THE THOR DECISION: A PUBLISHING DISASTER
Once upon a time, publishers were able to see eternal value in a manuscript. They would print thousands of copies, which might or might not sell in any given year, and keep those copies in inventory, ready to meet a slow but steady demand. Should a book take on "classic" status over time, the publishers would be ready to meet the demand.
This happened to fit well with the way academia worked. Its principal reviewing journals might review a book a good two years after publication, at which point every professor in a particular discipline might decide to order the same well-reviewed book for the university library, or buy their own copy.
Similarly, children's books become classics slowly, as the word trickles up from the kids themselves to the various reading lists. That's how Gordon Kormann's wonderful funny YA books, like Don't Care High and Son of Interflux made it to the teen favorite lists long after they were published.
It is thanks to the Thor decision that those books might very well be out of print by the time the demand became evident.
Thor is shorthand for the 1979 Supreme Court decision Thor Power Tool Company v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Before then, publishers depreciated the value of their inventory on the grounds that the probability of sales declined over time. The Supreme Court said, in effect, if you print more than you think you can sell, that's your problem, not the IRS's -- you still have to price them at full cost when you calculate their value for tax purposes.
The result has been shorter press runs in the first place, and faster dumps of unsold inventory. The move from shrink-wrapped virgin copies to remainder warehouses and pulping mills has never been swifter. What that means for us is that when we want to buy copies of those books that have slowly built their audience or classic status, we have to go to out-of-print search services.
OR we can put pressure on publishers to bring books back into print. This is one place our professional organizations might be especially useful. ALA's Association for Library Service to Children, for instance, could make sure publishers know which of their books are likely to have a continuing demand by passing on various recommended reading lists to them. Scholarly organizations could do the same for books in their disciplines.
OR we can encourage publishers to use emerging print-on-demand technology for the books they are about to dispose of, so that a book need never die an untimely death.
It's a real shame that Judith Viorst's Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day is on permanent back order, and Gordon Kormann's hilarious No Coins, Please is out of print. And it's all because the justices of the Supreme Court thought there was no difference between books and any other kind of inventory. They were wrong.
For a longer examination of the reasoning behind the Thor decision, and its implications for writers, I recommend Kevin O'Donnell, Jr.'s article "How Thor Power Hammered Publishing, at http://www.sfwa.org/bulletin/articles/thor.htm.
THE OFFENSES OF SERIALS PUBLISHERS
I was in charge of serials at my library for many years, which is why I sincerely believe that the only thing worse than publishers is NO publishers.
It isn't just that they change title at the drop of a whim, although that is a challenge. If I ever go on Jeopardy, I will choose the category: serial titles. ANSWER: New Catholic World. QUESTION: What did Catholic World turn into before it turned back into Catholic World?
Nor is it just that, with the USA Todaying of the publishing world, so many magazines have taken on cute cover logos that appear to be, but are not, name changes -- our own premier trade journal, Library Journal, caused inordinate confusion to serials librarians with the prominent LJ on its covers.
Nor is it just that they choose to switch titles during the middle of a volume -- Washington Journalism Review became American Journalism Reviewin March, stranding the one, unbound January/February issue under its old title and leaving us to figure out how to preserve it.
Nor is it even that some of them change size in the middle of a volume, though when I get to Congress someday I will personally introduce legislation to make this punishable by death.
No, the real offense is that they act as if their publications concern only themselves and their subscribers. They do not understand their publications as permanent documents that libraries will store and make accessible for future generations. They flit from title to title to title at will, regardless of whether the new title adds anything to the definition of what the magazine or journal is all about. Many of these publishers have inhouse librarians, and it never remotely occurs to them to ASK THEIR LIBRARIANS before they perpetrate one of these silly changes in title, logo, size, or content.
FAVORITE "WHEN" SITES
There are two kinds of "when" questions we are always answering: "when did it happen?", and "when is it going to happen?"
One site I like is Calendar Zone (Bringing Order to Calendrical Chaos), http://www.calendarzone.com/.This is a pretty good master site, guiding you to calendars, planners and chronologies by subject: art, holidays, religious, historical, events, cultural, women, etc.
I haven't found an online equivalent of The Timetables of History that really satisfies me, but I'll settle for HyperHistory http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html, which does show the simultaneity of events in history, arts, science and technology.
Since I have started writing for a news organization, I have come to realize how much they like to plan ahead for linked stories around the theme of an important historical anniversary -- recently, for instance, I wrote a column commemorating the 25th anniversary of Nixon's resignation. For this reason, I refer frequently to This Day in History http://www.440.com/twtd/today.html. There are plenty of sites like it, but this one gives a nice balance of events in history, politics, and pop culture. And while upfront it only lists the current date and the following two days, it does have an archive for the entire searchable by date or keyword.
I also frequently consult News Ahead http://www.newsahead.com/ to find out about forthcoming events that are likely to be directing worldwide news coverage. The arrangement is by continent. Brief news headlines are clickable to more detailed descriptions of the events.
To find out about upcoming concerts and festivals and such, there are lots of perfectly good sites like Festival Finder http://www.festivalfinder.com/ and Culture Finder http://www.culturefinder.com/ , but I like Yahoo! Local Events http://localevents.yahoo.com/, because it includes not just concert schedules but art events, museum exhibits, sports, industry expos, and conferences as well.
You are welcome to copy and distribute or e-mail any of my own articles (but not those by my guest writers) as long as you retain this copyright statement:
Ex Libris: an E-Zine for Librarians and Other Information Junkies.
http://marylaine.com/exlibris/ Copyright, 1999.
