Ponderings on Book Publishing, by C A Maggi
PART TWO
5) Which books deserve to be read by every thinking person of every generation?
We humans have a wide variety of fragmented and fleeting interests in our personal experiences, business experiences, academic and government experiences, and across the lifespan. Fashion creates a fickle distortion of our needs. We know that what may interest people today may not interest those same people tomorrow.
Many products, whether material or experiential, are often treated as disposable. They are readily discarded or ignored when no longer valued. Gifts of books may often reflect the fleeting attitudes, interests and beliefs of givers rather than receivers. Have you ever received a book as a gift and left it unread to gather dust?
What no longer appeals, or has never appealed, to one person's mind can be a source of interest to others, as the popularity of second-hand bookshops shows. Perhaps libraries continue to be popular for this reason, too. But how long will the interest last?
6) Why will some books always be important?
There are plenty of publishers who provide content to satisfy the fleeting interests of various people. There will always be a market for anything that others find exciting in the short-term and this applies to paper publications, broadcasts, audio recordings, live performances, filmed productions and online content.
The commercial publisher or producer usually aims to make a quick profit by satisfying the immediate desires of a readership or audience. The mundane sameness of spent excitements can even be recycled for the benefit of others in such places as second-hand bookshops (see above). Yet how many books were once popular but are no longer read?
7) Which books are most important to you, and why?
Click the "Next" link below to follow this further...
| How to promote your own work here |
