Which books will be read a
hundred years from now? Authors always hope to write a book that is a
best-seller, that wins awards, that significantly changes the lives of many
people. They want their words to bring them fortune and fame, and for their
books to live beyond the life of the author. But few books of today or of the
past shall be read in the future.
Most books are not timeless. The
thing that makes many books significant is that they appeal to the times they
were written in. The books find a way, through language, mores, politics, reference points, and the reigning
beliefs of the day, to strike a nerve in the psyche of the public. That feeling
can’t last forever in a world that changes swiftly and often.
A book about coffee is not as
significant as one about major inventions, such as rocket ships.
Something is new only once, and then its success produces superior clones and
the spawning of entirely new things. One invention or historical event or
thought replaces another. What was amazing last century is not at all
interesting today.
The books that cut to human
nature and explore values, emotions, and powerful concepts, such as love,
freedom, death, and family will have a chance at lasting longer than most
books.
Sci-fi books capture our
attention until reality exceeds or fulfills the book’s promises. Other books go
out of style, such as certain cookbooks. Same with health books, as science
creates new treatments or presents new information that makes old books
outdated.
Some books give us glimpses into parts of history that are not so well documented otherwise. Others may still entertain
us, but not inform, challenge, or rattle us the way they were meant to. We look
at older books, and evaluate past ideas to see if any hold currency in our
lives today. Everything goes out of style – even being human.
One day, the world will be
changed dramatically by some major event -- an asteroid, revolutionary invention, an alien landing, a war,
a natural disaster, or disease – and our perspective on life will be
irrevocably changed that the books published previous to the event will seem so
foreign to us, much the way an adult looks back at how he or she may have seen
the world when they were six years old.
No one knows what will have
staying power, or what will be tossed with tomorrow’s newspaper, so keep
writing whatever you feel is important, interesting, or commercially viable.
Still, you can’t help but have an eye on the future and wonder if anything you
just created will mean a damn thing to the next generation.
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and
ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media
Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This
is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014.
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