While We're on the Subject: Whither "Newspapers"?

I'm a newspaper junkie (my idea of a fun vacation is one where I get to spend two hours reading newspapers while I eat breakfast).

No surprise, I've devoted more brain-time that I should the past six months pondering the future of "newspapers." I intended to post a series of entries about this but -- you know how that goes. (Blame Carlos Brito. The A-B InBev deal took over my life for awhile).

Anyway -- unless you're living under a rock, you know that newspapers are in trouble: Circulations are declining. Some companies have declared bankruptcy. A Detroit newspaper is limiting home delivery to just a few days a week. The newspapers that my husband and I have delivered to our home are, well. . . . let's just say those weigh less now than they did a year ago. Everyone and her mother has an opinion about why this is happening, but as far as I'm concerned, the bottom dropped out when newspapers decided to give it away for free.

Example: I've been reading the New York Times for about twenty years. First, I bought a copy every day (back in the pre-internet days). Then the paper went online. There was a nominal subscription fee ($49.00 a year, if I remember right). I happily paid.

But then --- maybe three years ago? Four years? All of a sudden --the whole thing was free.

"Wait a second," I thought to myself. "How the HELL can they just give this stuff away? This is insane!"

The insanity has caught up with the Times and every other newspaper in the country. One of two things will happen: Either newspapers will go bust and there won't be any more "newspapers," paper or electronic; or, newspaper owners will wise up and start charging again. (As far as I know, the Wall Street Journal is the only newspaper that still charges. And it's doing okay. Yes, it gets thinner by the day, but it's okay. Or as about "okay" as a newspaper can be.)

Anyway, there's an assessment of some alternatives by David Carr in yesterday's Times.

For two other cogent analyses, see this piece at Scholars & Rogues, and this from American Journalism Review.

Final Thought (for Today Anyway) On Publishing...

I swear I'll stop now, but after you read David Nygren's post about e-publishing, take a look at this from the other side of the fence: the one where the "traditional" publishers live. And keep in mind: David's post contemplated SELF-publishing: how to bypass the current guardians at the publishing-gate.

The blog referenced in this post looks at those guardians. (And yes, ignore the pink text and those icky polka-dots. Ugh.) I sympathize with the traditional gatekeepers. All of my books have been published "traditionally," and I know editors, agents, publicists, copyeditors, etc. They're good, hard-working people who love their work and who KNOW that the business is changing.

But change either comes in one big WHOOOSH: painful but fast. (Kind of like jumping right into that cold swimming pool.) Or it's slow and painful. (Putting first one foot, then another into that cold water, and then sloooowly easing the rest of your body in.) American publishing is, I fear, suffering the woes of the latter rather than the former.

E-Books, Self-Publishing, and the Future of the "Book"

David Nygren of the Urban Elitist continues his analysis of the e-book. (Yes, I know: Why is a middle-aged Iowan is reading the blog of a Brooklyn hipster? What can I say? Good ideas transcend age and geography.)

His current blog entry is a delight: an idea-packed stroll through the possibilities of promoting/selling a self-published e-book. There's much to consider in his post, but I especially like his idea of serialization. As he notes, serialization was once a common mode of delivering books to readers.

In the 19th century, for example, writers routinely published their work as serials, with installments appearing on a regular basis in a specific magazine or newspaper. Many were authors no one has heard of since then, but among the better-known who published this way were Anthony Trollope (one of my favorite writers) and Charles Dickens. (Film studios, by the way, adopted the model in the 1920s: those "shorts" the preceded the main movie were short serial films whose plot continued from week to week.)

So why not bring back the serialized book? Have it delivered in chunks to your email inbox or Ipod or Kindle? Great idea! (The folks at dailylit.com are doing something similar with books in the public domain.)

David also points out that writers who go the way of self-pubbed e-books will need a "hook," something that will grab the reader fast so he/she will decide to buy the entire work (delivered in one piece or serially).

Here's one way to do that: writers could cooperate in operating a communal "storefront." The would-be reader visits the site, and "grabs" for free maybe the first five hundred or a thousand words of the book. If the buyer likes what she's read, she can then pay for the entire book. The money would go directly into the writer's account.

Anyway, as David notes, once writers AND readers get past the idea of the conventional publishing model (agents and publishing houses and physical objects sold in "real" stores), there's no limit to where creativity can take the new e-model for publishing and reading.

Again, there's plenty there for both readers and writers. Take a look.

Jay Brooks Looks at Beer In Art

Jay Brooks is running an occasional series that he calls "Art & Beer." The images span the centuries and include a variety of artists working in different mediums. This is a link to the series up to now. Presumably he'll be adding more. When you land at the bottom of the first page, click "next" page" to see more entries. Jay never does anything by half, so each image is accompanied by plenty of background information and commentary. While you're there, take a look, too, as his predictions for the beer world in 2009.

Enjoy!

Historical Tidbits: Yuengling Beer Advertisement, 1878

Advertisement in the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, April 27, 1878, p. 1:

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Family Supplies BOCK BEER, BOCK BEER Yuengling & Co's famous Bock Beer has arrived at 190 Main Street. All orders for this celebrated Beer promptly filled, and sent in kegs or bottles to any part of the city or state. M. D. SLEEPER & CO., Springfield, Mass.

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Note: In this case, Sleeper served as an agency for Yuengling, and probably bottled the beer using a hand-siphon at its shop in Springfield.

End the Week With a Good Laugh . . .

. . . . courtesy of Lew Bryson. So so so funny. So true. Now, go have a drink!