a quick muse on this week in publishing

December has been a cruel month for many in publishing.

My belief, as stated earlier in the blog - actually, the reason the blog was started - is that we are undergoing a profound change in the way we read. Books will not go away. It is my hope that the strong will survive.

And it is my belief we can help make this happen.

We have a choice: why not, with great discernment, choose the best words and the best art?

Let's choose to accept that great reading and inspired art can, and will, continue in many forms (many more that we might have ever thought possible) and in a variety of formats.

Does this mean fewer books? Probably.

But the ones that continue to exist can be better books: the best.

And new authors, and new illustrators, will still find ways to be seen. You're looking at one of the most efficient ways right now: this screen.

The glowing field in front of you will never trump a great tome. But it will inspire them (tomes), abet them (tomes), and bring new forms to life.

Isn't it our prerogative, as the public, to find ways to continue to support this great art?

Go buy a book. A good book.

Never stop choosing the classics.

Never stop supporting the great art of the past, and that of the present.

And keep your eyes open for new work, champion it when you see it, follow it where you can.

Please.