News such as the recent book pricing wars between high-volume retailers like Walmart, Target, Amazon and Sears are enough to have everyone involved in the publishing industry wringing their hands and make folks like me wonder if one day in the future, it will be authors standing by the side of the road with a sign and tin cup for handouts.
John Grisham weighed in on the subject and called the move by the retailers "shortsighted" at best, by devaluing the book. He said: "It's shortsighted, short term, they know what they are doing I think, but if a book is worth $10 then suddenly the whole industry is going to change, you are going to lose publishers and book stores, and though I'll probably be alright, aspiring authors are going to find it difficult to get published."
In that same article link above, the American Booksellers point out, rightly so, that none of the companies involved are engaged primarily in the sale of books. "They're using our most important products -- mega bestsellers, which, ironically, are the most expensive books for publishers to bring to market -- as a loss leader to attract customers to buy other, more profitable merchandise. The entire book industry is in danger of becoming collateral damage in this war." After all, if books suddenly disappeared, Walmart wouldn't care -- it would still have clothes, food and toys to sell.
As if that wasn't enough, Declan Burke on his blog Crime Always Pays, bemoans the attitude of certain literary agencies that good writing isn't as important as plot and character, and he goes on to make the case there's a parallel in cinema which shows the great movies which stand the test of time almost always have good writing as a foundation.
To throw in another commercial element, author Lynda La Plante made pointed remarks at the recent Crime Thriller Awards, taking publishers to task for pouring buckets of money into books "written" by celebrity authors, a speech that came on the heels of several authors including P.D. James quoted in the Daily Mail expressing their anger and feelings of how it was "deeply dispiriting" that the publishing industry was ignoring real writers "in favor of rubbish."
Will good writing continue to matter? Will books become so devalued, artistically and financially, that only celebrity books get published in the future the traditional way? Does anyone have a crystal ball? People who write for the sheer love it will continue to do so forever, published or no, but it will be interesting to see what the future holds for writing as a profession.
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