Where have all the book reviewers gone?

Apparently newspaper editors across the country are taking the hatchet to book review sections. Crime writer Michael Connelly highlights the trend in a recent article in the LA Times and questions the impact of such decisions on newspapers, the publishing industry, and the reading public. Unless their books conformed to specific criteria or expectations, new authors have always felt the sting of rejection from traditional book review editors. With the coverage of books being substantially cut, if not obliterated, today’s authors must become versed in alternative outlets if they are to survive. Will sites such as Blogcritics.org democratize the book review process and finally release the grip traditional book editors have had on the fate of new books? Or will it be even more difficult for authors to find their audience? Worse, are Connelly’s fears prophetic and the slashed book review sections do, indeed, spell the demise of a reading public? For today’s authors, these are just a few more troublesome questions to add to the mix.

For more information, read Connelly’s The folly of downsizing book reviews, CJR Daily’s The Organic Link Between Books and Newspapers, and NYT's Are Book Reviewers Out of Print?