I've been too long absent from posting, partly the result of a months-long and ongoing (sigh) house hunt. Today, while sitting in my shoebox waiting for The Call to tell me whether our offer's been accepted (and browsing yet more new listings in case it hasn't), I happened across this article. Julia Keller, the Chicago Tribune's cultural critic, says the future of books is in growing the number of likers, not necessarily focusing one's efforts on the die-hard book lovers.
I do love books. That said, I deeply enjoy and revere a lot of other forms, too, and support them all in alternating and sporadic ways. This may make me more of a "liker" as she defines it. Furthermore, I do prefer when authors make it easy to join a series part way, for example, or sellers introduce me in friendly ways to things I might have missed. I like not to feel in reading a review that, without poring over all the antecedents or heavy-hitters on the scene, a reader's perceived as being unable to assess the quality of a single title or even to understand the criticism. To me, it's not about being low-brow or even middle-brow. It's about sharing one's enthusiasm for wonderful things in a way that welcomes newcomers rather than implicitly condemning them for not being "in on it" already. If Teh Interweebs are about anything, they seem to be about inclusion and inviting new guests to lots of different kinds of parties. I'm giving Julia my Amen chorus, but what do you think?
Monday, June 18, 2007
What If I'm Only In Like With You?
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5 comments:
Welcome back! Hope 'The Call' brought good news?
Amen to Julia, and to you too ("it's about sharing one's enthusiasm for wonderful things in a way that welcomes newcomers...." Hear Hear!).
But if we're talking books here, and the survival of the species, let us expect a bit of art in those with popular appeal. It seems to me the art's diminished in the last few years. IMHO, publishing in this country is suffering for it.
Okay. I love language and always will. But story, now! Story's the great equalizer...we're all exposed to it on mother's knee. We need story like we need water and air.
I'm not sure great storytelling is any rarer than it used to be- it's always been rare-ish at the highest levels. It's just that more stuff is being published than ever before, and that's by huge quantities. As always, the majority of the slush is pretty sludge-y. I think the big publishers have become very risk-averse and no longer invest in developing authors' potentials as they sometimes (legendarily at least) used to do.
So, it's the small presses, sometimes started by authors themselves - like Kelly Link's Small Beer Press- that provide a way to get innovative storytelling out. And I see it working, and getting ever more recognition from reviewers, sellers, and award bodies. It's very grass roots currently, but it will get to be the case, I think, that if you don't head to Mickey D's for amazing cuisine, you don't go to Random House for every flavor of lit-rah-chure. Instead, you go to a restaurant with a committed, selective, innovative chef. If "imprints don't matter" as people currently like to say, it's because they've made themselves irrelevant through inconsistent aesthetics. I think presses will keep increasing among smaller boutiques with individualized offerings focused on niches, not one-pub-fits-all kind of approaches. Then, we'll need a Zagat's listing just for imprints.
Cover:26, Layout:18, Pricing:22, Content:28
P.S. We're still in the middle of the house bidding back-and-forth. How torturous and frustrating it is.
I have a feeling if it wasn't for the book likers, a lot of writers would be out of business.
Terrie
With a new book just out on the shelves I want the whole world to love my baby. But I'll settle for "like" - as long as they buy the book!
Too right, Dawn and Terrie! A person who likes and buys is just as nice a reader, and maybe love will grow. Any reader is wonderful, especially if others can see the book in his or her hands or on the desk and think, "Hey, I oughta get me one of those!"
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