The economics of the movie industry? You’re a visionary who sees the “big picture,” right?

Did you catch the wisp of irony that emanated from your keyboard when you wrote that?

Movie advertising and Hollywood box office reported numbers are always interesting to read about, just like how real estate listings of who sold and bought are interesting. Statistical reporting is just as fascinating as niche blogging and there is a need for it.

Another revenue stream in addition to movie ads that is greatly hurting newspapers are employment ads and automotive, as a big bulk of both ad budgets have transferred online and into niche sites like monster, careerbuilder and cars.com rather than to the newspapers.

Also, while I was hoping that advertising for video games (they’re kind of like the new Hollywood, there’s lots of reporting on how many people buy the latest RPG games etc.) would be in newspapers, you don’t see those as much as the target market for video games doesn’t read newspapers.

In regards to the Willa Cather quote, there was an article in this week’s or last week’s NYT Sunday magazine about the explosion of self published novels, or put out by what what used to be called vanity presses 20 years ago. There used to be a stigma associated with vanity presses, alas no more… Growing up I had a lot of random poetry published in small press journals, and I was always paid for it. If I got a letter for a ‘world book of poetry’ or an anthology that required payment I’d throw it out.

I was just on a sales appointment last week with this man that told me he wrote a book. I said my usually “Wow, that’s cool!” It was clearly self published and while it’s in the backseat of my car at the moment I could quote some choice passages.. but I won’t, because that’s snotty. In the NYT article it noted that only 1% of self published novels actually hit it big or go mainstream. My feeling is that is this weirdo man or others enjoy the process of writing, than what does it matter if they ate a big part of the fabric that make’s up “today’s world?”

Print on demand and the ability for printers to print as many or as little copies of a novel is what is killing traditional publishing and bringing on the self publishers. Book advances are getting larger for a select few, but there are no huge print runs anymore. Or profits.

I read an article not too long ago written way back in the 1930′s by a famous writer (I think it was Willa Cather) who was complaining that the wide use of the typewriter was producing loads of awful novels. She called these novels “of the stenographer’s school”, i.e. they didn’t involve much thought or reflection–they were just “pounded out”. I shudder to think what she would have made of today’s world.

Keep up the thoughtful writing, sir.