2018 School Spending Survey Report
Digital reviewing
>We had a call this morning from a publisher who is thinking about supplying reviewers with f&gs of picture books in digital form and wanted to know if Horn Book could work with that/those.
I demurred. Electronic galleys for fiction, maybe. Although my Kindle gathers dust (too hard to hold; I hate the buttons and typeface; the "page" is too gray), my iPod Touch is perfect for reading on the subway or in the dark and can hold hundreds of books. Lots of editors and agents are already using Kindles or Sony readers to manage otherwise innumerable reams of manuscript pages. (It is unfortunate that there is nothing about digital technology that will reward people for writing shorter books.) But picture books demand to be held, and the page-turn and your fingers are part of the story. Less ethereally, picture-book reviewers will often hold them at a distance to see how an image might carry across a story hour, or they will want to try one out with an individual child or group. I remember Chris Van Allsburg musing about the unlikelihood of families gathering around the cozy glow of the computer screen to "read" the cd-rom version of The Polar Express.
I understand the publisher's desire to keep down costs, and, theoretically, electronic galleys would allow reviewers to post their reviews earlier, which is to everyone's advantage. But I wonder if the distance between what is seen by the reviewer and read by the consumer is too great. Are film reviewers allowed to watch the movie on TV?
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Anonymous
>1) I do not think most books are too long. I sometimes feel cheated by short books (Briar Rose/Yolen come to mind). Diana Gabaldon, on the other hand, needs to be edited but they are too intimidated by her.2) I understand why people complain about placement to the chains but without the quantities they move, there would be fewer books. I would instead be critical of publishers who don't use their profits (if any) from the chains to fund arcs for the indies. One problem is that feedback from the chains comes earlier and is circulated faster, so is more useful early on to the publisher.
3) I review for PW and would probably quit if I had to do it on a reader. I spend enough time at my job staring at a computer screen. I understand the need to save money, however.
4) I notice that I am buying fewer books, partly because feeling frugal but partly because I just have no room! I try to donate $25 to my library every other month as it is GREAT about ordering my requests.
Posted : Sep 10, 2009 03:24
Danny Errico
>@Andy Laties I understand your point. Hopefully publishers will continue to stick with physical review copies.Posted : Sep 02, 2009 01:53
Anonymous
>Van Alsburg's nightmare about families gathering around the computer to "read" a book may be all too likely! Just what would suit some publishers: think of the savings in paper, shipping (no returns!) etc. etc. Not to mention getting rid of many employees, from sales force on up. A clever promotion could sell the idea to modern parents.Posted : Sep 02, 2009 01:26
Anonymous
>Authors are not paid by the page.Posted : Sep 02, 2009 12:58
Anonymous
>I'm responding to this idea in the essay: "reward people for writing shorter books."If this has already been discussed on this site I apologize.
Is there anyone else out there who feels that many books currently on the market are unnecessarily long? I'm not speaking of picture books, of course, but of books from about 3rd grade reading/interest level and on up.
I can't decide if it is because authors are paid by the page or if it is lax editing or if it is a trend.
Or do books seem so long because the descriptive writing is so dull?
I realize that I am generalizing in a very bad way. But I'm still wondering, does any one else notice this?
Posted : Sep 01, 2009 09:48