We’ve got lots of writers on bigWOWO, and the big question for those who follow the publishing industry is this: where’s the money? I’ve blogged about it here and here, and now I’m going to blog on it again. This time, we’re going to talk about the distribution methods.
Regular everyday people who sell their used books online, through Amazon and other channels, are transforming the industry, according to this new NY Times article. Apparently their actions are wreaking havoc on publishers and writers. Instead of buying new books, people are buying used books from other individuals. More used books equal fewer new books which means less money for publishers and writers.
I’ve been following this topic for a long time, and I agree that there’s a fundamental shift taking place. It’s much easier to publish than it used to be, and with the internet, there has been a movement to digital media that is hurting the industry. I’m somewhat ambivalent on what is going on–it’s great that more voices will be heard due to the much smaller cost of production, but it’s sad that overall quality could possibly decrease as editors and publishers become less necessary. With respect to the question of distribution, as Jason Epstein mentions in Book Business, when the big chains replace independent booksellers, quality suffers as it becomes all about money. When the internet puts pressure on the big chains, quality could suffer even more. (I put “could” in italics because I can see it happening, but I’m not 100% sure it will.)
In the article, Mr. Michael Barnard argues that the author of the article is taking money from the writer of his purchased book by buying a used book and not paying the writer. I disagree–the author made her money when she sold it the first time. I don’t pay royalties to the carpenter when I buy a used table, so why should books be any different? I think this is an irreversible trend caused by a lower cost of distribution, and the laws of economics and technology indicate that distribution will always become cheaper as technology improves. What this means is that we will have to adjust to a new system. We’re going through a technological change, and we simply have to adjust.
I don’t know the answer to the money question when it comes to writers, but I have a feeling it will be something similar to what music artists are doing; authors will exist, but they’ll make money doing other stuff. I sure hope we won’t all be pitching products and selling out to Wal-Mart, but the mode of production and now distribution has become so cheap that it’ll be hard to make a living as a serious author unless supported by an arts institution or university.
Tocqueville predicted the cheapening of American literature during the 1800′s. Our economics have always cheapened literature, and it looks like it’s going to continue with the next technological wave.
Does anyone else have any theories or thoughts?
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I agree with everything you said. About #1…I think...
I don’t think the quality of writing will go downhill. Hell, crap gets published no matter what. The only difference is before, it was the same crap over and over.
Now with self-publishing being so easy and virtually free, there’s a wide variety of crap.
The quality of fiction has not degenerated at all. Cormac McCarthy, Richard Russo, Umberto Eco… they can hold their ground against Fitzgerald, against Voltaire, Mark Twain, Dickens…
Thus I don’t think American literature will cheapen over time. We certainly have a lot of fluffy memoirs and painfully bad commercial fiction, but this not to say the greatness of the great stuff has dwindled.
The money is in the movies. If the book gets made into a movie, then gold.
Haha…good points, James and Akrypti!
In terms of the money, I should write a novel with little instructions like [pan left] and [fade out] in the margin. If prospective filmmakers ask, I’ll say, “I’ve already done the work for you. All you gotta do is to get Tamlyn, Russell, and Ming-Na to sign up with you.”
haha. precisely.
…
no, i mean it. precisely. if a prospective filmmaker picks up your book and immediately envisions a movie, you’re on the in. but if your book reads something like Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung, then no money for you.
Even though book sales have decreased, I find a continuing trend of new and exciting books to read. If a friend recommends a book to me, they might let me have their copy. I don’t see this as problematic in terms of the publishing industry. For now, that’s the market. Even when the market was good, people still bought used books or shared books. And let us not forget that even great writers were often employed in other jobs while they wrote.
Akrypti:
Haha…Dictee!
You’re totally right. The sad thing is that some serious literary works, maybe even most serious literary works, make crappy movies. It would be sad if every author was forced to see his work paraded on-screen like that. It would be unfortunate to see Sartre’s Hell in Huis Clos portrayed with action movie CG.
papa2hapa:
You’re right about that. The superstars always seem to make it happen. I suppose that even if the large publishing houses went under, superstar writers would somehow find a way to make it work. Hmm…
Wow, a Theresa Hak Kyung Cha/Dictée reference! We have a very literate group here on BigWowo. I am impressed.
But how many people here know who Trinh T. Minh-Ha is (without looking her up on Wikipedia)?
She would be a good choice to turn a Dictée-type literary work into a film. Either her or John Waters.
I’m notorious for sharing books. On the other hand, I also don’t expect my books back once shared. So if it is a beloved book, I end up buying the book again. I’ve bought The Little Prince at least a dozen times in the past 10 years…
Perhaps this is the socialist and/or the naive idealist and/or anti-capitalist in me talking but I would like to believe that a true writer does not write to gain a living from his/her words but to share them, to share ideas, to contribute to social progress, to make the world a better place, to spread the love, to revolutionize…
Of course, having Oprah back you up is always helpful.
There is no absolute right reason to write, nor is there an absolute wrong. I believe that nobody sits down and writes his or her own book (thus excluding celebrities and ghost writers) from beginning to end for fame and fortune only. Anyone who has ever written a book or at least tried knows that it is just too laborious a task to do if there is no love for it.
It’s disingenuous for any writer to say “I just want to share my ideas,” because the truth of the matter is, they want others to receive those ideas too. (And while receive doesn’t necessarily mean agree, it does include appreciate.)
And frankly, writing to gain a living is the very essence of a so-called “true writer.” What the heck is a true lawyer? On one hand, it’s anybody who has a law degree and passed the bar. So in that sense, anybody who writes is a writer. Most of us, though, think of a true lawyer as somebody who makes a living practicing law. That doesn’t have to be an opulent living, by no means. It could be a meager living, i.e., social justice attorneys, appellate advocacy, etc. So yeah, why on earth isn’t a true writer somebody who writes for a living? And what does “true” even mean? Genuine? Our intentions?
My goodness. I didn’t say a somebody who writes for a living isn’t a true writer. Didn’t think I needed to translate – but what I meant was that I would like to believe that writers who have something valuable to say are usually saying those valuable things because of ideals – not for monetary gain. For most part, those writers who write for monetary gains are usually crap writers and, sure, they are writers simply because they write. Unlike lawyers, writers don’t need to pass an exam to call themselves writers. Yes, it is illegal for “fake” attorneys to pose as attorneys if they do not have license to practice law. Whereas any hack can call himself/herself a writer.
True, I am a bit of an idealist when it comes to arts. However, as far as discourse is concerned, I find taking apart something someone believes in (not said as a fact) in an argumentative manner is quite unproductive. There are writers who do simply want to share ideas – and if people listen, obviously those were good ideas. That does not make the writer disingenious. As you yourself said, “There is no absolute right reason to write, nor is there an absolute wrong.”
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