New York City kids fall in love with SELF-published novels approved by the local board of ed
As if the big publishers lack enough to fret over, California will offer open source textbooks in high school math and science by this fall.
Great move! Consider the prices of textbooks in general and some especially outrageous specimens within higher ed!
Of course, I’m all in favor of prosperity for the big and small publishers alike.
But in this recession, depression, whatever, it won’t hurt to experiment with the taxpayers in mind.
Another threat to the biggies: Self-published books
Now, out of New York City, comes another threat to Publishing Central, self-published novels that that schoolchildren love—especially since they can meet the writer.
The New York Times reports that Jason A. Spencer-Edwards, “a self-published author who lives in Laurelton, Queens,” has “convinced the city’s Department of Education to approve his books for reading lists, then barnstormed schools around the city, dropping off sample books and offering to speak to classes.”
50,000 copies bought
The Times says he’s “built enough of a market to quit his day job as a paralegal and branch out to publishing other authors. In the past two school years alone, New York schools bought more than 50,000 copies of his books, in the middle to high range of purchases from new authors, school officials say.”
This is a laudable example of initiative not just on Spencer-Edwards’ part but also local educators’. Guess what counts even more than prize-winning literature in the schools? Whether ten year-olds enjoy books and learn to read. There’ll always be time for Dickens later on.
The role of E in all this
Needless to say, e-books have an important role to play, especially with all the public domain goodies free on the Net and so many new writers working in E—including minority authors with whom African-American and Hispanic kids and others can identify.
Granted, the big publishing houses are trying to address their needs. But the bureaucracy of publishing has worsened to the extent that even white writers can take years to reach print or the screen.
Self-published books in E or P—carefully screened by librarians and educators—can hasten the process and whet kids’ interest with local references.
Related: MobileRead item on California experiment, plus one in Ars Technica. Also see Publishers & Librarians: Two Cultures, One Goal, in Library Journal (via FiledByAuthor).
And speaking of self-publishing: The Last Stigmas of Self-Publishing, in Self-Publishing Review, via AddToAny and Mike Cane).
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