tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post116439648218481941..comments2024-01-15T02:58:41.708-08:00Comments on LISA McMANN: Confusion about kids' booksLisa McMannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03079642578284968215noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164653329156453932006-11-27T10:48:00.000-08:002006-11-27T10:48:00.000-08:00Ah, the disappearance of WalMart...there's a happy...Ah, the disappearance of WalMart...there's a happy thought. :)<BR/><BR/>"Heather, I should have specified non-genre. What genre do vampire books fall into, anyway? Paranormal? Horror? (sorry...I should know this but I don't)"<BR/><BR/>It depends, Lisa. My book is categorized as fantasy, but the fact is that it's also humorous fiction/horror/what-have-you with a wee bit of romance, mystery, and adventure thrown in. But, just because a book features a vampire doesn't mean it can be squeezed into a category together.<BR/><BR/>However, I personally read just about anything with a vampire in it...as do others I know, so maybe we could just count them all as "vampire fiction", even though that's pretty general. :)Heather Brewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08896994050704696805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164598527664464502006-11-26T19:35:00.000-08:002006-11-26T19:35:00.000-08:00You make a good point, 14. Maybe we all should sto...You make a good point, 14. Maybe we all should stop worrying about it.Lisa McMannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03079642578284968215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164471684333716432006-11-25T08:21:00.000-08:002006-11-25T08:21:00.000-08:00No apology necessary! This is a great discussion.I...No apology necessary! This is a great discussion.<BR/><BR/>I don't know if chain stores use as many categories as the publishing world uses, by the way.<BR/><BR/>And I agree about Walmart. ;-)Lisa McMannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03079642578284968215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164469824682252142006-11-25T07:50:00.000-08:002006-11-25T07:50:00.000-08:00I apologize for going on and on. :(I apologize for going on and on. :(Sashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06501998212859335778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164466753455597992006-11-25T06:59:00.000-08:002006-11-25T06:59:00.000-08:00I worked in one of those mom & pop bookstores. My ...I worked in one of those mom & pop bookstores. My staff and I read the books. We knew where everything was. It was a blast -- I didn't know how rare that was until I moved out of small-town. Although there's this great used bookstore in Tempe.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I guess could see mixing middle grade, ya, and adult all shelved alphabetically by author, together. But picture books, no, because of their size. If every shelf has to be twelve or fifteen inches from the one below or above it in order to accomodate the scattered picture books, that's a huge waste of space.<BR/><BR/>In fact, now that I think more on this, throw the picture books for kids and adults all together -- that way there'd be a place for David MaCauley's The Way Things Work. <BR/><BR/>Tech, you mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird, and that touches on what I'm going to blog about next: crossover books.Lisa McMannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03079642578284968215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164460880456141722006-11-25T05:21:00.000-08:002006-11-25T05:21:00.000-08:00And I propose the disappearance of Wal-Mart :)And I propose the disappearance of Wal-Mart :)Sashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06501998212859335778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164460832468537932006-11-25T05:20:00.000-08:002006-11-25T05:20:00.000-08:00OOooh, ooooh, I figured out the answer to my own q...OOooh, ooooh, I figured out the answer to my own question. In the Olden Times there existed small, local, specialized bookstores. (There still do where I live.) The owner picked out things that they thought the customer would buy. <BR/><BR/>But with the growth of Wal-Mart and Amazon and the like most of those small stores have gone belly-up. Amazon doesn't require that sort of categorization because they accomplish it with their fancy algorithms. Wal-Mart, however, does. They have staff who don't read stocking the shelves. And they take seriously their mission to serve as a censor. I suspect YA, Middle, and all that stuff gets more space and less scrutiny.Sashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06501998212859335778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164419951767731482006-11-24T17:59:00.000-08:002006-11-24T17:59:00.000-08:00Maybe it just comes down to the notion that I don'...Maybe it just comes down to the notion that I don't believe in 'children's books' or 'children's movies' or ... well you get the idea. I'm quite certain that today "To Kill A Mockingbird" would be a YA book that adults would never read. And that would be a tragedy. On the flip side, if a YA book can't make it in the world of grown-up books, I'm not sure that's a bad thing.Sashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06501998212859335778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164419553408424642006-11-24T17:52:00.000-08:002006-11-24T17:52:00.000-08:00Yes, Heather, you could. But I don't know you so...Yes, Heather, you could. But I don't know you so I won't respond. Lisa can explain why.<BR/><BR/>Lisa, I'm not sure what problem we are solving. If the problem is folks gazing on books they likely won't buy, I don't view that as a problem. In fact I view the extreme categorization as a huge problem, and this from a person who frequents half a dozen bookstores and three on-line shops. I can't find things in SF or Mystery or all those other fiction categories without expanding it all to age groups. <BR/><BR/>How does one learn what one wants to read without exposure to a wide range of choices pressure free. I wandered the adult sections at an early age and read books on architecture and all manner of odd things that I never would have found in the rigidly categorized sections i see today. Even the shopkeepers can't find their own stock.<BR/><BR/>This is too long for a comment so I'll shut up. I guess I don't understand what problem we are solving is all. Unless it is making it easier for the merchants, and you know very well that I am not remotely sympathetic to that cause.Sashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06501998212859335778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164404301866226692006-11-24T13:38:00.000-08:002006-11-24T13:38:00.000-08:00Tech, what do you propose?How do you make it so th...Tech, what do you propose?<BR/>How do you make it so that you can browse a section in a bookstore and not have to go through all sorts of books that you wouldn't be interested in? <BR/><BR/>I agree, these categories are putting readers into boxes, and I hate that. What's the solution?<BR/><BR/><BR/>Heather, I should have specified non-genre. What genre do vampire books fall into, anyway? Paranormal? Horror? (sorry...I should know this but I don't)Lisa McMannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03079642578284968215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164400510902771622006-11-24T12:35:00.000-08:002006-11-24T12:35:00.000-08:00Ah, but I couldf add that "literature"/good writin...Ah, but I couldf add that "literature"/good writing is all a matter of personal opinion. ;)<BR/><BR/>So long as the booksellers and librarians know where to shelve the books, I really could care less how they categorize them.<BR/><BR/>It is amazing how complex it's gotten over the years, but then, it's nice to see more of a focus on kids' books. By the by, Lisa, EIGHTH GRADE BITES is one of those rare 9-12 death books. ;)Heather Brewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08896994050704696805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30789856.post-1164397295884648582006-11-24T11:41:00.000-08:002006-11-24T11:41:00.000-08:00As someone who was reading 'adult' books by the ag...As someone who was reading 'adult' books by the age of eight, I hate it. I think it retards readers by stuffing them into categories much younger than they are ready for. And they fail to learn early on what 'literature' or even good writing is.<BR/><BR/>I'll shut up now before this gets ugly.Sashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06501998212859335778noreply@blogger.com