My long-time friend Peter Finch stopped by the bookstore this morning, and in the midst of a bustling weekend crowd, we were able to carve out a few minutes to discuss the future of the book for a new radio show he's hosting. No shortage of thoughts on that subject, as you can well imagine. More details right here on Wed. in my next blog post, but if you aren't already familiar with Peter's work on the KFOG Morning Show (or his theatrical prowess with The Thunderbird Theatre Company) I encourage you to visit his FogFiles archive page and give a listen. I especially enjoyed the one from June 7th: Reading to Kids. Check it out!
Then later this afternoon, I was walking back to the bookstore with another chum: author, musician and all-around literary hero, Sam Barry. While he was regaling me with tales from his honeymoon trip to Europe (his recent marriage to author,musician, and all-around literary hero Kathi Goldmark, was the single best thing to happen to the future of the book since Guttenberg. Truly peas in a pod, those two.) I glanced down and noticed a funny book in our free box. Funny like, "HaHa" funny, because it was Dave Barry's Guide to Life, and he's a very funny writer. He's also Sam's brother. "Hey, Sam. . .dig what's in the free box." Sam snatched the copy, flipped through the pages of the collection, considered keeping it for a second, and then put it back. "He's probably got it already." Humor must run in the blood of that family.
Thanks to BoingBoing for linking to the cool (yet disheartening) info graphic above: Where Does the Money Go? Click it to go big, because I was thinking that my eyes were playing tricks on me at first. Only .2% spent on reading ($118 from ~$50k)? Wow! Least by a long margin. More than triple that amount goes to buying cigarettes each year, and it's illegal to smoke, like, everywhere these days, isn't it?!? So what do you think? Is the future of the book alive and well thanks to folks like Peter, Sam, Kathi and You? Or is it in danger of going up in smoke?
Thanks to BoingBoing for linking to the cool (yet disheartening) info graphic above: Where Does the Money Go? Click it to go big, because I was thinking that my eyes were playing tricks on me at first. Only .2% spent on reading ($118 from ~$50k)? Wow! Least by a long margin. More than triple that amount goes to buying cigarettes each year, and it's illegal to smoke, like, everywhere these days, isn't it?!? So what do you think? Is the future of the book alive and well thanks to folks like Peter, Sam, Kathi and You? Or is it in danger of going up in smoke?
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1 comment:
Always enjoy your blog.
I both publish books and run a small used book store online. Business is so good, I'm aiming toward making those things my livelihood.
The book isn't going anywhere.
It will just adapt.
If it hasn't already.
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