Somehow I don’t feel at all bad for the publishers in this article. They choose to send out far too many books each season. That they’re putting out so big name authors at once, it’s their fault if they don’t all get the attention they deserve. It’s hard enough for some books to get any attention, I won’t feel bad if the enw Charles Frazier doesn’t get a review in the Boston Globe (though I’m sure it will since they’re running such a mediocre section they’ve, cut more pages this summer and now only review the same books the NYT reviews). Like Ed, I don’t get paid to do this. You can send me stuff, email me, whatever, and I don’t have to read it, review it, or like it. I like to think I’m more than a marketing tool. I’ve said it before but I’ll restate my intentions for this blog. As someone who works in a bookstore (have I ever mentioned what I do? I do frontlist buying for the store), I have access to many many books, particularly advanced copies. Since I read prodigiously and love talking about books, I thought I would write about what I’m reading, open the discussion a bit more, if you will. It’s that simple.
Regardless, the publishers are expecting a big book season. I for one am hoping that Margaret Maupin is right: “This could be the year,” she said, “when people buy one or two more books than they planned — and one less DVD.”