Finding a New Life for Old Books: A Post of Encouragement

 I don't know how old I was when I discovered the awful truth of what happens to books that have outlived their shelf life. Long before I was ever a writer, images of piles of books with their covers torn off, ready to be trashed broke this young booklover's heart.

I was reminded of that today when I saw a post on Twitter from an author who had gone into a bookstore and offered to sign the copies of her books that were in stock. After a number of embarrassing encounters, she was told that the store manager didn't want her to sign them because then "they couldn't be returned."

I cringed when I read that, and my heart hurt for that poor (angry!) writer. 

It was a sad reminder of the short shelf life of the work we've labored to create. It's especially painful for category writers who know their books get a mere month in the sun. 

 

All this week, I've been struggling wondering what to write about today. School has commandeered all my time, so my creative well is rather dry. My mind has been painfully blank.

But then my daughter called. It was rainy and foggy and she had a long drive ahead of her. She wanted company. In the the course of conversation, we got to talking about Taylor Swift's new album Midnights - you know, the one that sold a million copies in three days. (Caveat: I have not listened to this album yet, so my comments are strictly on the business aspect of this, not the merits of the music).

 

My daughter mentioned a story she had read recently about Taylor rereleasing her versions of her original albums. Do you know the story of how she wouldn't give in to the music industry claiming ownership over her work? If not, you can catch up with the story here. Why is Taylor Swift Re-Recording her Old Songs?

Our conversation reminded me of a blog post I wrote a few years ago. This was part of it.

She wrote what she loved, until she loved what she wrote, and she sent it out one more time.

I have no idea where this quote came from. I have it on a scrap of paper that is so old it’s turned yellow and brittle.

When I tried to Google the source of that quote, I got a bunch of links to Taylor Swift’s new album. It’s really tempting to tag Taylor in this post and see our views skyrocket. I have no idea why that quote triggered Taylor's name, but when I thought about it, I was glad it had.

 A lesson in procrastination vs. persistence

The other day, I was supposed to be writing, but when I signed on to Twitter to join my #1k1hr group, #TaylorSwiftonGMA was trending. I very easily got sucked down a rabbit hole of Taylor Swift videos. 

Avoiding that kind of rabbit hole is a constant struggle for me. My husband used to drive me crazy flipping channels on the television. It seemed he’d stay on something just long enough for me to get hooked. He would move on, but by that time, I would be begging him to turn it back (to some show I'd probably be embarrassed to admit watching), because once I'm hooked, I need to find out what happens.

Which is what happened last Thursday on Twitter. First there was a video about Taylor's father handing out pizza to the people who waited on line overnight. Then there was Taylor singing a song from her new album. Then... and so on.

It's important to note here, I've never particularly been a Taylor Swift fan. I was just curious about what all the fuss on Good Morning America was about. My interest had been piqued. 

Am I alone in this? I know we joke about going to Facebook to check one thing and discovering we've spent an hour instead of the scheduled 5 minutes.

As it turns out though, watching Taylor Swift videos for an hour wasn’t without some benefit. One of the clips on GMA gave a history of her career starting as an 11 year-old girl determined to make it in Nashville. She explained that her mother and little brother waited in the car while she delivered karaoke demos she’d made. She talked about walking up and down Music Row knocking on doors.

"I would say, 'Hi, I'm Taylor. I'm 11; I want a record deal. Call me."

I cannot imagine having that kind of dedication at my age, let alone at 11. 

But the story didn't end there.

I found an article on ENews that included this:

"She came back from that trip to Nashville and realized she needed to be different, and part of that would be to learn the guitar," Andrea told EW. "Now, at 12, she saw a 12-string guitar and thought it was the coolest thing. And of course we immediately said, 'Oh no, absolutely not, your fingers are too small—not till you're much older will you be able to play the 12-string guitar.'
"Well, that was all it took. Don't ever say never or can't do to Taylor. She started playing it four hours a day—six on the weekends. She would get calluses on her fingers and they would crack and bleed, and we would tape them up and she'd just keep on playing.  ENews

What intrigues me is how someone has that kind of drive to succeed - especially at such a young age. 

Taylor is not unique in her work ethic. We hear stories all the time about athletes and their superior dedication to their sport, practicing endless hours until they can sink that three-point shot flawlessly, or lead a team to another Super Bowl victory.  

What amazes me most? The root of the ownership problem comes from a deal Swift signed at 15!

 

Back to my conversation with my daughter. She related to me a story she had read.

On September 15, following a viral TikTok trend involving "Wildest Dreams" (2015) that was gaining traction, the older recording of the song accumulated 735,000 plays on Spotify, marking the highest single-day streams ever for the song on the streaming platform. On September 17, Swift teased the re-recorded song's bridge as part of the said trend with a snippet on TikTok, captioning "if you guys want to use my version of wildest dreams for the slow zoom trend, here she is!". "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" was subsequently released to streaming platforms. Swift stated that she saw "Wildest Dreams" trending on TikTok and thought fans should have "[her] version" of the song. In its first four hours of availability, "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" amassed 2,003,391 Spotify streams, breaking the record the older "Wildest Dreams" had set a few days prior.  Wikipedia

So what does all of this have to do with a writer's blog?

Well, aside from the persistence and the passion, and the sheer amount of effort our crafts require, it reminded me a lot about those trashed books, and how changes in publishing have allowed writers to re-release their old books, giving them a second chance at life.

Just like Taylor took control of her work, we now have the opportunity to rescue our work. We can get our rights back. We can re-imagine our stories and breathe new life into them. Our work doesn't have to be consigned to a sad stack of cover-less trash! 

So my message today is to take hope from Taylor's success. I certainly don't expect to sell a million copies of any book in 3 days (though it sure would be nice!), but I can remember to persevere (even when things are tough), and I can continue to learn new marketing techniques, new technologies, etc to 

And if Taylor can do it, and I can do it...so can you!

Just remember to reach for the stars!