Reading a book is one thing, but getting to know the author is quite another. It's always a magical experience to compare the words in a book with the voice of their creator, and as I foreshadowed in my last post, I got to speak with the author of The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: Lewis Buzbee. While I won't be sharing the whole interview here for privacy reasons, I'll talk further about the experience and the project surrounding this conversation.
This year, I'm undertaking a Senior Honors Independent Study, which is essentially a fancy name for a project that is available for seniors where they can research an area of interest with the guidance of certain faculty mentors. The title of my project is The Work of the Writer in the Digital Age, and I am seeking to include the voices of many authors and professors that are currently following this craft and have built their career on writing.
After noticing that three mentors (the limit our school mandates) would not be enough to relay the experiences of the modern writer, I pushed to reach out to many others with the help of an English teacher. So far, the process has been unbelievably rewarding and fruitful. I sent out a survey to many writers which allowed them to share their experiences directly before providing them with the chance to meet with me for a short videoconference. This is how I was able to contact Lewis Buzbee from the University of San Francisco.
Here are the questions that I asked on the survey so that you can get a better idea of the topics that I am researching:
- How did you become connected with your first publisher? How does this compare to subsequent publications?
- Is your writing financially self-sustaining? If not, what other work enables you to pursue your writing?
- Has increased digitization and more virtual publishing opportunities helped or hindered your ability to publish and promote your work?
- What obstacles or opportunities have you faced as a result of your race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or ability?
- What effort (or lack of effort) have you seen from publishing companies to diversify their list? How has this affected your ability to publish?
As you can tell, the study revolves around digitization, monetization, identity, and diversity, and I am hoping to combine all of these topics into one overarching project that captures the voices of a variety of writers. So far, I have been able to speak with Lewis Buzbee and Prof Adrian Johns from the University of Chicago, who specializes in the print revolution and will serve as an immense help in the contextualization part of my paper.
Later this month and in February, I'll be able to speak with many more writers, including Ms. Elyssa Friedland, Dr. Craig Santos Perez from the University of Hawai'i, and Prof K.M. Soehnlein.
Since Buzbee worked as a bookseller and a publisher, he was able to provide a dual perspective to my research. He also juggles his passion for writing with teaching nowadays and was able to attest to some of the hardships— but also game changing opportunities— that are available to writers nowadays. The most reassuring part of our conversation was the fact that the book is going nowhere: electronic means of reading, including the kindle, plateaued at about 6% at the time that he wrote The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop and this number has not changed much since.
The physical book and the kindle are not making war with one another, and both of them will retain their place in our society because they each offer their benefits. That was definitely one of the high points of our conversation that I thought I would share with you.
Well, while the start of 2021 has certainly not been what we would have hoped for it to be, I hope that your semester is going well and that you are finding ways to reflect and consider the actions taking place in our nation.
Thank you for supporting the blog, and as always, pleased leave any feedback you may have!
1/13/21