Charlotte Gill | author site & blog

November 27, 2008

Adaptation?

Yesterday's MobyLives story about Random House freezing employee benefits was followed by the company's announcement later the same day that it's boosting its efforts to build up its ebook library and expects to have some 15,000 titles--including books by major authors such as John Updike and Harlen Coben--available within just a few months. Following Friday's MobyLives story about Barnes & Noble's historically bad third quarter earnings report, there's yesterday's Wall Street Journal story by Jeffrey Trachtenberg about the even worse earnings statement expected today from Borders Group Inc. Then there's this story from blogger Ed Champion: it seems Borders has told the Independent Publishers Group--the country's largest independent book distributor--that it won't be paying them for two months, a devastating development for IPG's client publishers, and a potential signal that Borders is on its last legs. Then, late yesterday afternoon came the report that was most stunning of them all: A Publishers Weekly alert that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has told its editors to stop acquiring new books for an indeterminate period. According to PW's Rachel Deahl, HMH's vice president of communications Josef Blumenfeld confirmed the story after it was leaked to PW, although he said it was "not a permanent change." Nonetheless Blumenfeld "hedged on when the ban might be lifted," says Deahl. Instead, he insisted "it's a symbol of doing things smarter; it's not an indicator of the end of literature."

But I do have to wonder how much of an effect all of this will have on authors, who more or less live close to their margins anyway. The other day, my lovely friend Sam said, "You know, I never felt the boom, and now I'm not feeling the crunch."

November 25, 2008

Shiver me timbers

Some people say the financial crunch has hit book-town, at least in the U.S. Media outlets send people down the road, Random freezes pensions, and at least one publisher halts acquisitions. This isn't just my winter face, people. I've already started cringing.

November 8, 2008

Solid like Barack

Maybe it takes the worst president in history to get people to change their minds:

I remember the conversation I had with my friend Loren McArthur when Florida was called for Gore.
"Gore's really going to clean up the environment."
"We won't be allowed to drive anymore."
"Or throw things out. Or go to the bathroom."
"You can go to the bathroom, but you have to recycle it."
"You'll have to wear a contraption that captures your waste and recycles it."
"Then you can eat that."
"Yes, you'll have to eat that. It'll be this goop, which you'll just recycle right up and eat."
"Gore Goop."
"Gore Goop. And you can put it in your car."
I remember the smug blond Republican aides outside the Dade County courthouse, grinning and chanting and pretending they were a spontaneous mob. I remember James Baker flying down to Florida and lying, lying, lying. I remember Lars-Erik Nelson, the excellent political writer for the Daily News and New York Review of Books, dying in his apartment that month of a heart attack. I always assumed it was in front of the television, watching Baker.
It was the beginning of eight bad years.

November 2, 2008

YouTube time-waster

On the B.C. coast they like to log in the wackiest places. With a giant Sikorsky helicopter. I love helicopters. Even though they're bad for the environment.

This is us on a cutblock somewhere near Seymour Inlet, at the southern end of the Great Bear Rainforest. Watch a JetRanger land on a giant log:

Watch it take off:

November 1, 2008

Sad treeplanting news

On Thursday a crew barge transporting treeplanters in Burke Channel near Bella Bella, BC ran into trouble when the boat's bow hatch opened unexpectedly. Several passengers were ejected into rough waters. One planter is dead and another is still missing. No names have been released until next-of-kin are notified. For those who've worked in the area, it's likely many of us will know the people involved.

I only found out about this yesterday, when my stat counter blew up with hits by those looking for more info. If you've Googled your way here for that reason, you can find coverage at Canwest and also the North-Island Gazette.