What is "Doom Eager"?

Lorrie Moore, from "Better and Sicker"
"Martha Graham speaks of the Icelandic term "doom eager" to denote that ordeal of isolation, restlessness, caughtness and artistic experiences when he or she is sick with an idea. When a writer is doom eager, the writing won't be sludge on the page; it will give readers -- and the writer, of course, is the very first reader -- an experience they've never had before, or perhaps a little and at last the words for an experience they have."

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Riggio: Barnes & Noble to Become E-Commerce Retailer

Riggio: Barnes & Noble to Become E-Commerce Retailer: "Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio gave the most detailedaccount of how ..."

I'm not against progress. I'm not a technophobe. Yet, it bothers me that Barnes & Noble is projecting that e-books will soon become the dominate form of sale on new books and that their profit margin is greater with e-books than with print books.

Publishing and book-selling are businesses and the bottomline drives businesses. This is a concern to me both as someone working to break into the business as a writer and as a reader. As a writer, I worry that authors are getting squeezed in terms of contracts and royalities. As retailers scramble to grab market share, the push to offer e-books at lower and lower prics (the Wal-mart model) becomes greater. Consider the recent fight between Macmillan and Amazon over e-book pricing. As a reader, I don't want print books to go away. I want to hold books in my hand, flip through the pages, turn the book over to look at the author's picture. I want to go into a bookstore and circle the "new release" table like a shark circles prey. Which book shall I devour next?

In truth, I'm hoping e-books will end up a trendy fad and go the way of the Jay Leno Prime Time Show, a bad idea no matter the cost savings, no matter the bottomline.
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)