Jo Dereske's Winter 2010-2011 Newsletter
January 1, 1970
JO DERESKE'S WINTER 2010-2011 NEWSLETTERHappy Holidays!
Thank you for subscribing to my quarterly newsletter! Good news: my provider (the wonderful Authors Guild) tells me that with the Spring email newsletter, I’ll be able to include photos, various fonts, etc. So hopefully it’ll be goodbye to simple print and hello to a more colorful missive in your email box.
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A comment by Anita Zager, owner of the soon-to-close Northern Lights Bookstore in Duluth, caught my attention the other day: “It’s kind of a Gutenberg moment,” she said, comparing ebooks to the arrival of the movable type printing press and its effect on the printed word
I love books, their feel and smell and passivity. I also unabashedly love my ebook reader: its compactness, the ability to carry 2,000 books in my purse, not to mention the ability to change font size so I can read hours longer.
Here’s the truth, though: I rarely buy books from bookstores anymore. Yet, bookstores (and libraries!) have been my lifelong heart-and-soul, not to mention my lifelong bread-and-butter.
I wrestle with the fact that a book at a discount store or in ebook format costs half as in a bookstore. The harsh truth is there’s absolutely no need to step inside a bookstore in order to purchase any book you desire.
“We’re subsidizing a dying business,” someone told me. But think: Do you attend author talks at your bookstore? Book clubs? Take your child or grandchildren to kids’ events? Do you drop by just to fondle the new titles, chat with the (dwindling) staff about book gossip? Those activities satisfy the soul and create a community How important are they to you? And what are they worth?
I buy gift books at my local bookstore (the fabulous Village Books) because I do believe in that community.
Bookstores that survive will evolve and it’s too soon to see what that evolution will look like. As time progresses, more and more traditional bookstores will close; it’s inevitable. And I, sadly, will be a part of the reason they’re closing; and that’s inevitable, too.
May 2011 be a year of happiness, satisfaction, and good challenges for you! jo
MISS ZUKAS 12 IS WAITING IN THE WINGS
Whew, it’s finished but for the editing, and I will announce its exact launch date in the Spring, 2011 newsletter on March 21. This “dozenth” book will appear in both print and ebook format.
VILLAINS
What makes a “good” villain? It’s the latest topic in my new “Writing” page. Check it out on my website, jodereske.com.
BREATHE!
A couple of readers have asked me to describe again Miss Zukas’s breathing exercises for tense moments. Here they are: Inhale to the count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale to a count of eight. And again. And...
READERS’ BLOG
Here’s a fun blog by former librarian Jan Zlendich. Sorry I can’t link to it (yet) but it’s called Kindle Blogspot and is at kindlereader.blogspot.com. Sure, it’s aimed at Kindle ebook owners, but there’s a wealth of book information. And like most librarians she can’t resist throwing in a few good research links.
GOOD READS
Helma, curious about the rising trend for adults to read young-adult books, as well as being a devout Nancy Pearl fan, is deep into “BOOK CRUSH, recommended reading for kids and teens”.
Ruth has fallen into Diana Gabaldon’s mega-books in the OUTLANDER Scottish time-traveler series. Since there are nine in the series and all top out in the 900-page range, she is not expected to emerge from her house for months.
Happy Holidays,
jo
jodereske.com