Liquidations tell the story.

 I go to book liquidation sites on a regular basis.  It really tells the story of book publishing.

I've mentioned before that having an ebook isn't like being a drop in the bucket -- it's more like a drop in an ocean, a vast drowning ocean.  But slow books aren't all that different -- it's just a matter of degree.  Nothing shows this better than book liquidations.

Now, most books have only a short window to sell anyway.  A year from now, even the best-sellers at the feeding trough at Costco will be brought into our used bookstore, the Bookmark, and left in piles.

Most books don't even get that far.

What's interesting about the liquidation sites is the number of titles that are being dumped.  I've noticed two types in particular that are eye-opening.

1.)  No name books by bestselling authors.  These are books that were written either before or after a big book by an author.  You'd think that once an author has hit the top of the bestseller lists that they'd be set.  Yet there are hundreds of titles you haven't heard of by authors you have heard of.

2.) Types of books are overproduced.  What I notice most are young adult books.  These seem to have great covers, neat titles, interesting premises.  And they go nowhere.  Sure, many of them are obviously trying to ride the coattails of a previous young adult bestseller.

Your wizardy kids with glasses.

Purple and black covers, like Twilight.

Dystopian universes like Hunger Games.

And so on.  But there are hundreds and hundreds of them.  I'd be willing to bet at least some of them were at least as good as the above titles -- maybe better.  But we'll never know. Who can read them all?


Had a long talk with a customer yesterday about social networking my books.

I admit, my social networking skills are inadequate.

Finally, I blurted -- "Hey, I couldn't be a standup comedian, either -- no matter how I tried, or how often, or who I listened to.  It ain't in me."

So there it is, "It ain't in me."

I'll just keep plugging away and looking for opportunities that I'm comfortable with.  So be it.