I have a new Editor's Note up over at the day job, recounting a visit I received recently from a childhood friend who just got back from Iraq. He's a retired Marine and a flight instructor, and he gave me my first lesson in piloting a plane. It was one of the funnest things I've done this year. I can see how addictive flying must be. It's a good thing my life is so crazy busy because the last thing I need is another addiction.
Sherlock
Last year I bemoaned Guy Ritchie's reinvention of Sherlock Holmes as a nineteenth-century James Bond (although when I did actually see the film, I enjoyed it). Yes, Conan Doyle describes Holmes as an expert in boxing and single-stick fighting, but he wasn't an action hero per se. The fun of reading a Holmes story is watching him use his singular powers of deduction not break some guy's nose with a karate chop.
Which is why "Sherlock," now airing on PBS, is such a pleasure. Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have reimagined the great detective for the twenty-first century. Holmes, played by an actor with the Dickensian name of Benedict Cumberbatch, uses texting, GPS, and a knowledge of traffic signals to solve crimes. Watson is once again a doctor invalided out of the Afghan campaign; only he's a veteran of our current war in Afghanistan and he writes a blog instead of magazine articles. (Watson is played by the wonderful Martin Freeman who was Jim in the original British version of "The Office" and is about to become famous around the world when he stars as Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's big-screen adaptations of The Hobbit).
The reason the TV series "Sherlock" is superior to the movie Sherlock Holmes is that it understands its characters so much better. Cumberbatch's Holmes is the brilliant, "high-functioning sociopath" familiar to us from A Study in Scarlet. Freeman's Watson is not some dope (sorry Nigel Bruce) but an intelligent everyman who craves adventure more than he realizes. And, as a real plus, the mysteries are actually quite ingenious as well. Definitely worth watching.
The World of Tomorrow
Eric, over at Pimp My Novel, has dusted off his crystal ball and his spending the week gazing into the future of publishing. And, as usual, his observations seem eerily clairvoyant. Here are four of his predictions.
On eBooks:
I've been known to tout the year 2015 as the point in time when e-book sales will reach parity with physical book sales; that is, the point where e-books will comprise 50% of the market. Given the current rate of growth, however, I'm now more inclined to estimate parity occurring in late 2013 or early 2014.
Parity means that fewer physical books will be produced, although I strongly disagree with industry professionals who believe it will be a one-to-one correspondence (e.g. the market can only support 200,000 copies of a given title, so if 100,000 are sold as e-books, only 100,000 will be sold in physical form). I am convinced that hardcover buyers and e-book aficionados are, at least for the time being, almost entirely separate markets, and moreover that e-books are encouraging non-readers to read, not converting current readers wholesale to the e-format. All this to say: greater e-book sales will, à mon avis, mean more sales overall, not the same number of sales split different ways.
On self-publishing:
Finally, there seems to be this rumor floating around that the rise of the e-book and the sophistication of current POD systems (where physical books are concerned) will not only make editors, literary agents, and publishing houses obsolete, but will usher in a Golden Age of Publishing where a true merit-based democracy will rule, and the reading public will determine, by show of electronic hands clutching electronic dollars, who will succeed and who won't. No more gatekeepers; no more insiders and outsiders.
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As I said earlier, the sheer volume of voices competing for attention guarantees that a system of separating the proverbial wheat from the chaff will be necessary. Consumer recommendation systems (like those employed by Amazon) are helpful, but insufficient; people often give five-star and one-star ratings to books for nepotistic, spiteful, or downright bizarre reasons, and while this might not affect titles with large followings (read: established brands), it can wreak havoc on lesser-reviewed titles. Which, if branding is determined by consumer review, will be all of them.
All this to say: there has to be a way of identifying, cultivating, and branding talent such that the fresh, engaging, and important voices are heard, and the rest are left to their own devices. While word of mouth is a necessary condition for this to occur in a free market, I don't think it's sufficient. Another filter is necessary, and that filter is the publisher.
On the Big Shrink:
As print runs decrease and e-books become the norm, it will 1.) be increasingly fiscally feasible for smaller operations to turn out a greater number of books, and 2.) no longer require that there be so much specialization and segmentation within the industry. A new, "boutique" literary enterprise employing a few literary agents, editors, tech gurus, and a small staff of on-line marketing and sales folks will be able to do the e-work currently undertaken by individual agencies, publishers, and retailers. Why sign with an agent, have him/her pitch to a house, and have that house deal with the logistics of selling it through myriad channels (often requiring greatly varied and/or incompatible information and file types) when you can get it all in one place?
On the Indy Renaissance:
As the economy begins to recover and the e-revolution continues, I think it's pretty unavoidable that 1.) the chains will continue to close underperforming stores, 2.) existing indepedent book stores will begin to see their sales recover, and 3.) more money will be available for the creation of new small businesses (indie booksellers included).
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The independent book store of tomorrow will be able to cheaply print copies of books that it doesn't have in stock, will be able to offer access to e-books, will promote local authors and host events, and will actively participate in on-line discussions about literature via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. They will adapt to changes in culture and technology, and they will continue to be relevant so long as reading remains relevant.
Like Eric, I tend to think reading is going to remain relevant for a while—on whatever device we end up doing it. He has many more provocative prognostications on his site. You should go visit the World of Tomorrow yourself.
Sun Journal Brightens My Day
V. Paul Reynolds, writing in the Lewiston Sun Journal today, offers a glowing review of The Poacher's Son. In addition to editing and publishing the Northwoods Sporting Journal, hosting "Maine Outdoors" on WVOM radio, and authoring A Maine Deer Hunter's Logbook: Tips, Tales, and Tactics, Reynolds is a former spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. So his words carry real authority in these parts:
Doiron has done a masterful job developing his main character, Mike Bowditch. The young warden has his flaws like the rest of us. He is too headstrong at times, and his choices aren't always the most mature. But you'll come to like him early on in the book, and the tougher things get for him with his job, his girl, and his mission to prove his father's innocence, the more you will want him to get a break.
This book has a lot more going for it than merely the tension that all good mystery novels generate. And, indeed, it has a lot of tension. Doiron is a "clean writer" who weaves his tale with pace and precision. He also creates a sense of place that is truly Maine, the good, the bad and the ugly — the odd mixture of natural beauty, the rural poverty, and the family dysfunction.
Himself a Registered Maine Guide, Doiron has done his homework when it comes to his fictional portrayal of game warden work. Having worked closely with the Maine Warden Service for three years, I recognized Warden Bowditch's supervisor from real life and some of the other law enforcement characters in his story, despite their fictional names. Doiron uses his knowledge of Game Warden work and Maine outdoor places to give his story a compelling added dimension. These work effectively with the basic plot line to create lots of plausibility.
It's been a surprise to see reviews of The Poacher's Son still appearing six months after the book's publication date—and when a review is as positive as Reynolds's, the surprise is a pleasant one.
Beware of Carp
In the current issue of The New Yorker, Ian Frazier—who can make plastic grocery bags interesting—doesn't have to work so hard to tell the terrifying story of the Asian white carp, two invasive species that have infested the major rivers of the Midwest. The article isn't available online, but it's worth picking up a copy of the magazine for Frazier's article alone. This video gives a sense of the danger these fish (literally) now pose:
Responsible fishermen have tried for years to explain to the general public that invasive species are destroying our ecosystems. It's probably going to take something like a jumping Asian carp killing some kid in a boat to get people's attention.