When the New York Times Calls ...

... I call back.  Turns out when the bit of back and forth about print reviewers and bloggers was going on last week, the New York Times was paying attention.  I was asked to answer some questions by Motoko Rich Monday and it has led to some information about the EWN being included in an article in Wednesday's paper.

I really cannot complain as Motoko has made me look pretty good in the deal, noting I personally read and reviewed nearly half as many books as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution did during 2006.  Granted, the bulk of last year's reviews were mini-reviews, especially compared to those written the previous five years, and those written so far this year, but the total number makes things sound good.  She was also kind enough to note that I've moved on from my former position into my current job of running Dzanc Books, though without mentioning the name Dzanc Books, so I'll do so again here, Dzanc Books. 

I think the article comes across pretty even-minded, especially when one considers it's appearing in a newspaper, and while it's one that still has a stand-alone, Sunday Books section, it's still a newspaper.  And what appears to be the consensus among print reviewers, bloggers, and readers of both, is that the newspaper business is in trouble, which is leading to the book review sections being in trouble.

Not surprisingly, I found the comments of Maud Newton to come across as the most rational, saying she'd never consider what she does a replacement for a traditional book review and “I find it kind of naïve and misguided to be a triumphalist blogger,” Ms. Newton said. “But I also find it kind of silly when people in the print media bash blogs as a general category, because I think the people are doing very, very different things.”

Some things I said that were not able to be squeezed into the article:

- I absolutely do not want to see print reviews disappear.  The first thing I do every Sunday morning is grab the Detroit Free Press and turn to the book page (yes, page).  I follow that up by going online and looking at the new book pages/sections of 8-15 papers from across the country.  Yes, I'm doing this online, but really only because I don't have access to the printed copies of these papers. 

-  The loss of any of the voices that have developed over the course of the last 30 years in various editors, freelance reviewers, etc. is just a waste of what I'm interested - coverage of books and the literary world.

-  That I had in fact signed the petition for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and sincerely hope that the editor there be put back in her original position.

I thank Motoko for finding some interest in this site, as part of the story, and sincerely hope that those of you bouncing over here for the first time because of the link she provided have a chance to look around and hopefully like things enough to come back every so often.

Comments

[callie]

Dan -- Great news on this front! I'm especially pleased about the Maud Newton bit ("...saying she'd never consider what she does a replacement for a traditional book review") because it says, exactly, what I had hoped to say in my own post about a similar subject today. Although, of course, Maud says it far more succintly than I.

I would truly miss the print book review sections of the papers I get every Sunday and I can't think of a lit blogger who wouldn't agree with the need to save them. It comes down to the issue of how.

[Steve Gillis]

When I first moved (back) to Ann Arbor 12 years ago, my wife and I approached the Ann Arbor News about doing book reviews. Their response was typical to what we are hearing now - that it is more economical for them to buy reviews from a service and reprint what has already appeared in larger papers. This pattern has continued to where only a few papers now print new reviews at all and what we receive elsewhere is a retread. While litblogs do a great great service and are clearly the wave of the future, I agree it is essential we find a way to reverse the trend and make sure book reviews continue in a printed form. If this means creating a service of our own, where reviews now being written by litbloggers can be culled together and sold to papers as part of a broader service I am all for it and with Dan and Dzanc am surely interested in supporting both financially and otherwise such a venture. Look forward to hearing more from everyone.

Steve Gillis - co-founder, Dzanc Books

[kay]

Why doesn't the NYT ever call me? Once they did, and they got the wrong man and I'd rather forget about that.

And I only ever read reviews by authors that have some connection to the literary editor anyway.

[TC]

I'm new here and saw the NYT article "Are Book Reviewers Out of Print" where I found the link here.

I enjoy writing book reviews and have a few of them on bookcrossing.com. I was wondering if you're familiar with that site?

I was also wondering if you have any advice for a 51 year-old emerging writer who has been writing a bi-weekly gardening column for three years, has recently pocketed a degree in English/Creative Writing, and is a father and husband in dire need of a job?

(Have you entered search terms such as "writer," "copy editor," "editor," or "freelance writer" in a job search engine recently? Try it, you'll likely see no results or results that have nothing to do with the terms you entered.)

Also, does "literary blogging" and "literary culture" include all genres of literature? For example, creative non-fiction.

[Richard]

Dan, it was great to see your name lead off the article! Congratulations, and your comments made you sound just as smart as you are.

