bookpublishing

I won’t repeat the number of publishing houses in trouble this week. Anyone who was paying attention couldn’t escape daily emails from PW Daily with bad news, followed by frantic Tweets and harsh editorials blaming one practice then another for the decline on the book scene. The news ranged from restructuring to layoffs, hiring freezes to pay freezes, and even an acquisitions freeze. What does it mean for the publishing industry? The same thing it means for every other struggling industry: Companies are adjusting as best they can, leaving unhappy and sometimes unemployed professionals in the wake. I don’t think the news this week was surprising, but the fact that it all came together was a harsh awakening for anyone still in denial.

Meanwhile, here come the holidays with surprisingly upbeat accounts of sales over Black Friday/Cyber Monday. It seems like the big hump is to get through the holidays and jump into our more modest 2009 budgets. Is it just me, or does 2009 seem so far away?

Whether you’re in publishing or not, you’re obviously reading this blog because you like books, so I urge you, as I have done in the past, to buy books as Christmas gifts. At least one for someone else and one for yourself. Support lesser-known booksellers, publishers, and authors if you can, but at the very least, buy a few books. It’s been very clear that despite the economy, people are still making Christmas purchases; a book is a unique gift in that its value is usually much higher than its price. Books are a great deal in this economy.

And in a totally unrelated anecdote, I’m one of those people who start watching popular TV shows years after they’re over because I’m always a little late to the bandwagon. I’m currently addicted to The West Wing. And as a single girl, I’d like to drop a line to all of you Josh Lymans and Danny Concannons out there… If you have any resemblance, you should drop me an email! Come on, I know I’m not the only one who has a crush on a fictional TV character (or fictional literary character for that matter).

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