Sunday, November 23, 2008

Editorial Ass: C[r]ash Flow (Or What Went Wrong in October in Book Publishing)

Editorial Ass: C[r]ash Flow (Or What Went Wrong in October in Book Publishing)
Posted by Rowena Cherry at 6:41 PM

4 comments:

  1. Kimber Li7:20 PM EST

    Interesting. However, if people running out and making a charitable purchase of a novel actually works the publishing industry will have no incentive to change.

    Besides, I prefer to donote money to charities which save people's lives. Thanksgiving Day is around the corner. How many people will go hungry that day in our country alone?

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  2. Rowena Cherry8:30 PM EST

    Kimber An,

    Thank you for your comment. This post was syndicated from a blog on the industry by an editor. The activism wasn't mine. It seems too self-serving!

    My suggestion was in the previous blog further down the page and concerned putting lots of computers for patrons' use into bookstores.

    I hope that the soup kitchens get plenty of donations in the next few days!

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  3. Jacqueline Lichtenberg11:29 AM EST

    Kimber An

    You put your finger on the hole in her plan. Her blog is read by people who READ, and the meltdown is due to the shrinking of that population coupled to the financial system freezing solid.

    Publishing is not in economic trouble this time (that was last time which it hasn't recovered from yet); it's in financial trouble.

    Like the automakers, the infrastructure is antique, the overhead sloppy and way too high, and the motivations of the owners of the companies are not in line with the objectives of book purchasers.

    The companies want PROFIT -- the purchasers want either escapist entertainment or fresh, stimulating ideas that change their lives.

    Now to Soup Kitchens. Yes - GIVE GIVE GIVE -- this is one of the most critical things a person can do. It serves all objectives -- your own success and that of others and of the community. GIVE 10% of your income, but not more than that.

    However, you can't make a poor person rich by giving them money. Give a man a fish and feed him for a day -- teach him to fish and feed him and his family for a lifetime.

    Of course that doesn't help if he doesn't survive not having a fish -- hence, soup kitchens and other Help organization activities, not just at the holidays but all the time, are crucial.

    I think every Soup Kitchen should have a library.

    And we need to invent ways to use displaced labor. Some of our worst cases are people too old to learn computerized skills.

    THAT is what various SF apocalyptic novels have been about. What do you do when the world changes too fast for humans to change with it? There's High Drama in that.

    This crisis, in publishing and the world, is our opportunity to change the prestige level of Romance, SF Romance, Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. Everything is wide open -- everything is now possible that was not possible last year.

    If love conquers all -- let's start conquering. Start by giving to the soup kitchens and other help organizations.

    Let your every action be motivated by Love.

    Jacqueline Lichtenberg
    http://www.slantedconcept.com

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  4. Kimber Li7:14 PM EST

    Oooh, what am amazing idea! Libraries for soup kitchens!

    Soup (or turkey dinner) could feed their bodies long enough to get them back on their feet, but good books could give them the hope and reason to do it.

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