I know everyone even vaguely connected to the publishing industry has been commenting on losing Borders, but I feel like I have to say something as well. My initial reaction is, like many of you, that this is undeniably shitty news. I've always loved going into Borders, smelling the coffee, having a warm drink in the winter and perusing the shelves. I've had plenty of great (and not so great) signings at my local stores and they've always been very accommodating. I love seeing the books on the shelves, the whole sensory experience. Having some of these places taken away before was tough. Having ALL of them disappear now is brutal!
There have been rumblings about this happening for a while now. I'm no economist and have no clue how this crap works. I seldom have enough money to get through my own meager existence, so why would I make it my business to know how millions or billions of dollars flow back and forth? As a consumer, though, there's been this lazy sort of "we'll always be here" attitude with big book stores and publishers alike. Both just seem to do the minimum amount of work and know the people will come back because where the hell else would they go? It was the same attitude with video stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. I know not all of these places stank and I know good people work(ed) there. I was one of them! I'm talking big picture here and those video rental places had bad prices, shitty customer care, policies that screwed customers and any number of little things that companies put into action when they know they've got ya. Then along comes Netflix. They nailed it and stuck it to the video stores. If the stores can't compete, they need to step up or step aside. That's the cruelty of Capitalism. Now, we've recently seen how Netflix decided to tighten the screws to their customers because they got us. Their time will come unless they treat the customers right.
Borders never treated me badly. Like I said, I love the places. As an industry, though, it's easy to see how they're getting it handed to them by ebooks and smaller presses. More and more, I'm seeing quality books on my Kindle that are written with love and would NEVER have made it past a bored NY editor's desk simply because it's not like something else that's selling like hotcakes. As a reader, I crave uniqueness and that's been tough to find lately. As a writer, I want to write unique things and believe me, it's an uphill climb. I'm definitely not the only one in this camp and when I see ebooks about giant crab monsters, superheroes, or something other than the four or five flavors of the month on shelves, I smile. So many of these books are written with love by authors who just want to have fun at work again. That benefits the readers too! Big stores are still looking for something that's LIKE something else. This lazy attitude was shown nicely a year or two ago when I went to a store (yes, it was Borders) and there was a shelf with the newest Sookie Stackhouse book on it. It said, "If you like Charlaine Harris...TRY THESE". Know what was on it? MORE Charlaine Harris!!! I've got nothing against Miss Harris or her books. This just shows the limited scope of an industry that should be about imagination and creativity.
I go to conventions and hear debates on which vampires aren't realistic enough or about conservation of mass in shapeshifters. This just makes me sad. It makes me wonder what future there is for writers when we can't even play with mythological beings. Then I see a fresh crop of ebooks put out there by authors who just want to write what they love or see turns in genre like steampunk and I smile again. There is freshness to be had, but it's been awfully hard to find in bigger stores.
Of course I also know that plenty of ebooks are crap. At least they're trying, though. There's money to be made and I'm sure the big publishers will step up to find a way to exploit it more than they are now. Plenty of others have said it and I agree: this isn't a bad thing. The publishing / professional editing process weeds out a lot of garbage. It's made me a better writer. Now if only they'd allow writers to flex their creative muscle a bit more. There's nothing wrong with writing pulp-style books, even if they're not big sellers. Good ideas don't happen because the ad execs in New York get a bug up their ass to drive zombies or whatever else into the ground for a while. If someone who loves their sub-genre wants to write about zombies or whatever else the big topic may be and they have a cool idea, LET THEM DO IT!!!! With the old system, they would have to wait for lightning to strike to get the book published and then MORE lightning to strike for a big store to actually put some work into selling them. Now, with ebooks, we're all on more equal ground.
I'm giving it a go as we speak. There are ideas that have been kicking around in the back of my head that I haven't been able to sell because of the market or an editor having a bad day or projected sales figures or whatever else. Now, I get to write the damn thing, put it out there and see if it'll fly. The ebook market is MILES ahead of where self published books used to be even a few years ago and authors in my same boat feel like we've got a real shot. Maybe my ideas never went anywhere because they suck. Maybe nobody wants to read them after all. There's one way to find out. At least they'll be out there giving it a go.
I'm a writer. I want to write.
Times are changing. If it was up to me, Borders would still be in business. It's not. I've taken my share of hits over the last couple of years as well and we all need to roll with the punches. I think ebooks are a roll in the right direction. Don't forget, this is America. If a business tries hard enough and adapts, it will be back.
