Gregory Frost
I met Gregory Frost, author most recently of Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet, at Readercon. Should've spoken to him more, and I hope to next time. I did hear him speak quite a bit - on panels and stuff - and always found him engaging.So it was with interest that I came across an essay he wrote for the Wild River Review. It's a personal look at some of the problems of publishing in today's book market, with changing priorities in the industry making it challenging (or downright maddening) for authors. Give it a look. Anybody interested in writing or serious about reading should keep an eye on what's happening in the industry that connects books with readers - or doesn't.
You can read Gregory's essay HERE.
Labels: Links, Other Authors, The Biz
posted by David Anthony Durham at
2:11 PM
3 Comments:
Very interesting, and not at all surprising. I worked at Borders this year for the holidays, and they seemed to be very counter intuitive when it came to the business of selling books. Not very many employees really read in a lot of different genres. In fact, I was the only person there who knew anything about the scifi and fantasy genre.
That's a very nice article. A bit of the big picture, a bit of the small picture... and I can't help but feel bad for Frost's fans, who will walk into a Borders to get Lord Tophet (the same place they found Shadowbridge) and be disappointed. Seems a funny way to provide customer service. At least when people come into my little shop they know it's all about the books. It's certainly not about the economics... except the keep-your-head-above-water kind. :)
My best,
Bryan
You know, I really have heard more and more authors saying that their books aren't going to be in Borders at all. It's weird, because I'm talking genre authors, like Frost, with decent sales records. Of course, I know that even in a good situation a new book only has a week or two to sell, before it gets sent back or at least reduced and moved from prime display space. And I know that very, very few backlist books stay in stock. But... even I am surprised at the number of books that no longer even get that slim shot at a browsing customer.
I have grad students that say their goal is "just to get published", as if that's the end game. In many ways, that's just the beginning of the struggle, though.
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