Why, oh why do people think that it's easy to buy the stuff they want? There are even some who will go to a book store and expect the staff there to produce the book exactly as they want it.
It's like saying i'm doing a research piece on blah-blah and blah, do you something like that? Of course, they could try the internet, but why is it that these people do not know that a lot of work goes into writing a book? The research you'll need to get done includes a lot of legwork, reading and maybe interviews with other people who know their stuff, and that doesn't include the actual late nights/long days grappling with writer's block, meetings with editors and rewriting etc etc etc. I mean if there's already a piece written about it - or even something in the same vein, would YOU need to write a research paper on it? And what if the subject is something like the drainage of mangrove forests in Malaysia? Go look it up in some research institute, please - no, commercial publisher in their right mind would burn good money on it, anytime soon. (In fact, such grey material can be obtained) Not to be cynical or something but that's really not how it works, dahling!
Many a time, even as book retailers, we kid ourselves to think that we can sell all the stuff that is the best and perfect for the customer. But we forget that to a book (or any product) to the end-user takes a simple but arduous and serendipitous process of supply and demand.
Supply is the publisher, and the type of publishing which they do (and may make them big bucks), then there's the means of supply like the book buyer (who may or may not see all those books and based on budget, buy them), the merchandiser or retailer who displays and promotes the book to the customer. And demand is what the market dictates - who the publishers are selling to, what the majority or target customers would buy. At times, when you pull your hair and wonder why those publishers would let your favourite book go out of print - keep this in mind - publishing can come in waves and tsunamis; the tide can be low, too. It's all about supply-demand, demand-supply. Book retailers are just vehicles.
We go with the flow, and don't push our luck. One day, we'll find our favourite book/author, back in print.
It's like saying i'm doing a research piece on blah-blah and blah, do you something like that? Of course, they could try the internet, but why is it that these people do not know that a lot of work goes into writing a book? The research you'll need to get done includes a lot of legwork, reading and maybe interviews with other people who know their stuff, and that doesn't include the actual late nights/long days grappling with writer's block, meetings with editors and rewriting etc etc etc. I mean if there's already a piece written about it - or even something in the same vein, would YOU need to write a research paper on it? And what if the subject is something like the drainage of mangrove forests in Malaysia? Go look it up in some research institute, please - no, commercial publisher in their right mind would burn good money on it, anytime soon. (In fact, such grey material can be obtained) Not to be cynical or something but that's really not how it works, dahling!
Many a time, even as book retailers, we kid ourselves to think that we can sell all the stuff that is the best and perfect for the customer. But we forget that to a book (or any product) to the end-user takes a simple but arduous and serendipitous process of supply and demand.
Supply is the publisher, and the type of publishing which they do (and may make them big bucks), then there's the means of supply like the book buyer (who may or may not see all those books and based on budget, buy them), the merchandiser or retailer who displays and promotes the book to the customer. And demand is what the market dictates - who the publishers are selling to, what the majority or target customers would buy. At times, when you pull your hair and wonder why those publishers would let your favourite book go out of print - keep this in mind - publishing can come in waves and tsunamis; the tide can be low, too. It's all about supply-demand, demand-supply. Book retailers are just vehicles.
We go with the flow, and don't push our luck. One day, we'll find our favourite book/author, back in print.
11:09 pm |
Category: |
0
comments
Comments (0)