The Sky Is Falling

Things are starting to look really bleak out there in the book industry. Considering the shape of the economy, this shouldn't come as a shock to anybody. We've been hearing all year about how the Border's chain is teetering on financial ruin. I will be shocked if they make to next year without getting sold, closing stores, or declaring bankruptcy (probably all three).

That news is bad. This news is much worse. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt asked its editors to stop buying books. A major publisher has decided that it officially can't afford to have product. This is like McDonald's deciding that they just can't afford to buy beef anymore.

I now know of at least one author effected by this industry downturn. We met the amazing kosmo34 at this year's WindyCon. He just heard from his agent that a top editor wanted to buy his book, but wasn't able to because of the bad economy.

I was impatient about starting my career as an author. I'm now thinking that it's probably a good thing that my novel needs more revisions before I search for an agent.