The Changing (?) Face of Publishing Today

There is no question that the world of publishing is experiencing some growing pains. With the development of new Print-on-Demand technology, one has to wonder why we are holding onto the old ways.

It has been almost 600 years since the advent of the first printing press. Much of what we are seeing today, in the publishing world, are operating practices that are that deeply entrenched and equally outdated. Large print runs, short promotional periods and unlimited return policies are just a few of these antiquated carryovers. Isn't it time that we reavaluate those practices?
Today, when our forests are dwindling, can we really say that we have the luxury of large print runs that will eventually wind up in the supermarket discount bins? Why should a book's shelf life be limited to 4-6 months unless it is a breakout bestseller? Today, we have the luxury afforded by new POD technologies. We can print a text out in 1-500 copies at the touch of a button. Those books can be at the vendors front door in a day or two.

Why then is it necessary to continue overshipping books, storing and handling them only to pack them back up after six months and return them for a credit.
What other product in today's economy offers a no-questions-asked, unlimited return policy? Perhaps there was a need for such guarantees at one time. Now, there is no need for such speculative safeguards, in fact, they are counterproductive. No other industry offers a guarantee of sale on their merchandise. There is always a bit of speculation involved. By allowing a merchant to return books, in any condition, upon their failure to sell, there is no incentive for the merchant to exercise intelligent buying practices. They can buy large quantities to fill their shelves, secure in the knowledge that they can return unsold books at any time.

It is lovely to have a sea of bestsellers spreading across the entrance to your local bookstore, but ask yourself - what is the cost? What is the cost in labor to print, package and ship those books? What is the time investment required to unpackage and display those books, only to repackage them months later for return? And most sadly, what is the cost to the environment of producing thousands and thousands of books that will at best end up in the recycling bin.

Maybe it is time for a more enlightened, environmentally sound approach to book publication. Maybe it is time to break free from outdated practices and approach the job of publishing with a less short-sighted outlook. Perhaps it is time for the book publishing trade to join step with the new publishing technology and quit holding on to old, outdated practices.
We can only hope.

To Be Released - August 2009

The Trying Task of Self-Editing

Every time I try to read Strunk or ‘The Chicago Manual of Style’, my head starts to hurt. I don’t think that attention to grammar comes easily to most people, especially in today’s ‘hurry up and go’ society. In my own case, I find myself using punctuation the way a blind musician plays music - by ear. For good or bad, my acid test is how a sentence sounds when I read it. That does not mean that it is right. I am sure there are those who would argue with my comma placement or my use of a dash rather than a colon. To a degree, some of these choices are open to the author’s interpretation.

What is not up to interpretation is the myriad of careless spelling errors that seems to be so prevalent in self-published works. Whether it is online or a hard copy publication, this is an infraction that hurts everyone who ventures into the seas of self-publication. I would venture to say that this is the main reason that self-published authors do not get the respect they deserve. Publishing a work that you have labored over is a complex endeavor. It should be taken seriously. Editing your own work is tedious, exhausting and difficult, but it has to be done.
It is a given that, even after the most strenuous editing efforts, there will still be small things that may be missed. Big publishing houses put out books that are less than perfect and that is with the resources of an arsenal of editors and proofreaders. But, we can all tell the difference between one errant typo and a story that is replete with errors.

In some instances, it is hard to believe that the author has made even a cursory effort to proof their writing. It is almost as if, once the words are written, the author wants nothing more to do with them. How tragic? If an author doesn’t even enjoy reading his/her own words, how can they expect someone else to?

We all realize that editing ones own writing is a difficult and arduous task. We can commiserate with those who have words popping into their heads so quickly that they just have to write them down, but please, have some compassion for the reader. Mistakes are made. We’re not perfect. That’s why God made erasers and that’s why Bill Gates gave us spell check (is he the one who was responsible for that…hmmm?).

This kind of careless effort brings us all down. The advances in printing technology are a huge boon to those who want to see their lovely words in book form. Let’s not take advantage of it and let’s not take advantage of the poor reader who spends their hard-earned money, only to get a sub-standard piece of literature. We can’t all be Keats or Tolkien, but we can all make our publications the best and most polished works they can be.

After all, your name is on this story that you have labored over for months and months. Have some respect for your art. Put your best work out there and make sure that it is a reflection of you. If you like going out to dinner in a dirty, tattered t-shirt, okay then. Hopefully you don’t, but even if you do, don’t make your book suffer by sending it out into the world looking like a filthy street urchin. Dress it up in its Sunday best. Give it the respect it deserves and make your writing something you can be proud of.



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