For me, the key paragraph in the Times story was this:

For those who are used to the old way, it’s a tough evolution. “Like anything new, it’s difficult for authors and agents to understand when we say, ‘I’m sorry, you’re not going to be in The New York Times or The Chicago Tribune, but you are going to be at curledup.com,’ ” said Trish Todd, publisher of Touchstone Fireside, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. “But we think that’s the wave of the future.”

As I said in my last self-serving, garrulous comment, when my first book came out in 1979, lots of papers printed reviews of just about any old book.

Somehow authors prefer, as I do, getting reviews and blurbs from places with geographical place names in them to reviews and blurbs from more fancifully-named blogs like Return of the Reluctant or Syntax of Things. Even though the San Francisco Voice, the Ventura County News and the Baltimore City Paper may have been obscure weeklies, a quote from one of their reviews seemed to give my book legitimacy. And even a horrible review in the Cleveland Plain Dealer or Minneapolis Tribune made me somehow feel I was important enough so that a whole city hated my writing.

Therefore, I would like to respectfully suggest to the esteemed litbloggers that they consider changing the names of their wonderful blogs in favor of names with geographical place names. It would be a great tribute to the moribund newspaper industry if the blogs could be named after dead dead-trees newspapers.

For example, Maud Newton could rename itself The New York Herald Tribune. Doesn’t The New York World-Telegram & Sun sound better, Ed, than Return of the Reluctant? The Elegant Variation could morph into the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. Syntax of Things could, in tribute to the great writer and editor Harry Golden, could revive the name of The Carolina Israelite.

Bookslut doesn’t sound nearly as prestigious as The Washington Star. LitKicks would make a nice Long Island Press (the afternoon paper we subscribed to back in Brooklyn in the 60s). Beatrice could reclaim the old New York Journal-American title. I’d also hope for changes in the names of PeteLit (The Chicago Times), The Reading Experience (The Miami News), The Old Hag (The St. Louis Globe-Democrat), Curled Up (Houston Post), etc.

Dan, please consider giving Emerging Writers Network a new name. I'd like to see you as publisher of The Detroit Times.

[Laura Benedict]

Do Richard Ford's comments in the article suggest that he hasn't yet arrived here in the 21st century? Please join us soon, Mr Ford--Your gravitas would be welcome!

I'd like to mention The Grand Rapids Press in Michigan for a moment. I still do occasional book reviews for them and enjoy being in newsprint. But one of the things they do best is to support regional writers--almost every Sunday there's a book with a Michigan connection. The editor, Sue Thoms, gets a lot of pressure to use wire reviews, but has mostly fended it off, thus far. Truly an unsung hero.

Great recognition, Dan. Good to see the big boys are paying attention!

[anonymous]

Why are publishers and booksellers of all sizes not lobbying harder to keep book review sections in newspapers? I would think they'd have a significant stake in having both forums available to readers.

[Dan Green (The Reading Experience)]

Since I'm from the St. Louis area, I'd like to take "St. Louis Globe-Democrat" for my blog's new moniker. (Even if it was a right-wing rag.)

[tao]

that was very nice of them. you got 2000 hits so far today. good job.

[Erika D.]

Like everyone else I was delighted to see Dan get that attention in the NYT yesterday. But the print vs. blogosphere divisiveness aside for a moment, I find additional problems with this "campaign." (I should say from the outset that I am a former NBCC member who resigned last fall and I've had some unpleasant dealings both at the organization's blog and with John Freeman in particular.)

For one thing, the petition being touted specifically attests to each signer being "a subscriber to and/or a frequent reader of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and I want the AJC to continue publishing a book section edited by Teresa Weaver...." So long as all the signatories truly do subscribe to/read that section regularly, that's great (though I'd suspect plenty of authors who've received positive reviews there, and plenty of freelancers who've been paid for their work there, are among the not necessarily disinterested signatories as well), but somehow, with the blanket promotion of that petition, I doubt that's the case.

Plus, there seems to be a particular interest in saving this one person's position (Teresa Weaver; I've never had any interactions with her and I'm sure she's a lovely person, but would the NBCC make an effort like this for someone who isn't a beloved former board member, or, say, someone who edits a book review section less in keeping with their own proclivities?). Beyond that, the part of the "campaign" that suggests that people join the NBCC doesn't sit well with me, but that's likely due at least in part to my lasting disappointment as a former (dues-paying member--yes the NBCC charges membership dues) who didn't appreciate the particularly anti-Israel views promulgated on the organization's blog.

So, beyond the simple fact that intelligent discourse about books isn't necessarily dying out with the downsizing of newspaper book sections, there are some other issues to consider here.

[Robin Reagler]

Congrats on the New York Times article. How awesome!