Supply and demand is the basic rule of economics. But will it work for books? Author Sean Cummings thinks so. He’s created a Facebook group and an accompanying website called “Save Publishing! Read a Book at Bedtime.” The site’s rationale:
Read what you like. A magazine, a newspaper or a book. Read it in print or on an eBook reader or an iPad – whatever. Just ten minutes a night, a tiny commitment but an important one. If enough people will commit to reading at bedtime for ten minutes, they’ll eventually finish the books they’re reading. If they continue to read for ten minutes at bedtime, they might just buy another book. If enough people do this, more books will sell and we could really do something remarkable to save publishing.
Yesterday, GalleyCat reported that 62 Facebook users “liked” the group. The very next day, that figure had more than quintupled. If sheer numbers of readers can really help publishing, Cummings might be on to something.
What do you think? Can such a grassroots campaign help save publishing?
