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Making Something from Nothing |
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I read this little blip in a trade publication the
other day: "The AP reports that Powell's Books--with over 500
employees--is asking people "to scale back their hours or take sabbaticals
to cope with disappointing sales." Chief of operations, Ann Smith, "says
December sales are below projections and the company is adjusting its
inventory, operating expenses and staffing to cope." Now, when you think about it, that's a pretty chilling concept. In effect, what Powell's Books is telling its employees is help us out or go down with the ship. It's not unlike the entire auto-industry bailout plan, in which the government agreed to provide financial aid packages while the union |
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refused to provide concessions. In the end, of
course, it's to everyone's advantage for everyone to give-and-take, but
until that time, not everyone sees things that way. But is the publishing industry really in the same kind of financial bind as, say, the auto or banking industries? In a word, worse. For every book a bookseller fails to sell compared to the same period last year, the publisher receives on average $10 less than it received the same time last year. If a bookseller's book sales are off by 3,000 copies one month, that means a $30,000 cut in the publishing industry's income from that single bookseller that month. Multiply that by several thousand booksellers and 12 months in a year, and you begin to see the frightening slogan scrawled hastily on the wall. Frightening, in particular, if you're a writer looking for a way to make a living from your writing. But I have a couple of suggestions that could help. First, go to a bookstore and buy a book. Any book. The revenue will help keep bookstores the publishers, and authors in business. Second, encourage friends, family, and neighbors to buy books for gifts--always! Can you think of a better Christmas, Hannukah, Groundhog Day, Birthday, or Sweetest Day present? Remind everyone that clothes styles come and go and rarely match two people's tastes; candy is bad for your health and rarely lasts more than a few days; but books offer a world of joy that goes on giving forever. Third, get involved with your local newspapers, schools, and libraries to promote a greater enjoyment of reading. If you have access to a Website, promote reading on your site by offering readers a place to speak out about what they have read recently or to post reviews. Finally, write about the tragedy that would accompany the loss of books, bookstores, publishers, and authors--all of which could happen if we only fail to support them. Take your message global--get viral! The more we can do to stop the decline now, before it's too late, the better off we writers will be in the future--and everyone else, as well. Until then... Smoke if you got ‘em.
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