Summer 2008 BULLETIN Books, Profits & Digits: Publishing's W"ry Leap Watched Any Good Books Lately? Roy Blount on an Author's Primary Mission Copyright on a Cocktail Napkin LETTER TO THE EDITOR Et". wonder where the (generally top) author roy- gtrineas. A more usual method, however, was publica- lalty of 15 percent came from? I confess that I had tion upon shares. 'The mode of doing so . ,'wrote not, but now I think I may know. Irving, 'is to agree about the number of copies in an Yesterday I acquired Stanley T. Williams's 1935 two- edition, and the retail price to be placed upon them; to volume Life of Washingtort lraing (Oxford) and was multiply the number of copies by the price of each, moved this morning to check his and divide the gross amount by six. Bibliography of the Writings of Wash- The Guild encourages members to For this sixth part, the publisher to irrgton lraing: A Check Llsf, issued write to the Bulletin. Letters should be give his notes to the author.' ["Irving sent to "Letters to the Editor," The in the following year. Looking for to John Murrav" Madrid, July 29, Authors Cuild, ll East 32nd Street. something else, I came upon this: 7827, P. M. Irving, Life and Letters of 7th Floor, New York. NY 10016. They "Let aggrieved authors of the can also be taxed to (212) 564-5363. Washingtotr Irrring (New York, 1862- twentieth century read Walter Scott's or sent via e-mail to staff@authors 7864),il,263.1 frank letter to Irving on conditions in guild.org (type "Letters to the Editor" A sixth part is, of course, 76 2/3 the trade, in which he declares that, in the subject line). Letters may be ed- percent, so today's authors take a bit arrange it as you will, the bookseller ited for length, grammar and clarity. of a haircut from the standard in 'contrives to take the lion's share of Irving's day. the booty.' [Walter Scott to Irving, Edinburgh, Thorn December 41819, P. M. I., 1,443.) Sometimes the copy- -John right was sold outright; in7827Irving offered that of Saugerties, NY the Columbus to John Murray for three thousand Continued on page 39 ALONG PUBLISHERS ROW Bv CaMpaELL GEESLTN Eitst, the good news. Last year, 3.13 billion books OUR POET: Adam Gopnik, a staff writer at The New I'were sold, compared to 3.1 billion in 2006. Higher Yorker, wrote an essay about why W. H. Auden "is an retail prices, according to Book Industry Trends, indispensable poet of our time." helped increase revenues by 4.4 percent to $37.3 billion Gopnik observed: "Being everywhere at once from $35.7 billion. while going nowhere in particular is what poets do, fuvenile hardcover sales were increased by 10.5 and Auden did it. \Alhere journalists write about what percent to S301.6 billion last year (bumped up by people are arguing about in public, and novelists Harry Potter). Religious books were up by 4.2 percent about what they are talking about in private, only po- last year, selling 274.5 mlllion copies. Adult trade ets seem able to show that what people argue about in hardbacks and paperbacks increased 1.8 percent to 839 public is identical to what they talk about in private, million copies sold. Net revenue increased 4.3 percent that what we are arguing about is the sum of our own to $9.39 billion from $9.18 billion. Mass market paper- guilts, fears, anxieties, hopes." backs sales were down 5.8 percent. Gopnik concluded: "If IAuden] sometimes sounds This spring, however, several publishers reported in the forties as if he were speaking to us from a very weak sales. Random House had a 4.9 percent decline high soapbox in a very big square, well, listen: we can in operating profit. Simon & Schuster reported 32 per- hear him, still." cent decline in operating income in the first quarter of this year. MOTHER TONGUE: The quotable W. H. Auden had Al Greco, a senior researcher at the Institute for this to say about English: "I think we are frightfully Publishing Research, told The New York Times, lucky because being a mongrel language, we have this "There is an economic malaise that's hitting this busi- enormous vocabulary. And then because it is an unin- ness. Basically what we're seeing when we look at the flected language, yoll can turn nouns into verbs and entire retail sector is that consumers are obviouslv very cautious." Cotrtitured otr page 16 Attthors Guild tsulletin|fI sruurr, 2oo| THE AUTHORS GUILD BUTLETIN Fresident Roy Blount Jr. SUMMER 2OO8 Editor Martha Fay Articles Assistant Editor a Isabel Howe