Waxing Poetic – A Case for The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey
I slept in this morning for the first time in months and woke up with the instant urge to wax poetic from my soapbox. We traveled quite a distance yesterday for Thanksgiving dinner with the family, and it appeared somewhere between the turkey and the coffee, that Christmas had already begun. As we drove home in the dark and entered our neighborhood, it was already ablaze with the jarring commercialism of Christmas lights. Now, mind you, I love Christmas and I love the lights, but can’t I even digest my dinner before a new holiday begins?
Exhausted from the day, instead of going to the computer like I normally do, I crashed on the couch with Dan and the kitties to relax from a wonderful, but weary day. Rather than feel the peaceful calm I was hoping for, I was bombarded with non-stop ugly and loud commercials telling me to go stand in line to be the first one let in for the trampling of crazed people looking to buy a TV at 40% off at midnight. Geesh…. Not only did I not feel compelled to fall into the frenzy of possessed shoppers, I became stronger in my mindset that we need to do a serious rewind to days gone past in our lives.
That brings me to my real point – there is a strong resurgence to support and buy your holiday gifts from local business, craftspeople, artists, and authors. Falling in the category of self-published author, I am learning some very hard lessons about the retail world. The big guys like Amazon and Barnes & Noble own the market – you can’t elect not to sell through them, but if you do, they not only take the majority of any profit you might make, they also take away the charm and personalization of the experience itself (although, yes, I certainly do order books through Amazon, and I also enjoy shopping at my local Barnes & Noble immensely). They are a voiceless group of faceless entities. There is no phone number to call if I have a problem with my account and I am at their mercy as to how many books they keep in stock. Barnes & Noble accepted my book, but only if I provide it to them though a large distributor. The catch, the large distributor does not care that I have a wonderful product – if Barnes & Noble does not want thousands of my books, they don’t want to do business with me. Is it any wonder the world is in the shape it’s in? Just when did we stop caring about helping the little guy who is pursuing a dream – isn’t that what America was built on?
The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey is not only a warm, humorous, and inspirational story, it is a work of art of keepsake quality. Any book ordered though my personal website comes lovingly wrapped with a tissue paper sleeve (in a leopard print, of course), a designer sticker, and a beautiful bookmark. You are also able to request a custom inscription. Certainly when you order from Amazon, you will still get the same heartfelt story and the same beautiful book, but the old-fashioned cottage industry charm of having it sent directly from the author is lost. I am done with the speech, but just wanted to voice my opinion while all of this emotion is swirling so close to my mind at the moment. It’s a tough world for a lot of us at the moment and I truly hope we all can find the way to keep the true spirit of the holidays in our hearts.
Great post! I try and tune all the junk out, but they certainly do a great job slamming us over the head with us, don’t they? You know you have my seal of approval on your beautiful book! Review to come next week!
Thanks Angie! I try my best too, but maybe because I am taking it a bit more personal this year, it real struck a nerve with me!! I am so glad to have your seal of approval and really enjoyed seeing your Thanksgiving pictures!!
That is a tough spot to be in. You’ve made a very good case for buying the book directly. I’m all for supporting local small businesses instead of the big box super chains.
I’m glad you understand Julia – I’m not trying to be a Grinch or anything, it just seems like the meaning and spirit of the holidays keeps getting more and more distorted as time goes on!!
A heartfelt post, Deb. I thought at first you were going to have a go at the retailers etc starting their Christmas earlier and earlier every year! This really makes me rage! Christmas is not about retail anyway.
So I agree with your point that we need to rewind to days gone past! And yes we must support the local small businesses. Where I live, there are lots of small shops, farmer’s markets and craft centres where people can sell their wares. I try to support as much as I can.
I wish you well with the book sales. Sometimes a slow start can lead to a flood of sales once momentum gets going. xox
Carolyn – while I certainly could have a go at that topic – Christmas starting earlier and earlier, I wanted to write about something that is truly personal to my circumstances, but also ties into the current state of the world as it progresses. I used to live in a very small town where farmers markets and local craft stores were the norm. Going into the city was a big production and we would do it about once a month to stock up on food staples and such. This was back when I was a kid, so I suppose I complained about it at the time… now I miss it! Go figure!!
It’s great when you can find the small bookstores–but so many of those have gone to used books only (we promise to tell you if we find one around here so they can stock your book!). It’s true for so many things. Ah well.
Thanks Chey! We have a very small handful of stores around here, but they tend to be Christian oriented only. Ah well is right!!
Superb post. I happen to loathe Black Friday and everything that it stands for.
I think that it conveys the epitome of greed and signifies what is wrong with our society. Materialism is rampant and I loathe it.
I have always been one to frequent the small, family-owned, non-chain businesses. I didn’t consciously make that decision. I have always found their products to be more unique, more reasonably priced and as you mentioned in reference to your book the shopping experience was personalized.
I don’t enjoy feeling like a number (thanks Bob Seger) in any aspect of my life.
I think it is a shame what the book stores are doing to authors. Ironically I mentioned on Facebook today (without having read this) how if people order directly through your site they will get an exquisite and personally wrapped gift that is more than a book, it is a keepsake to treasure for a lifetime.
