I first started posting to GalleyCat in September 2005. It’s been a little over two years now, and (as somebody else once wrote under different circumstances) I can tell you truthfully few periods in my life have passed so quickly. I’ve learned a lot about the publishing industry observing here on the sidelines, though I know I’ve still got plenty more to learn, which gives me something to look forward to in the year ahead. It’s no great revelation that there are major upheavals going on in the business, but I’ve come to realize that the stories that interest me the most are the ones about who’s bringing the innovations that are going to see book publishing through those upheavals. The stories about who’s discovering (or rediscovering) the best practices that enable authors, publishers, and booksellers to act with clarity and meaning, and maybe even a modest profit at the end of the day. So that’s one of my foremost resolutions for 2008—to spend more time finding the stories in this business that really matter and sharing them with readers who, I hope, are as enthusiastic about seeing publishing, and the reading cultures that grow up around its products, flourish as I am.
With, of course, occasional breaks for pictures of my cats.
There are doubtless subtle surprises ahead, to borrow an expression, but I feel secure and ready.