I heart New York umbrella over rainy city street

Sorry New York, Not Everyone❤️s You: It’s Time for Publishing to Diversify

New York has long been the hub of the publishing industry. Even in the wake of COVID-19 and the realization that much of what we do can be done remotely, that NY-centric state of mind does not seem to be changing. I am months away from graduating with a master’s degree in Book Publishing from Portland State University, so I’ve been doing my research into the publishing job market and most roads lead to New York.

While conducting my research, I came across dozens of articles with titles like, “Can You Afford to Live in New York City?” or, “Cost of Living in New York City”. Never mind the crowds of people, the crime, or the cat-sized rat problem: what it comes down to for most people when considering relocation to New York is the cost. It is highly competitive in terms of the housing and job markets, with one-third of renters spending 50 percent of their income on housing, and huge markups on just about everything else. The articles say it’s possible to survive if you live frugally, choose a less desirable neighborhood, and live with roommates. And make at least $40k per year after taxes: not easy to do when New Yorkers pay some of the highest taxes in the country which include federal, state, and city income taxes. Another fun fact, the average landlord makes you prove you make forty times the monthly rent. Want to guess what the average entry-level publishing job pays? Not enough. Think of how many talented, qualified people with diverse lived experiences this keeps out of the industry, simply because they do not have the economic or social capital to enter it.

Those NY-averse publishing professionals among us are no strangers to the grind. We are willing to hustle and sacrifice to do the work we love. But how much sacrifice is enough? Personally, aside from becoming impoverished, I’d also have to sacrifice my two dogs. Both my eighty-pound babies have special needs and do not belong in a tiny NY apartment. And one is a rescue who, much like his mom, does not take kindly to strangers. I’d have to surrender both to a shelter where, as adult dogs with emotional and fear-aggression issues, they would likely be put down. If you’re thinking I should have planned better, consider this: circumstances change. I rescued my babies while living in sunny San Diego, long before the pandemic, when I had a husband and a house with a huge backyard. Now it’s just me and the dogs—and boy do we miss that yard.

There is simply no good reason why workers within any industry should be forced to move to a centralized location to do a job that could be done from literally anywhere else. And make no mistake, it can. Publishing was affected by COVID-19 just like every other industry, but while others struggled and shuttered, publishing thrived. While print sales were up, deals were being made, people were meeting virtually, and stuff was getting done, New York experienced a mass exodus. People realized that they didn’t have to be physically in the office (or in NY) to do their jobs.

Sure, remote work has its challenges, but the benefits for the health of the industry far outweigh them. Yet, what I’m proposing is for major publishers to open more offices outside of New York—namely on the West Coast. Doing so would have a similar effect as offering more remote positions while potentially mitigating the demand for remote work. The Big Five clearly value the work being done out here, in places like Portland, and scoop up our indies once they experience a modicum of success. Instead, why not deliberately set up shop, hire local, and watch your company flourish because your workers can afford to live and live where they want to instead of where they must?

New York offers a certain prestige, to be sure. But staying centralized in New York is not exclusivity—it’s exclusion. Get it together, publishing: you’re an industry, not a nightclub. If you don’t disperse for the diversity and well-being of your workers, for pup’s sake, do it for the dogs!

A hiker gazes up at the vast, green, forested mountain in front of them

PNW Conservation Through Learning

Conservation is top of mind for a lot of folks in the Pacific Northwest. Being surrounded by such a lush, green landscape, a majority of people escape out into the wilderness recreationally. There are a plethora of outdoor activities from which they can choose: from hiking to climbing and bouldering to mountain biking to skiing and snowboarding to so many others. During the pandemic, despite the forest service shutting down a lot of trails and recreational spots in Oregon, many people turned to the great outdoors to socialize from a distance. But 2020 also saw a rash of horrific forest fires which swallowed more than 1.2 million acres of greenery in Oregon alone and displaced hundreds of people. After the destruction of 2020, as more and more people embrace the outdoors, hopefully those same people turn to conservation and help protect the lands they’re exploring.

