A Call to Arms

It's the weekend of B. E. A., the publishing industry's annual grand convention, and lately I've been hearing gloomy forecasts about the state of the business from a number of writers I know. No one's buying fiction any more (Da Vinci Code excepted). Of course, as long as publishing has been around, there have been writers complaining that no one buys books. But recently I was having a conference with a student of mine that made me wonder if maybe this problem really is becoming more acute. The student in question and I were discussing his final grade, and I asked him what writers he liked to read. “I don't like to read,” he replied. “Not that I think there's anything wrong with that if I want to be a writer. Other people will read what I write, but I don't have to read what other people write.”

As outrageous as this statement may sound coming from someone who's studying creative writing, it really isn't that abnormal if you stop to consider the rising popularity of creative writing classes, as contrasted with the falling numbers of book sales. Or think about the staggering volume of submissions to literary magazines contrasted with subscriptions to those same magazines. Or the query letters to agents versus the number of books sold by clients represented by those same agents.

We are all like the student I described earlier. We want to express ourselves, but we're far less interested in hearing other people express ourselves. Imagine a room filled with millions of people screaming past each other. Is that what being a member of the community of letters should look like?

The question is what can we do about falling book sales. We can't force people to buy books because it's good for them. Or even if we could do that, should we? Why do we expect anyone to support our work?

But there is something we as writers, publishers, and book lovers can do, which is to buy more books.

Many of you may be thinking, but I do buy books. Remember, I'm not talking about reading books. I'm talking about buying them. Those of us who are in the publishing world get books for free from publishers or magazines we review for, or friends who work in the business. Or sometimes we just borrow them, or buy them at used bookstores (or buy used copies from Amazon). But how many hardcover books have you bought last year? (At an independent bookstore?) Buying hardcovers may seem like an expensive habit. But if you paid twenty-five bucks for a theater seat, a concert ticket, a nice dinner, a sweater, or anything other than a book, you'd think, great, what a bargain. Most of us don't have any trouble plunking down ten bucks for the latest shlock from Hollywood, but that's half the price of a hardback book right there.

I'm not suggesting skipping Star Wars to buy a book. But every time you do go to the movies or spend fifty bucks on an evening of beer, stop and think, have I bought a book recently?

Some people may think, why bother? It's not going to make any difference if I buy one more book. Sadly, the state of publishing is such that each purchase of fiction does make a difference. And it's about more than dollars and cents. Each time people see you handling a book in a store, or each time that book crosses a cashier's desk, or when you hold it up on the subway or the beach, you're creating a ripple effect that gets that book out into the world in a way that's more powerful than any ad in the New York Times Book Review.

Also, I'm not reminding you to buy books the way doctors exhort us to take our medicine when we're sick. Reading isn't an onerous burden. It's rewarding, enlightening, and yes, it's fun. That's why you're reading blogs like these and taking creative writing classes, and scribbling in your journals in cafes. Yet how easy it is to forget in the age of TV and internet and iPods that reading is a pleasurable activity.

So set yourself a goal. Every month, buy at least one book for its retail price, possibly a hardcover, possibly at an independent bookstore. This will cost you about three hundred bucks a year at most (which is tax deductible if you're a writer). If you can't afford that much, try going without a Starbucks coffee once a week. There's twenty bucks a month right there. Ask for books as birthday presents. Give them as wedding presents along with cookware and linens.

Or give them for absolutely no reason, which is the best reason.