Christmas Gifts…

What would you give a fellow writer for Christmas?

My gift to all writers and authors would be the ability to keep writing, no matter the circumstances.

This is what I wish for myself.

Considering the circumstances of the economy I think many of our fellow comrades, like ourselves, could use a good dose of encouragement.

Many traditionally published writers with long time contracts have, and are now stating that publisher are not renewing previously held contracts.

Add to that the increasing number of newspaper closings, the situation grows dire, at least in appearance.

And yet we have the Internet, this great invention of the latter part of the 2oth century that has in the first ten years of the 21st century, renovated how we connect, and interact with one another, and how we read.

Barnes and Noble has introduced their form of Amazon‘s Kindle, the Nook. At the same time three Barnes and Noble stores have closed in my area alone.

When listening to a sales person at the one of Barnes and Noble that remains open near me speak of the Nook and its features, I wonder  when and if their job will fall with either the success or demise of the electronic reading device.

As a writer I am eager to have my writing available in as many formats as readers desire.

And yet I wonder, “What is all of this about, this eagerness to make the sale no matter the circumstances?”

At a time when most throughout the poor economy are suffering and all of us have felt the effects, perhaps the publishing industry and we writers must realize the limitations of making the sale.

And that an inability to make the sale says more about the need for consumers to spend their monies on essentials, and despite their desire for entertainment, lacking the money purchase it trumps all.

I’m also quite taken when hearing that 70% of book sales occur not in book stores, but rather in chain stores such as Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club and Target.

It strikes me that publishers and writers have much to learn about the trends and ways in which people shop, most specifically who purchases books and the methods by which they go about obtaining those books.

I wish for 2010 to bring all of us in publishing and writing greater insight and understanding of what reading means to the American culture, and the world at large, and how we might use that information to get our work to readers across the globe.

How important is the Internet to your writing?

How many books do you read a year?

Do you own an electronic reader?