Archive for June, 2008

Once a refuge from outside media, libraries now embrace them

Monday, June 30th, 2008
By Diane Evans
OK, I’m going to date myself. I can remember walking to the neighborhood library at a time when libraries (and bookstores) were not multimedia experiences. No DVDs, no books on tape, and certainly, nothing close to a computer. That was when books, periodicals and newspapers were enough.
In those days, if there was an experience that countered the media, it was your time at the library. What you saw on billboards, or what you heard in rock’n’roll lyrics, did not appear connected in any way to the display of books that librarians put out for kids like me to read. In my working-class neighborhood, lots of kids didn’t go to college. But most of us seemed to understand that books and reading had a lot to do with learning.
Whether it’s evolution or the reverse, libraries and bookstores have come full circle, so that now, instead of standing apart from media, they are one with the media.
If you don’t believe this, then just put yourself in front of a display of best-selling titles. There’s Barbara Walters writing an autobiography in which she breaks news of her past love affair. Or Eminem’s mother, ratting on her rapper son. Or Valerie Bertinelli, on losing weight and telling the world.
In a recent commentary in the Washington Post, Jonathan Karp, a publisher within the Hachette Book Group, described pop books as “self-aggrandizing memoirs by recovering addicts; poignant portraits of heroic pets; hyperbolic ideological tracts by insufferable cable TV pundits; guides to staying wrinkle- and toxin-free; odes to Warren Buffett and Jesus Christ; manifestos for fixing America in 12 easy steps; manly accounts of the best athlete/season/team ever; and glittery novels about British royalty, love-starved shoppers, mournful cops and ingenious serial killers.”
Where’s the balance?
It’s as if the pursuit of reading, in a giant leap, has gone from being too snobbishly intellectual to too much like the lowest common denominator of mass media.
For the book industry, life has always been about selling books. But there was a time when books and wrinkle-free ointments belonged in very different categories.
Sure, as readers, we have more choices. But sometimes there is paradox as a result of having more choices. As a nation, we have overweight children juxtaposed against crazes in dieting and fitness. Our instant 24-7 communication is often at the expense of meaningful dialogue and understanding. Our material wealth can and does give rise to the spiritual and emotional poverty that then becomes the subject of more new books.
Are we better readers? More informed and thoughtful?
Most of all, I remember the quiet in the library where I went as a kid. In the quiet, you can absorb what you read, and reflect on it. If the answer to one question leads to another question, then you could go search out the answer. That’s not a media experience. That’s the learning experience.

Diane Evans is founder and president of DelMio.com.

New at DelMio.com: On Top of the Potty

Monday, June 30th, 2008

Our newest book project is under construction as we speak. Take a sneak peek now and come back in a couple of days for a more finished product:

http://www.delmio.com/on-top-of-the-potty/

It features the work of Alan Katz and illustrator David Catrow in On Top of the Potty (And Other Get-Up-and-Go Songs) and reworked lyrics of classic children’s songs. Kids will love the potty humor, but parents, eh, not so much (some of it’s pretty gross). Writer Chuck Bowen is the producer of this mini exploration, sponsored by the Ohio Center for the Book, which has sponsored several other books and authors with Ohio connections.

Confessions of a book publisher

Monday, June 30th, 2008

Publisher Jonathan Karp uncorked a word that he once was told to never, ever — ever — invoke near an author: mulch. As in turning those unsold books into mulch, shredder fodder, to sleep with the leaves.

He now believes the term should be used, and implemented, often in this day of what he calls the “disposable book.” He’s writing about books that are put to press without the thorough research and editing that used to be the norm. Now, instead of two years or more between books, the norm for most active authors is a book a year, fiction or nonfiction, Karp laments.

And, he says, far too many books are published for the quick sale.
“I too have sinned. In weaker moments, I’ve been seduced by tales of celebrity, money, gossip and scandal. Among my crimes: I volunteered to edit a White House memoir by a self-serving egomaniac because I wanted to learn about presidential politics. (Hint: The author’s name was Dick Morris.) I worked on a book by Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega because we thought he might be able to provide an illuminating perspective on how the United States wields power in Latin America. And, in an effort to bolster the company’s bottom line, I acquired and edited an inspirational autobiography by the pop singer Clay Aiken, written and published in about four months. (For the record, Noriega was a lot more pleasant to deal with than Aiken.)”

To read the article, CLICK HERE.

Looking for an Obamabounce

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Our Daily Red

Well, now that Barack and Hillary were spotted kissing on the tarmac, can we expect to see Barack Obama’s numbers jump with the “Unity” theme still fresh in voters’ minds? I think that’s a near-certainty; the question becomes will John McCain be able to recover some of those numbers in the ensuing months.

He’s got plenty of time. It’ll probably take a Bush-style campaign of planting whispers about Obama to give him a chance. I don’t know if McCain will do that. He seems to have a much greater sense of decency than the Bushies.

Of course there are unofficial operations to do that, and McCain has plausible deniability.

It’s going to be an interesting summer and fall.

I saw Wesley Clark (retired general) endorsed Obama. There’s some speculation that Clark is angling for a vice presidential nomination. Well, he would bring credibility from a military standpoint. And he’s a little more moderate than Obama. Which might help the Democratic ticket.

The thing I wonder about is if McCain wins, which John McCain shows up at the White House: The McCain who thinks for himself, the Maverick — or the guy who turned around (flip-flopped!) and kissed Jerry Falwell’s ring years after describing him as an “agent of division”?

Dave Wilson is the Grand Pooh-Bah of Editorial Content at DelMio.com, a site developed by SunLit Communications LLC. He also is at times janitor, chauffeur, chief cook and bottle washer. Once upon a time he was a metro editor and copy editor at the Akron Beacon Journal. Send love letters and trash talk to dave.wilson@delmio.com. Or post a comment. Whatever.

Death drives book sales

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

Tim Russert’s unexpected death has triggered a wave of sales of his books, especially Big Russ and Me and Wisdom of Our Fathers, which had the added cachet of coinciding with a Father’s Day weekend. Russert, 58, died of an apparent massive heart attack. Friends and foes alike heaped praise upon the Meet the Press host (so deeply ingrained was his connection with the news show that would-be guests simply referred to it as “Russert,” as in “I’m hoping to appear on ‘Russert’ this week.”

The curious effect of a celebrity’s death touching off avalanches of sales of books, recordings, etc., is a common phenomenon. When Pope John Paul II died in 2005, bookstores and memorabilia merchants reported huge spikes in John Paul II items.

Princess Diana’s death in 1997 even revived Elton John’s career, as he reworked Candle in the Wind for her funeral.

For more about Russert and his books, CLICK HERE.


Dating game for the bingo set

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

Bob Moriss documents the dating scene for seniors (and himself) in Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating With My Dad, recently featured on the Very Short List pop culture guide.

In the book, Morris writes about abetting widower dad Joe Morris in his romantic adventures, admitting that “It’s not pretty. But in a way, it’s just beautiful.”

The book amounts to a tale of two Morrises, both on a quest for love.

To learn more about this book, CLICK HERE.