You’ve probably already heard about Houghton Mifflin’s cutbacks, and the big news, that they plan on not accepting new manuscripts. There’s also some speculation that Borders may not be able to keep their bookstores open. Ouch!

I heard it on NPR on my way home the other evening, and my first reaction was to wonder how any publisher can survive without new books. I’m not sure I’ve gotten my head around that yet, in fact. Of course, the media reaction amounted to lots of gloom and doom with a touch of panic thrown in for spice.

Yes, I do find it disturbing that a major publishing house is laying off workers and suspending buying of new manuscripts.

No, I don’t think it’s the end of the world for publishing or for writers.

I think a lot of people, me included, are falling into the panic-trap of this recession, and the truth is, the more people in general panic, the worse the recession is likely to get. I think that’s a little scary, don’t you?

I don’t know what will happen to the publishing industry, but my point is, no one else does either. All the pundits who are saying this and that on the news, each being more negative than the other, don’t know what’s going to happen either. My solution? Don’t listen to them. Oh, and write!

Maybe publishers will lay off or cut back. Maybe some of the major houses will go under. Maybe POD and e-books are viable options, even for traditional publishers, since there’s less outlay of cash up front. Who knows? I still believe that good writers will attract readers. As writers, I think it’s in our best interest to focus on being the best writers we can be. I know it sounds naive, but I believe that if we do that, everything else will fall in place.

And what am I going to be doing? I’m going to finish the novel. Yes, it’s coming along quite well (almost 60k words right now). I’m going to shop it around to some agents in a couple months. If nothing comes of that, then I’ll explore using a POD publishing instead. In short, my plans haven’t changed. I’m working on writing the best novel I can and I’m trusting that there will still be readers out there for it. And no matter what happens to “publishing,” I feel safe saying people will still be interested in reading.

First off, take a second to read this. Northcoast Exile: A Classic Example Of Why Newspaper Book Pages Are Dying. In short, he talks about the elite view that “just anyone” can’t write a book review or (GASP) criticism.

Read the block quote and take a second to think about it.

Let me put this bluntly, in language even a busy blogger can understand: Criticism — and its humble cousin, reviewing — is not a democratic activity. It is, or should be, an elite enterprise, ideally undertaken by individuals who bring something to the party beyond their hasty, instinctive opinions of a book (or any other cultural object). It is work that requires disciplined taste, historical and theoretical knowledge and a fairly deep sense of the author’s (or filmmaker’s or painter’s) entire body of work, among other qualities.

Let’s see… In order to write criticism, or a “humble” review, I need

• taste
• historical knowledge
• theoretical knowledge
• “deep” sense of the author’s body of work

What surprises me is that anyone does meet these guidelines. Since I have a M.A. in English, I think I’m relatively qualified to speak to his argument. AHEM… Climbing on soapbox.

• Taste. There’s a subjective one to kick things off. Spend about an hour talking to a handful of English instructors, and you’ll find that one’s classic is another’s swill. So, whose taste should we be following? Ah, yes, other critics’, of course.
• Historical knowledge. I won’t argue this one much. Yes, it’s beneficial to understand the historical context a book is written in. Is it necessary to reading and enjoying the book? No. Necessary to writing a good review? Maybe. I’d say it depends on the book.
• Theoretical knowledge. This one is almost as bad as “taste.” In my opinion, those enamored of literary theory have a bad case of “emperor’s new clothes.” I’m not saying there’s nothing useful to be found there. However, most people make too much of other’s theories and spend too little time thinking on their own. One night, two of my classmates locked themselves in my professor’s office because one had accused the other of being a “new critic.” For the unititiated (and you’re really, really lucky!) , that’s a pretty nasty insult. I’m surprised they didn’t come to blows.
• “Deep” sense of author’s work. I’m guessing this guy reviews a book every couple months, if he’s lucky? He has to read the book, review the author’s other works (and what the prevailing critics have to say about all of them). Then, he needs to consider the historical times in which the book was written, and set, if different. Finally, he’s free to form his own opinion, if he’s still able to.

I think the notion that normal, everyday people can’t read, and more importantly, form useful opinions about, literature is one of the many reasons fewer people read today.

I used to teach English, and the occasional literature class. I always dreaded the first reading assignment, particularly with Freshmen. I’d toss out a question to open up discussion and get nothing. Another question. Nothing. I might get a brave soul or two who’d make a comment, but these were usually older students.

Those students fresh out of high school tended to sit quietly and wait, pens in hand, for me to give them the answer, which they would dutifully memorize and spit back to me on the test.

Except, literature doesn’t work that way. There’s no right answer. No right opinion. Forget about what critics and reviewers say, what do you say? It was so much fun when my students were finally able to break out of that mindset and really read and enjoy what we were working on. And it was so sad to realize that so many of them had had reading ruined for them forever because they kept searching for the right answer.

I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

Illiteracy in corporate communications

I read this article this morning and was reminded of my years teaching English to college freshmen. Need I say, it wasn’t really a pleasant reminder?

I’m still surprised at how poorly people write — even people who are well-educated. What’s even more surprising is that many people are convinced that writing ability just doesn’t matter. I can’t count the students who have come to me and explained that they didn’t need to know what I was teaching because they were going to be ________ (insert profession here).

Even though I did my best to convince them that writing skills, or the lack thereof, could profoundly affect their careers, more often than not it had little effect. My fear is that they learned the need for communication skills the hard way.

Comments? As writers (and readers), what do you think about the state of communications in business, schools, etc.