One of those people who escaped to the outdoors during the pandemic was Josephine Woolington; the slowdown of the pandemic shifted her perspective of the wilderness that she had been exploring for years and inspired her to write Where We Call Home, which launched on November 15, 2022. Woolington’s book is a collection of essays detailing a variety of native Pacific Northwest species, from the beautiful camas flower to the humble western bumble bee to the great gray whale. Woolington’s essays focus on the history of each species, illustrate the importance of each species to the various Native peoples of the lands, and bring to light the importance of conservation of each species. She believes, “once you know who [what] someone is, then you appreciate them more, and eventually, you feel obligated to stand up for them.”

Where We Call Home describes ten important species and how each of those species is vital to the Pacific Northwest. Many of these species have been historically important to various Native peoples of the area. “[These] culturally significant species are especially important for readers to know so non-Native people can respect and honor the traditions and relationships that Native people have had with these landscapes since time immemorial. Learning about Indigeneous land management also challenges the Western idea that humans are separate from their ecosystems.” Woolington has done a fantastic job of recording how tribes have respected and used the land and species in the past, and how today’s conservation efforts, while obviously important, frequently “legislate Indigenous communities out of their landscapes, violating treaties that preserve tribal rights to hunt, fish, and gather in their usual and accustomed areas.”

Where We Call Home encourages an enduring respect for the native wildlife of the region. Thankfully, its essays don’t leave readers feeling gloom and doom. Rather, the essays inspire readers to learn more about the lands that surround them and encourage people to take an interest in its history. One of the most important takeaways from Where We Call Home is that “conservation efforts can often be misled, as many organizations’ staffers are mostly white, and they often don’t involve enough or any Indigenous voices in restoration projects.” If we can take a look at the way Indigenous peoples have preserved the land they live on, we have a chance to restore the magnificence of the PNW, and continue to enjoy its beauty for generations to come.

Plant with a table sign saying difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations

The Effect COVID-19 Has Had on Publishing

As we find ourselves still in the middle of the pandemic, it is hard not to think about what it was like before and how things have changed and how each individual has been affected, whether in their personal or professional lives. Businesses in different industries have had to change and adapt to keep going. However, unlike some industries, the publishing industry has actually seen growth amid the pandemic.

Like many others, the publishing industry has seen its share of employee, staffing, and supply chain issues. These are areas that most in the industry will continue to deal with as the pandemic continues. Yet, unlike most other industries, the growth that has been experienced is nothing but good.

According to Cliff Guren, Thad McIlroy, and Steven Sieck and their article “COVID-19 and Book Publishing: Impacts and Insights for 2021,” “Trade sales in 2020 were almost uniformly ahead of 2019, and in several categories unit sales were up over 20 percent through mid-December.”

This is due to publishing being a part of the arts. In the beginning of the pandemic, individuals turned to the arts to keep busy, distract themselves, and find enjoyment, especially when we were all in lockdown.

Additionally, according to Statista and their stats on “Unit sales of printed books in the United States from 2004 to 2021,” “Data showing how many books were sold in 2021 revealed that the printed book market remains healthy: a total of 825.75 million units were sold that year among outlets which reported to the source, marking year-over-year growth of 8.9 percent. Trade paperbacks remained the dominant format with over 450 thousand print units sold.”

Furthermore, specific areas in publishing, trade publishing to be exact, are thriving even more than others. When individuals sought out material to read, they sought books that could be considered predictable and unrelated to what was happening in the real world. According to Rachel King and their Fortune article “The romance novel sales boom continues,” “The predictability of these novels makes for literary comfort food, one that many readers craved in abundance during some very turbulent times.”

King went on to further state, “Unit sales for romance books topped 47 million in the twelve months ending March 2021 (including print and ebook sales combined), representing an increase of 24 percent from the previous year, according to NPD BookScan. Romance accounted for 18 percent of adult fiction unit sales in the twelve months ending March 2021, making it the second most popular fiction genre overall—second only to general adult fiction—which accounted for 30 percent of adult fiction sales in the same time frame.”

This is not to say that other genres were not sought out. Genres like mysteries and thrillers also soared like romance. Overall, the publishing industry continues to thrive and the data is showing that it is going to continue to do so. So, even though the pandemic has changed so much and continues to change things, this can be considered one positive that has come from it.