Buy Books Like Life Depended On It! (Maybe Not Yours, But Someone's.)

So, if you haven't heard the news, or seen Andrew Wheeler's rundown, yesterday was publishing's "Black Wednesday," with layoffs and changes at Random House, Thomas Nelson, Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, others. Prompting in part this good advice from John Scalzi:

Buy some damn books.

Fortunately, this advice is well-timed: Books are inexpensive yet valued objects, which means that they make lovely gifts for whatever holiday festivities you subscribe to this time of year. Now is a fine time to introduce friends and loved ones to some of your favorite authors — and in doing so, you’re boosting that author’s sales, which will make his or her publisher marginally less liable to dump their shivering ass onto the street. You’re giving a gift a loved one will appreciate, you’re doing your favorite authors a favor, and you’re doing your part to keep editors and publishers from hurling themselves out of high-rise windows. Truly, everybody wins.

So, go: Make this a bookish holiday season. You know you want to anyway. I, my fellow authors and a grateful publishing industry thank you in advance for your cooperation, and for your seasonal purchases.

Amen.

For our part, my wife and I have decided to give everyone books and bookstore gift cards this Xmas. It has the added bonus of making our shopping really quick and easy too.