This is another two-part post. First, let’s begin with a visual aid, via Scott McLemee at Quick Study. (Apologies if you’ve already seen this elsewhere on the InterWebs…)
Book Launch 2.0 (And more apologies for the failed embed. Just follow the link; you won’t be disappointed.)
First off, props to Dennis Cass. That is one inspired lampoon. But Cass really just touches on a much larger subject.
I’d really like to gather my thoughts before I let loose. I’m not promising anything great, but I’d like to do it right. Simply put, shifting the emphasis in our culture — and this has been going on for a good long while now, admittedly; and even more admittedly, I used to be part of it — from authors toiling to produce a book to merely generating book-related publicity for an idea that masquerades as a book is a phenomenon that somehow signifies just about everything that’s wrong with humanity.*
So then. More in a few days.
*Only a slight exaggeration.