Books and the Economy

“Wear the old coat and buy the new book.” – Austin Phelps

Over a year ago, I signed my book contract with ArcheBooks thinking I’d be a published author by now. During this long wait, the gas prices have gone crazy and the housing market tanked. I can’t help but wonder what this economic mess is doing to book sales.

I tried to find out. However, when reading facts with lots of numbers, percents and words like ‘compound growth,’ I tend to glaze over. So my interpretation of a recent report by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) http://www.publishers.org/main/IndustryStats/indStats_02.htm may be skewed in an effort to make myself feel better.

According to the report, in 2007, U.S. publishers’ sales increased by 3.2 percent from 2006. I quote, “…the strongest growth in this category came from adult hardback books whose sales rose 7.8 percent last year…”

Did you hear my loud sigh of relief?

I hope this means that people are turning back to books as a way of escaping, even if only for a few hours, into alternate scenarios full of unforgettable characters. After all, the insanities of today’s world, the wars, the politics, and the reality shows will still be here when we read that last page and close the cover.

During 2008 do you plan to buy more books, the same number or fewer than you did in 2007? Will the books you buy be hardbacks or paperbacks? I’d like to hear your answers.

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week.

Jane Kennedy Sutton
Author of The Ride (to be released by ArcheBooks Publishing)
janekennedysutton@gmail.com
http://janekennedysutton.googlepages.com/
http://www.authorsden.com/janesutton


Tags: The Ride, Archebooks, AAP, Austin Phelps, economy

May is Get Caught Reading Month

During this month celebrities will appear in ads to remind people of the joys of reading. I visited the site, http://www.getcaughtreading.org/ and viewed some of the posters. Though the photography is nice, the book titles were not always visible. It made me wonder what authors actually read.

The Gardiner Public Library in Maine has an online Celebrity Reading List at http://www.gpl.lib.me.us/wrwind.htm. Started in 1988, the list features authors, TV personalities, movie stars, politicians, and athletes. I thought it would be fun to check out what a few authors liked to read and/or recommended.

Stephen King –Fifth Business by Robertson Davies and Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Jodi Picoult – The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
R. L. Stine – Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Jeffrey Archer –Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Robin Cook – A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman
Ray Bradbury - The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West
Mary Higgins Clark -The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini
Janet Evanovich - Comics featuring Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck, and Uncle Scrooge
Ken Follett - The Tale of the Fierce, Bad Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Sue Grafton - Snobs by Julian Fellowes

One of my all-time favorites is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving because I can remember laughing and crying all the way through the book. Owen was described by Irving with such expertise that I still have a vivid picture of him in my mind.

The book I’d currently be ‘caught reading’ is The Boxcar Kid by ArcheBooks author Dick Miller.

What are your favorite books? And, what book will you be ‘caught reading’ this month?

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week.

Jane Kennedy Sutton
Author of The Ride (to be released by ArcheBooks Publishing)
janekennedysutton@gmail.com
http://janekennedysutton.googlepages.com/
http://www.authorsden.com/janesutton


Tags: The Ride, Archebooks, Stephen King, Picoult, Evanovich, Grafton, Boxcar Kid, John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany