CCBC-Net Archives
Remainders of the diversity conversation
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Charles Bayless <charles.bayless_at_gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 17:26:28 -0500
As we wrap up this interesting conversation, what is it that is important that we might not have discussed? In any purposeful discussion, there is what is discussed and there is what is left undiscussed. From the perspective of changing things, it is what is undiscussed that is oftentimes the most important. I am not intending to open a whole new thread, but perhaps these, or aspects of these, might be things to discuss in the future.
Revenue and Profit - We keep nodding our head towards the fact that publishing is a business and that authors and publishers and booksellers all have to earn a living, but it hasn't seemed like we are really engaged with how determinative revenue and profit (and their cousins, supply and demand) are in terms of what gets published and what remains unpublished. If there are markets out there that the existing population of publisher's are not serving, how can we make them aware in a credible fashion that there really is such a market? If there are quality authors out there, who can we steer them to that is receptive (a great example set by Debbie in that regard)? I think it would be interesting to focus on the commercial aspects of the publishing business.
Related to this is publisher operations. The publishing industry has a raft of historical practices that no longer seem pertinent to the modern, fast moving, always connected, digital, culturally diverse, socially granular world. Years ago I saw something that referenced the number of bookstores in the US in some early 20th century decade like 1920. It was something like 110. 110 bookstores nationwide. Only 5% of the population had a college education. Basically it was a smaller world then, that was in some ways slower but easier to navigate. I don't think it is as bad as was painted in "Bowling Alone", but it does seems as if today there is an element of self-isolation into narrowing communities. In that context, How can a publisher find good authors efficiently from smaller communities? What can be done to streamline the quality pipeline between authorial ambition and successful publication? Right now it appears to be a catch-as-catch-can search for the needle in the haystack. Once published, in a world with fewer and fewer bookstores, how can a book reach its scattered audience without returns or expensive promotions and scattershot marketing? I don't have answers but I think that solving those problems solves much of the rest.
Where are the Parents? - We have been discussing the wants of various parties: advocates, authors, librarians. But the bulk of what gets published is determined by the consumer: parents and institutions which are influenced by parents. We don't seem to be according much of a role to parents even though they determine the outcomes. This is a massive exercise in revealed preference. Millions of parents and thousands of libraries make their uncoordinated purchases which yield up best sellers, mid-listers and books that are quickly remaindered. It is impossible to see into the motivating factors of all those decisions, all we can see are the aggregate outcomes. Seems like it would be interesting to talk about parental motivations in reading selection.
Where are the children? Similar to above though they have edged their way into the conversation more than their parents have. But what is it that they want, when do they want, how do they decide, how do they self-identify, what are their top priorities when reading (search: Children's Books: A Shifting Market by Jim Milliot in PW)? These are interesting questions and there are at least some partial answers to them. While parents pay the money that fuels the business, it is at least in part shaped by the influence exercised on them by their children.
Language - This has been an interesting conversation about multiculturalism but other than a couple of tangential references, we have not really discussed language at all. And I don't mean the issue of bilingualism in schools, though that is obviously an element of it. We talked about linguistic translation versus cultural translation and I think that is a useful distinction. However, language itself is part of multiculturalism. The US is 5% of the world population and much of the rest of the world lives and thinks in linguistic constructs alien to us. Where does language and foreign language fit into a child's awareness of the diversity of the world?
Disappearance of gatekeepers - We have talked a lot about the perceived detrimental role of gatekeepers in the publishing process, i.e. agents and acquisitions editors. But in the new digital world that is evolving, the traditional gatekeepers seem to potentially be playing less and less of a role (or at least a different role) and the potential for the author to engage directly with their audience seems to increase. Will gatekeepers disappear? Perhaps not. I suspect that established publishers might long have a role as a mark of quality control. But what would an author's life look like in a world without gatekeepers? How would they be financially successful?
Global publishing - We have been defining multiculturalism and diversity solely in an American context. But it's a big world out there. There are a lot of non-American English speakers. And there are so many stories. Contracts and copyright laws and other regulatory structures have substantially restricted publishing across jurisdictional boundaries and copyright laws in particular have substantially constricted easy access to even relatively recent books (say the 1970s and 1980s). What are the likely implications for diverse reading in a digital world that is likely to become more integrated and more accessible?
Knowledge problem - If everyone is free to write what they want and everyone is free to read what they wish and everyone is different, lives in different circumstances, and has different goals and priorities, who is in a position to assess the appropriateness of their reading? Our month long conversation has to some extent been predicated on the supposition that readers ought to do something different but what, without knowledge of the individuals, is that supposition based on? More philosophical but it gets at the heart of the conundrum. People are already now relatively free to write and read as they wish and that is likely to increase further. At one time publishers and reviewers were able to some degree to influence what would be read. But that influence is dissipating. What are the guidelines that are universally true? Read a lot, read enthusiastically, read broadly, read deeply, read venturously, read critically. Is there anything more specific absent knowledge of the individual?
Just some thoughts that occurred to me and I jotted down over the past month.
