Masterclass

I have a bias toward the private investigator novel, most of it driven by the imagery of classic film noir-shiny-wet pavements, sinewy cigarette smoke curling upward, vintage cars with fat white-wall tires, hard kisses that dip-to-black. The guys wearing sharp-creased fedoras and baggy-legged pants. The women with lipstick pouts, seamed stockings, and hats cocked to the side.

The outcry from publisher and author groups has been swift and furious after the Internet Archive announced last week the launch of it's National Emergency Library, which has removed access restrictions for some 1.4 million scans of mostly 20th century books in the IA's Open Library initiative, making the scans available for unlimited borrowing during the Covid-19 Outbreak.

I was an audiobook failure. Not a failure at writing the books, mind you, but at listening to them. I could never manage to get through more than a chapter or two, and then my interest would fizzle out and I wouldn’t go back. I’d try and fail every time.

With cities and towns across the country under quarantine, bookstores closing, and in-person promotional events canceled, it's not a great time to be publishing a book. And the urge for many authors with titles scheduled for the coming few months will likely be to request a new publication date. For publishers, though, moving titles in significant numbers will be tricky.