Caren – I happen to understand and agree with what you are saying, but, sadly, retailers would not be pandering to the public in such an obscene way if it did not produce results. Many people seem to enjoy the whole drama of it all – waiting in line and rushing into a store like a frenzied cattle call. It is their prerogative, but it is not my cup of tea at all. I just find that I am saddened by it all. I think now I understand how my grandparents felt when the world seemed too big – colored TV’s, computers, cell phones – all of it was too modern for them to appreciate or comprehend. Now, here I am as an adult who could have grandchildren and I am fighting the change just like they did. It appears to be an inherent part of our society – I yearn to step back in time, but the world keeps marching on in warped speed..
I saw your facebook post and really appreciate it – sometimes the presentation is just as much fun as the gift itself and I am so thrilled to be able to give people that extra special touch! xoxo
I don’t ever watch tv “live” – I DVR the few shows I do watch – so I never watch commercials, which means, thankfully, I’ve been spared the Black Friday onslaught (and Christmas commercial onslaught in general).
I’m going to be the voice of dissension for the bookstore aspect of your soap box. While I support small, independent bookstores, I’m not going to slam Barnes and Noble and Amazon for being who they are. The bulk of my book sales are through them, and while they take a hefty cut of my profits, they also sell a lot of books for me. They give me a reach that I could never achieve on my own. What matters most to me is that people read my book – how they buy it isn’t as important to me.
Ingrid – I am definately not slamming B& N or Amazon – my book is listed on Amazon, but they do not seem to monitor the inventory in my favor which is a bit frustrating. And I certainly would love to be in B & N – like I said, they approved my book, but they require me to go through a big distributor. It is the big distributor who won’t picked up the book becasue B & N did not ask for a large enough initial quantity. I just wish the bigger guys would make it a little easier for us smaller folks to get our foot in the door. I guess I am striving for some sort of happy medium – for me, it is all still a learning process… But, I do agree, having people read the book is the most important aspect!
Deb, this resonated with me deeply. We’ve created a world where those who shouts the loudest wins. The only way to change is in our own backyard, supporting local businesses and not getting sucked into the advertising. I recently blogged with photos of storefronts at a nearby quaint own about precisely that. It’s about making choices. I do wish we had a longer break between holidays like they do in Europe.
Layla – I find it all to be quite fasinating. I think for me, for so many recent years I had holed myself in my safe and small little world. Now that I have a blog and have written a book, I find that everything in my life has opened in profound ways – I am meeting so many new people, traveling, and experiencing so much more in my life than I ever imagined. It has caused me to open up out of my shell and question what is going on around me. Being the Libra I am, I still struggle with the anwsers and finding the right middle ground. For example, I agree with you so much – I love the local businesses and the quaint charm of Main Street USA. But what has become of that quaint image? So many storefronts, victims of the economy, are nothing more than closed buildings with boarded up windows…. Then, on the otherhand, Ingrid is right. Amazon brings an author to an audience that he or she might not ever get to be a part of without them and I can’t dispute that either. Such deep issues to think about…
No TV, no newspaper, only public radio allowed in my house and most often that’s music…I haven’t been in a mall at all, let alone at Christmas, for over eleven years because it was before I began working at home in 2000. I’m in la la land so for holidays and elections and such I have no idea what everyone else is doing except the people I talk to, unless I specifically go to find that information, which I do, in my own good time.
The same goes for products such as books and music. If I know the author/artist, I’ll buy directly, but though I detest faceless monoliths like Amazon, how would I find things not created by people I know? I don’t care for the hints and tips of most media so I would have little idea what to buy outside of what public radio commentators review and report, so I rely on internet searches that lead me to things I’d never otherwise find as well as the hints and tips of me e-friends.
But the restrictions set up by the largest sellers are completely unfair, only to protect and promote themselves and not authors, the opposite of the smaller stores who hope that having an author’s work in the shop will bring customers.
We don’t really need to “completely” retire, only retire far enough to get back to our own inner voice. That puts everything else in place.
Bernadette – Thank you for stopping by to comment – you always cause me to think a bit further and ponder a bit more! And, ironically, Dan and I were just having this conversation last night – we didn’t know what was worse, the overly indulgent Christmas commercials or the blantantly fake and slimly political ads during elections. We agreed that they were equally as distasteful.
In regards to your take on TV, newspaper, etc., you live a life that is quite fascinating and not one that is the typical yardstick of your average household today. Dan and I try to maintain a balance between music and TV so that we can allow our brains a moment to think for themselves, but I think most people do just the opposite! I’ve never been one to pander to the hints and tips of the media either to buy gifts. I’ve always been known for my unique gifts that I would find for my family and friends. For me, that was part of the joy of giving – finding that “special something” that no one else would find.
Thank you for sharing your perspective on this – I found your commentary to be extremely interesting and intriguing….
I have definately found the same thing here in Australia in regards to being bombarded with advertising and holiday deals. Often they start earlier over here in regards to christmas because we dont celebrate halloween or thanksgiving, so by october shops are selling decorations and christmas music is being played. I did a lot of my christmas shopping online this year to avoid the big business hype.
On another note, do you happen to ship internationally? I would like to buy a copy of the book.
Thanks
That’s very interesting Kim! Thanks for sharing your international spin on this – I guess the US is not the only one caught up in the hype! As far as shipping internationally, if you go through Amazon.com, they will ship for you! I can’t wait for you to receive the book – I really think you will like it!