Thinking about …

In these straitened publishing times, as a friend tells me, it’s more important than ever to write what we like and be damned. People do like distinctiveness and specificity.

So true. And I remind myself that heaps of people love reading (print books) – look at all the book groups around the country – the Book Discussion Scheme (WEA) now has 1000 book groups they cater for. That love of reading is never going to go away.

Recent news is that Penguin and Random House will be merging … the problem is that there will be less places for writers to send our mss. I’ve just heard of a writer who has had her novel ms turned down by RH so now she will have to try Penguin or HarperCollins next – once the two biggies merge, that writer will have one less publisher to send her work. Yet I like to think that small niche publishers will spring up, phoenix-like, from the ashes. The print book will survive (in one form or another). Tho the current market is still worrying for writers … and booksellers.

The other thing I’ve been thinking about recently is that there are lots of lovely writers who are falling into obscurity because they can’t get published any more … which means that there will be less choice of local fiction available to readers. There ought to be a co-op for us neglected writers to keep our work alive – The Lost Cause Writers Society!