Unfortunately, I fear the current economic climate is going to prevent most large publishers from taking risks.
You may be right, although in a way they might be financially wiser (assuming the bookstore chains were likewise) to look to the less generic stuff. Anyone can pick up a plentiful supply of generic thrillers or skiffy at yard sales or library sales for 50c and $1 a time; but, if you publish a book that's outside the ordinary, people aren't going to be able to substitute something that's basically the same and a tiny fraction of the price: they're going to have go to a real or online bookstore to get that particular book, no lookalikes available or indeed wanted.
Myself, I'm making a conscious effort to mix up my reading, and anyway I do enjoy a good pageturner; I'm trying to maintain at least a 25% ratio of good mindless fun. But nowadays a lot of the genre stuff looks less and less appealing each time I go to the Guilt Shelves (and Guilt Heaps on the Floor, etc.!) to choose a book to read next.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-08-15 03:52 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, I fear the current economic climate is going to prevent most large publishers from taking risks.
You may be right, although in a way they might be financially wiser (assuming the bookstore chains were likewise) to look to the less generic stuff. Anyone can pick up a plentiful supply of generic thrillers or skiffy at yard sales or library sales for 50c and $1 a time; but, if you publish a book that's outside the ordinary, people aren't going to be able to substitute something that's basically the same and a tiny fraction of the price: they're going to have go to a real or online bookstore to get that particular book, no lookalikes available or indeed wanted.
Myself, I'm making a conscious effort to mix up my reading, and anyway I do enjoy a good pageturner; I'm trying to maintain at least a 25% ratio of good mindless fun. But nowadays a lot of the genre stuff looks less and less appealing each time I go to the Guilt Shelves (and Guilt Heaps on the Floor, etc.!) to choose a book to read next.