While I'm just as sad as the next book lover that Borders has filed bankruptcy--and as a result, is closing many of its stores--I am not surprised. The publishing industry has been on the decline for some time now...and had plenty of time to stop it. I imagine I'm not the only one who has grown weary of walking into a bookstore (Barnes & Noble, Borders etc.) and seeing the same titles and authors shoved in my face--with the best shelf space reserved for the houses with the deepest pockets--telling me what's hot and what's not...and rarely giving me the time to find out for myself. Frankly, I enjoy a trip to Half Price Books just as much because I never know what gem I'm going to find (even though I'm a little annoyed that they won't give me jack for the books I sell) but who knows how long even they'll stay in business.
While cognizant of the decline of readers of literature in general--as the bookstores shut their doors and the publishing houses combine into even bigger and bigger conglomerates--I'm not the least bit concerned with the state of the written word. We may--at some point--lose the luxury of browsing the bookshelves with a $5 coffee in hand, but the "book" isn't going away. Writers will find new ways to get our books out there...via the internet...or whatever else comes along (readers will find us) and maybe that "something else" will nourish the writers who the "publishing" world abandoned long before a bookstore closed its doors.
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