September 28, 2015 
Jane 
Last Wednesday, there was a piece in The New York Times titled “The Plot Twist”. In it, the writer, Alexandra Alter discussed the fact that e-book sales were slipping and print book sales were rising by about the same percentage rate. This, after the dire predictions of four years ago that e-book sales would overtake print sales in a very short time.
I remember when e-books were the topic everyone was talking about. Many of my colleagues in the publishing business were predicting the demise of print book publishing and of the entire business as we know it. We were all—publishers, agents and authors—frightened about what would happen. And then nothing did.
Although we at Dystel & Goderich did begin a digital publishing program in order to help some of our clients self-publish, we didn’t panic. We felt this was a natural alternative for those authors whose books were out of print but which could still find a readership. In fact, the program has served us well and will continue to do so in the future.
I found that through all of the sturm und drang of the negativity of the past four years, I kept looking forward, signing new authors, adding to our staff of super talented agents, and knowing that, in the end, print books would survive. And they did and will continue to do so.
Thinking positively during those difficult days wasn’t easy. Everyone seemed to be shaking their heads and worrying about the future of the business. I have found though, over the years, that worrying is paralyzing—that the only way to keep going is to think positively, to find those projects and strategies that will move us forward and to use my energy to make them happen.
Again, this idea of positive persistence is one I have lived by and will continue to do so as it is the only way to keep growing both as an individual and as a mentor to my staff and clients. I urge you all to think about this and how this concept plays out in your lives. I would be most interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.
As I commented in somewhat convoluted fashion last week about this, it’s mostly that there’s a measurable loss of content retention one experiences from attempting to read complex copy off a mobile device as opposed to hard copy. People notice, and are switching back. (Airline travelers, continent-hopping diplomats, and Donald Trump are understandable exceptions) I’ve also encountered a rather interesting sea change at the Starbucks writer’s table where a number of writers are refusing to submit their work in any other format than hard copy in response to a query. As one woman explained while I was waiting in line, “It’s hard enough to get distracted readers to retain what I’m saying; the last thing I need is a distracted agent trying to make sense of an involved storyline while playing with his phone…” There’s a place for e-reading, but it’s a sideshow, not the main event.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Jane, about the importance of positive thinking. Various versions exist of Mark Twain’s quote, I have spent most of my life worrying about things that have never happened. Whether he said it or not is beside the point. I have always tried not to worry about things that don’t exist. When friends and family tell me, “…but aren’t you worried that…” I always answer, “I’ll worry about it when the time comes.” Most of the time, the situation they wanted me to worry about never occurred.