Melville House Books

The times are getting tougher and tougher and tougher. Last week over 15,000 jobs were lost in the UK, the majority of them in communication companies, and in a report in The Times today Rosie Lavan says the figure has risen to 24,000. That’s nothing compared with over half a million new people who claimed for unemployment benefits in the US last week, a figure that is simply unbelievable. I read it in The Guardian. Surely there must have been a misprint? That’s the population of Wyoming! I checked with The Press Association. No misprint.

So, despite early predictions that the book industry would be one of the last affected, if at all, we shouldn’t be too surprised that the general awfulness is heading our way. Despite a surge in spending last week (there was a lot going on, it seems), this article by Philip Stone for The Bookseller shows that compared with last year, sales are well down, which doesn’t bode well for Christmas. Also in The Bookseller, Benedicte Page reports that agents are having trouble selling debut and literary fiction at the moment; apparently, the nouveau poor would rather buy novels by “tried and tested” authors. All the agents are out hunting for “comfort” brands. However bad this may become for all us young uns, I can’t help being pleased for those mid-rank writers who, having published three or four novels to moderate success, are rejected by their publishers because they are no longer fresh and sexy. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone had a resurgence in the midst of all this gloom?