Charles
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 17:26:28 -0500
As we wrap up this interesting conversation, what is it that is important that we might not have discussed? In any purposeful discussion, there is what is discussed and there is what is left undiscussed. From the perspective of changing things, it is what is undiscussed that is oftentimes the most important. I am not intending to open a whole new thread, but perhaps these, or aspects of these, might be things to discuss in the future.
Revenue and Profit - We keep nodding our head towards the fact that publishing is a business and that authors and publishers and booksellers all have to earn a living, but it hasn't seemed like we are really engaged with how determinative revenue and profit (and their cousins, supply and demand) are in terms of what gets published and what remains unpublished. If there are markets out there that the existing population of publisher's are not serving, how can we make them aware in a credible fashion that there really is such a market? If there are quality authors out there, who can we steer them to that is receptive (a great example set by Debbie in that regard)? I think it would be interesting to focus on the commercial aspects of the publishing business.
Related to this is publisher operations. The publishing industry has a raft of historical practices that no longer seem pertinent to the modern, fast moving, always connected, digital, culturally diverse, socially granular world. Years ago I saw something that referenced the number of bookstores in the US in some early 20th century decade like 1920. It was something like 110. 110 bookstores nationwide. Only 5% of the population had a college education. Basically it was a smaller world then, that was in some ways slower but easier to navigate. I don't think it is as bad as was painted in "Bowling Alone", but it does seems as if today there is an element of self-isolation into narrowing communities. In that context, How can a publisher find good authors efficiently from smaller communities? What can be done to streamline the quality pipeline between authorial ambition and successful publication? Right now it appears to be a catch-as-catch-can search for the needle in the haystack. Once published, in a world with fewer and fewer bookstores, how can a book reach its scattered audience without returns or expensive promotions and scattershot marketing? I don't have answers but I think that solving those problems solves much of the rest.
Where are the Parents? - We have been discussing the wants of various parties: advocates, authors, librarians. But the bulk of what gets published is determined by the consumer: parents and institutions which are influenced by parents. We don't seem to be according much of a role to parents even though they determine the outcomes. This is a massive exercise in revealed preference. Millions of parents and thousands of libraries make their uncoordinated purchases which yield up best sellers, mid-listers and books that are quickly remaindered. It is impossible to see into the motivating factors of all those decisions, all we can see are the aggregate outcomes. Seems like it would be interesting to talk about parental motivations in reading selection.
Where are the children? Similar to above though they have edged their way into the conversation more than their parents have. But what is it that they want, when do they want, how do they decide, how do they self-identify, what are their top priorities when reading (search: Children's Books: A Shifting Market by Jim Milliot in PW)? These are interesting questions and there are at least some partial answers to them. While parents pay the money that fuels the business, it is at least in part shaped by the influence exercised on them by their children.
Language - This has been an interesting conversation about multiculturalism but other than a couple of tangential references, we have not really discussed language at all. And I don't mean the issue of bilingualism in schools, though that is obviously an element of it. We talked about linguistic translation versus cultural translation and I think that is a useful distinction. However, language itself is part of multiculturalism. The US is 5% of the world population and much of the rest of the world lives and thinks in linguistic constructs alien to us. Where does language and foreign language fit into a child's awareness of the diversity of the world?
Disappearance of gatekeepers - We have talked a lot about the perceived detrimental role of gatekeepers in the publishing process, i.e. agents and acquisitions editors. But in the new digital world that is evolving, the traditional gatekeepers seem to potentially be playing less and less of a role (or at least a different role) and the potential for the author to engage directly with their audience seems to increase. Will gatekeepers disappear? Perhaps not. I suspect that established publishers might long have a role as a mark of quality control. But what would an author's life look like in a world without gatekeepers? How would they be financially successful?
Global publishing - We have been defining multiculturalism and diversity solely in an American context. But it's a big world out there. There are a lot of non-American English speakers. And there are so many stories. Contracts and copyright laws and other regulatory structures have substantially restricted publishing across jurisdictional boundaries and copyright laws in particular have substantially constricted easy access to even relatively recent books (say the 1970s and 1980s). What are the likely implications for diverse reading in a digital world that is likely to become more integrated and more accessible?
Knowledge problem - If everyone is free to write what they want and everyone is free to read what they wish and everyone is different, lives in different circumstances, and has different goals and priorities, who is in a position to assess the appropriateness of their reading? Our month long conversation has to some extent been predicated on the supposition that readers ought to do something different but what, without knowledge of the individuals, is that supposition based on? More philosophical but it gets at the heart of the conundrum. People are already now relatively free to write and read as they wish and that is likely to increase further. At one time publishers and reviewers were able to some degree to influence what would be read. But that influence is dissipating. What are the guidelines that are universally true? Read a lot, read enthusiastically, read broadly, read deeply, read venturously, read critically. Is there anything more specific absent knowledge of the individual?
Just some thoughts that occurred to me and I jotted down over the past month.
Charles
---
You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.
To post to the list, send message to: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a message to...
ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu
...and include only this command in the body of the message:
set ccbc-net digest
CCBC-Net Archives
The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to:
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
and enter the following:
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Fri 28 Feb 2014 04:35:14 PM CST
