The other day, Publishers Weekly hosted a few dozen members of the Young Publishers Association at our offices for a drinks and mingling thing. It was a mess outside after having rained all day, but we still had a full house, and, frankly, it was amazing.
Here were a bunch of bright and engaged young people who have their entire careers ahead of them. Among them were folks who had moved to New York from all corners of the country, some within the past few months. There were people who work in publicity, marketing, editorial, production, scouting, bookselling, you name it. Unlike what tends to happen when I get together with my crusty Gen-X cohort, there wasn’t a note of cynicism or pessimism to be heard. People were talking up the books they were working on, loading up their tote bags with books from our giveaway shelves, and smiling and having a good time to the point where you’d think it was 2019.
It was really great to have that happen right now. I don’t need to tell you how screwed up things are. As I write this, I’m sure that whatever list of Trump administration abominations I can tot up will be out-of-date by the time this issue is printed and delivered on Monday. But here are a few: The firing of the librarian of Congress and the register of copyrights. The planned elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The stripping of NEA grant funds from dozens of small and independent presses. The erratic gutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
So, at a time when the industry is under attack, spending a couple hours with some folks who will undoubtedly be leaders in the next generation of publishing was a boost. In our office, we have a copy of every issue we’ve ever published. (That’s me standing awkwardly in front of some of them, up there.) We’ve never missed an issue through two world wars, two global pandemics, the Great Depression, the Great Recession, and every other national calamity and triumph dating back to 1872, and I think we can add Trump 2.0 to that list. What’s sustained PW through it all is a dedication to some bedrock principles: the belief in the freedom of expression and the freedom to publish, the life-improving and horizon- expanding power of the written word, the necessity of a free and open marketplace of ideas—especially those that challenge our own points of view—and, most importantly, the truth.
It’s safe to say those values are shared by everyone in the room that rainy night. It’s a shame to say they aren’t shared in Washington.
Now is when we need to do our best work. A democracy can’t function without a healthy publishing ecosystem. That means publishers of all sizes and stripes should be able to keep the lights on and pay their authors and staffs, libraries should be adequately funded and free of nefarious interference, copyright is respected, and publishers can publish without fear of reprisal. Who would have guessed even six months ago we’d be here now?
But we are, and none of us is naive enough to think the current occupant of the Oval Office is going to suffer a bout of enlightenment. If this is the path we’re on, though, and the young publishing crew that came together the other night represents the future of the business, we’ll come out on the other side of this in a better place. It’s time to show up.
