National Columnists’ Day
April 18, 2018 14:43 Book stuff | Food for Thought
Have you read something fun or interesting lately? Thank a columnist!
April 18 – National Columnists’ Day
Yes, I was a columnist. Actually, in Maryland and New Mexico.
In Maryland I was known as Kitty McKundi after Lake Kittamaqundi in Columbia, Maryland. It was a column in a weekly paper that looked at local businesses differently. I featured stockholder annual meetings, restaurants, stores, and other events. No one knew I was a journalist.
In Albuquerque, I was a columnist for the New Mexico Breeze newspaper - print and online. My main column was the Stupid Factor, but I also had a restaurant review column, an occasional book review column, and covered events. I also did book reviews on Hispanic subjects for Tradicion Revista Magazine for almost fifteen years aside from other features.
I hate to say it but newspapers and magazines are on a downhill slide. The attention span for many readers is seconds – seriously! Many people don’t read at all and kids rely on their phones. SAD!
Columnists are a dying breed. Reporters in general are going out of style and employment.
It is a fact that we used to get good reporting from newspapers and in-depth coverage from columnist. Almost no more. This is a day that I long for the newspapers of old.
Barbe Awalt
UPCOMING CALENDAR:
FRANCELLE ALEXANDERJun 2: Hispanic Genealogy Research Center talk on North Valley, 10:30am at Natl Hispanic Cultural Center
Jun 16" North Valley Library 2pm
BARBE AWALT & PAUL RHETTS
Apr 28: Moriarty Author Festival, Moriarty Library 9-5pm
Jun 1-3: Sacred Heart Spanish Market, Cathedral, Gallup
Jul 7: Lavender in the Village, Los Ranchos, 9-5pm
HENRIETTA MARTINEZ CHRISTMAS & PAUL RHETTS
Jun 23: Genealogy Workshop: Using History in your Family Search & Preparing a Biographical Timeline; Los Lunas Public Library at Transportation Center
PAUL RHETTS
Oct 26: Presentation on Biographical Timelines at New Mexico Genealogy Society Conference, 3:45-4:45pm
GAIL RUBIN
Apr 25-28: Association for Death Education and Counseling, conference; Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 29: Death Cafe, Manzano del Sol Village, Albuquerque, 3-5pm
Apr 30: Free presentation at Loma Colorado Public Library, Rio Rancho, NM 1-3pm
May 1: ALS Support Group, North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Albuquerque, 4-6pm
May 9: Jewish Community Center of Albuquerque Wonderful Wednesdays Lunch, 11am-12noon
May 31: Meadowlark Senior Çenter, Rio Rancho, 1:15-2:30pm
Oct 30-Nov 4: 2nd Annual Before I Die ABQ Festival
ROSS VAN DUSEN ("What Makes the Lightning?", "How the Crocka Dog Came to Be"; and "Lyle Got Stuck in a Tree")
Apr 28: Battle of the Books at Los Lunas Schools, 8am-1pm
Jun 2: Book signing at Treasure House Books, 2012 South Plaza, Albuquerque Old Town
Nov 3: Albuquerque Museum Author Fest
From Forbes:
Traditional publishers sold 10% fewer ebook units in 2017 compared with the previous year, according to data released by PubTrack Digital. Total sales were 162 million in 2017 rather than the 180 million units sold the year before.
The news won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has followed traditional ebook sales trends over the past few years: Nielsen’s reports put 2016 ebook unit sales from the top 30 traditional publishers down a full 16% from their 2015 numbers. But this isn’t a comeback story for print, and shouldn’t be considered evidence of a waning public interest in ebooks. The fact that traditionally published ebook sales fell 10% last year isn’t the full picture. As traditional publishers saw sales drop, audiences moved to indie publishers, largely on Amazon. The reason, according to Jonathan Stolper, who was the SVP and global managing director for Nielsen Book in 2016, comes down to pricing. Nielsen’s Books and Consumers survey, according to a Publishers Weekly paraphrase of Stolper, found “that price is the top priority for e-book buyers when considering which book to purchase.” In 2015, the Big Five publishing houses raised ebook prices to around $8 a book, far higher than the $3-a-book price point independent publishers settled on.
The result: Traditional publishers priced themselves out of the market, and their 10% drop in 2017 is just the latest evidence that the value a traditional publisher adds — whether editing, gatekeeping, or marketing — isn’t as highly valued by ebook buyers as a low pricetag.
. . . .
Amazon has propelled at least a thousand authors in its Kindle Direct Publishing program to success in 2017: That’s the number that CEO Jeff Bezos noted were earning at least $100,000 in royalties in a recent shareholder letter. Nielsen’s numbers across 2012-2015 revealed that as the Big Five publishers’ ebook market share fell 12%, small publishers and self-published authors’ market share rose 23%.