The problem with book reviews

To a flyer of just inaugurated to judge New York Center for independent publishing, reviews in trouble are book. "SAVE OUR book reviews!" pleads with his heading. "In the last five years books and their readers have left one after the other newspapers started." Cut on dozens of paper, book cover or a total cut, puffed with wire copy or was generally treated as dispensable. "Member of the Board of the National Book Critics Circle has a campaign to try to combat these changes."

Stopped under the assumption that the freefall are must - what should be done?

If each industry is hit by a sense of unease, it helps to do three things. Does it make sense initially to steep decline to avert, assure investors of the entire viability of the company and ask them additional resources to help, restore their profitability ahead. Hardly a strong result is book reviews earner, it would be less then realistic to put much hope in this step.

The second step - expansion of the customer base the value of the company to increase is far more important. In General, this can be effectively done without the first implementation of the third step - change the company ' entire business model.

In fact, book reviews must re fully transition to a completely different group of customers.

Currently, reviews are servants of the large publishers. Instead of reviewing the level of newly published books looking for interesting and original ideas, to present to the public, and as referee of the merit of today's book reviews earn their bread by hyping up books by big houses and turning them into "Best seller." Some book covers are only plastered quotes from reviews, with ecstatic admiration "oh!"s, "Ah!"s and "how nice!"s spilling of covers for the first few pages of the text itself, while other books earn no individual evaluation. The former superlatives are on decorated with because their services were obvious to all agents of the country, while the latter were found is unfortunately missing from the same ratings, the credit is read? Not at all. The difference is connections solely on the basis of the respective publishers, the former will be able, their were desks to reviewers, push, while the latter have no such long arms.

A few years ago was a novel called "The memory of running" to a major publisher for around two million - after fifteen years, as junk e rejected was sold. The great opportunity came after the author was doing an audio book for him in contact with Stephen King. A nod from Mr. King has the alchemical trick turn garbage into gold - and, when time came the book in Bestsellership hype, all important reviewer published an opinion - an opinion of a book that would never have reached his desk, had the author it is released - da great reviews a stated policy of the author published books to verify not have considered. "The memory of running" didn't make it criticism, because he what - it was never changed since his garbage - but since it is people were able years published, book directly.

During a panel discussion of the New York Times Book employees, about half a year ago, I had a more direct confirmation that this book reviews how work. I was looking forward to a simple question "if all review posts anonymously, there was no clue how the identity of the author or Publisher, would leave a whole other series of books not be selected for review?" For my part the question never but I mixed buttonholed two members of the Panel, as it with the audience. Each answered, Yes, even suggested that far way to do things, and trust, that a novel by a budget writers never looked name under this policy consider this possibly one would.

Interestingly, this is used just like book reviews to work in the past. In the early 1900s it was possible a book by the author some half-dozen magazine reviews simply on the merit of his provocative ideas received anonymously published. (So far proved later, "What is man?" by Mark Twain had been written.) In the current book review climate however this would be unthinkable, reviews will be to publish an exclusive prerogative of the institution and have nothing at all with the quality and merit of the book to do.

Perhaps book should consider to save their industry seriously reviews extricating itself from the far - to - close the major publishers and the choice as a customer of the public, rather than the publishers - support after their selection, how to ignore it completely one hundred years ago, only on merit and Irrelevances such as such as the identity of the author and the Publisher.

The public would be grateful brought book reviews for worthwhile ideas to the attention, fellow journalists would respect to track reviews for newsworthy material and management would see that book reviews, asset and not a liability.

This is to think that the only reasonable way for book reviews to thrive rather than you to wither.

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