I read a commentary yesterday from someone who said that bailing out the auto industry is like investing in CDs when the rest of the world has moved on to downloads and iPods.  It’s a waste of money.  What we should be investing in is alternative modes of energy and transportation.  I agree.  The auto makers got themselves into this mess why do we have to get them out?  We need a new dynamic, not more of the same problems that got us into this situation.

I’m a member of the Author’s Guild, and I got an e-mail from the Guild this morning that I would like to share with you.  It is interesting, though not surprising, how the financial crisis has hit every sector of business:

<"I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A government bailout isn't in the cards. We don’t want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let’s mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that’s just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance! There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; they’re easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any books looking raggedy on your shelves.  Stockpile children’s books as gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they’ll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books. Then tell the grateful booksellers, who by this time will be hanging onto your legs begging you to stay and live with their cat in the stockroom: “Got to move on, folks. Got some books to write now. You see…we’re the Authors Guild.” Enjoy the holidays. Roy Blount Jr.
President
Authors Guild> ]]>