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The Drood Review Mystery's Second Century A forum on the future of the genre Original essays Our thoughts Follow-ups This site is copyright (c) 2000-3 by The Drood Review. The Drood Review
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Jim Combs Notes to myself, April 4, 2005 Returning to the US after a lengthy absence, I went looking for something to read. Of the eight bookstores my town used to have, only Barnes & Noble remained. I wondered what had happened to the others. B&N’s layout was a shocker. The book section was gone. There were no books, just a few dust jackets and a few posters and twenty or so stalls with huge monitors. I felt like Rip Van Winkle. Then felt worse, when I checked it all out. The clerk — they’re called facilitators now — must have thought I was a moron. He explained POD, print on demand. Order a book while you wait. "Three or it’s free:" pay extra and any book is yours in three minutes. No cashiers either. Pop a card or bills in a slot. Or you can save a couple of bucks by ordering "Thirty-three or it’s free:" pay less and any book is yours in thirty-three minutes. You can stroll over to the cafe area (now as big as the book section used to be) and order a latte and a sandwich while you wait. By the exit was a huge bin with a RECYCLE sign. It was full of books, most with blank pages. A woman walked by, tossed in a book, and looked at me like I was about to wash her windshield. I persuaded her to listen to my questions and she reluctantly gave me some answers. Turns out that most books are now printed with ink that disappears in six months. Books with permanent ink are exorbitantly priced. The woman had what she called an e-book, which could download up to ten books at any stall. I had seen a few in magazines back in ’99. I found another informant, an employee on his break. According to him there are no more mid-list authors, those whose works sell in modest but profitable numbers. It was all blockbusters now. Publishers won’t look at an author unless his agent can guarantee sales of five million or more — and don’t even think about royalties if you don’t reach that five million mark. He whispered that he would deny ever having said it, but the Religious Right had taken over the government, as well as the majority of the publishers. Hard-boiled was out. As was hard language. Villains were now nasty liberals trying to regain control of the culture. Gays were anathema. No violence. No sex. No perversions of any kind... nada. American mysteries were neatly scrubbed and sang in the choir. Hollywood’s big hit was Return of Flipper. I made a decision as I left: I was headed out of the country again. |