It’s the End of the Book World
Posted on January 29th, 2009
by Daniel McCarthy |
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Even before the recession/depression began, newspapers had been paring back their books coverage for years. Now comes word that the Washington Post is abolishing its “Book World” as a separate supplement. What’s left of “Book World” will be absorbed into the Sunday Outlook and Style sections.
Every institution of the books trade, from retail to publishing to reviewing, is going to be overturned by the crisis, I suspect. The logistics of the publishing industry already make as little sense as those of the old-fangled recording industry. Both bet the house on a few sure-fire hits, with side bets on new and outsider prospects. But the sure-fire hits aren’t so sure any more, and the hits are getting smaller and smaller. My best guess — wishful thinking maybe — is that once the titans fall we’ll see a golden age of micro-publishing. Organizations like the Mises Institute are even now doing remarkable things with print-on-demand and small-run books. Reviewing won’t disappear, of course, even if print reviews do. It may be a while, though, before reviewers once again figure out how to make a living by reading books. That’s a good life, and it would be a shame to see it disappear.
“a golden age of micro-publishing”
This could actually be a positive development for paleos, who are nearly frozen out of the current system.
I have actually been looking into this, and I might make the plunge (long term not short) if I think I can break even or make a small amount. I think a niche micro paleo house could be viable.
Let’s hope it is viable. Part of the problem with newspaper coverage of literature is that it invariably tries to survey everything, with the inevitable result that it adequately surveys nothing.
This is where the much choosier reviewing policies of magazines such as Chronicles, Modern Age, The University Bookman, and, yes, TAC benefit the reader. The editors of these publications know the sorts of books in which their readers are likely to take an interest; so they concentrate upon printing reviews of those books, rather than making ridiculous newspaper-type attempts at a once-over-lightly coverage (sometimes as little as three sentences per book!) of almost everything from the main publishing firms.
Of course, serious book reviewing will always require that serious book reviewers are adequately paid for their trouble.