Copyright on Cocktail Napkin By Erik Heels Senior Contributing Page 5 Editor Southem Lights: Authors Cuild Distinguished Service Awards Campbell Geeslin to Louis Rubin, |r. and Richard Howorth Contributing Editor Page 6 David Curle Annual Meeting PageT All non-staff contributors to the Bulletin retain copyright to the For the Record: articles that appear in these Simon & Schuster's E-Book Amendment pages. Guild members seeking Page 8 information on contributors' other publications are invited Contracts Q&A to contact the Guild office. Bu Mark L. Leuine Page L0 Published quarterly by: Slow Growth, Unease and The Authors Guild, lnc. a Glimmer of Digital Hope 31 East 32nd Sheet By lsabel Hozue 7th Floor Page 11 New York, NY 10016 Watching Books The Bulletin was published in first By Richard Curtis L912 as The Authors League Newsletter. Page L4 Departments Along Publishers Rozu .. .. ,. ......2 Overheard Letter from the President. ......,..4 Legal Watch .......9 "The possibilities of print have just Books bv Members .......31 begun. In two years, I Bulletii Board ....33 hope this looks like cellphones Members Make Nezus ....35 did in 1982, or car phones." Copyright O 2008 The Authors Guild, lnc. Granger, Editor in-David Chief of Esquire magazine, on the battery{it About the Cover Artist 75th anniversary issue of Keain Sanclrcz Walsh is a freelance artist the magazine, which will be in New York Citlt. shipped by refrigerated truck. The New York Times, July 21,2008 Attthors Guitit Bultetin E srur,rr, 2ool Good point. No, of course not. There are other inter- From the President viewers who . Well, for my last book I did a taped phone interview with a radio person who began by Bv Rov Blourur Tn. asking, "When people meet you, do you feel like you always have to come up with something funny to say?" And I said, "No." Which is what I have said sev- /'^t oon I will be out and eral thousand times in answer to Q's along those lines, \about around the coun- because, if you think about it, that is one of the few A's lJ try answering ques- you are ever going to hear that is so disappointing as tions about a book I have to almost prove its sincerity. There was a pause, from written, which is an author's which I inferred that the questioner was waiting for primary mission. Not to me to say, "But I kid. The truth is, of course, that one write the book. To answer of the burdens of pursuing the hilarity trade is that one questions about it. must keep on hand a stock of hilarious replies to that And tulnt is thst like? Answer- ing qttestions ahout your book? Good question. You know when you have guests in your home? And as you are getting more and more "You want to make a good impression, from trying to dig up the extra tennis cobwebs on you so that thousands of viewers or listeners or racket because they forgot to bring theirs, they keep coming up to you to ask, "Where do you keep vour periodical readers will say to themselves, snake repellent?" And "Do you have any Sal Hepa- tica?" And "What is your longitude and latitude here, 'Oh, he sounds like a nice person. If his exacily?" And "You're still using this kind of yogurt?" book doesn't cost more than $29.95, And "Where's the best place to parasail around here?" And "Why didn't you redo your kitchen like you said I might consider buying a cop!."' you were going to do last year?" And "What is it about your wireless reception here that keeps me from get- ting trans-streaming hypervideo?" And "What is that chewing noise I hear in vour walls at night?" very question, and to many other questions as well, jr-rst Yes. in case no spontaneous drollery br-rbbles up in the moment. At night I lie awake in a cold sweat, dread- So you know. Yorr'r'e been there. Yes, it is like that. Or ing the dav when I rn'ill come out with a wisecrack and rather it is like that some of the time-with question- the response will be . not even a chuckle. Can you ers who act like they own the book and you are the res- imagine living with something like that hanging over ident handyman. The sort of questioner who reminds your head?" you of that moment when you turn on your DVD "But player, in your own living room, and it gives you this But yort didtr't satl tlrc I kid . ." thing. crawling message: "WELCOME." Except that you can You'r.e got it. respond to the DVD player by saying, "Heyl Let's get one thing straightl You can't welcome me here because You just snid, "No." I am the one who lives here.