Whether you’re excited to get one not, books are a popular Christmas gift. Writer Michael Castleman credits Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem “Old Santeclaus” as the catalyst behind the tradition of books as Christmas presents in its reference to “pretty books”:
No drums to stun their Mother’s ear,
Nor swords to make their sisters fear;
But pretty books to store their mind
With knowledge of each various kind.
This is just one of the many discoveries in Castleman’s latest book The Untold Story of Books: A Writer's History of Book Publishing, which covers 600 years of books and publishing, from Gutenberg-style hand presses to industrial printing to digital publishing. Castleman explores how each new era affected the industry and how authors, publishers, booksellers and readers have adapted.
In a recent What We’re Reading interview, Castleman explained that after 50 years of being a writer and observing the changes in the publishing industry in the last several years, other authors and the general public would be curious about the changes as well.
The biggest change has been going digital. Castleman described how this has been a “two-edged sword” for authors. He explained, “On the one hand, as books become cheaper. More people can afford to buy them, read them, and dream about writing them. But as books become cheaper, there's also more and more and more books--so many books that average sales per title have plummeted…authors' incomes are drying up.”
Despite the challenges in the publishing industry today, Castleman doesn’t see books going away. He noted that people will continue to read and love books and that authors will continue to write.
But his advice for aspiring authors is realistic: treat your writing as a hobby.
“Book writing is much more likely to cost you money than make any, so get yourself a good job and write in your free time like all the classic authors did. Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Louisa May Alcott, John Greenleaf Whittier— none of the classic authors made a living writing books. They all had other jobs and supported their books as expensive hobbies like world travel or playing golf.”
More information on Michael Castleman’s new book, The Untold Story of Books: A Writer's History of Book Publishing can be found at Unnamed Press.
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