginia Woolf discussing the demise of the book, way back in 1927!
Post a Comment