The Quickness of Crisis Books

We often complain about the slow pace of publishing. And while those criticisms are sometimes absolutely valid, it’s amazing at how quick the industry is to jump on a topic.

Yesterday, Publishers Weekly had an article on all the financial crisis books snatched up by publishers recently. “Though the situation on Wall Street continues to unfold, there’s already quite a crowded field of book proposals and sales stemming from the crisis,” Matthew Thornton writes for PW.

We’re accustomed to seeing quick-turnaround titles on current events that usually appeal to a slightly more seedy or salacious angle. True crime stories about high profile murders usually get churned out quickly.

(By the way, where are the books about the so-called teen pregancy pact kids or Caylee’s nutjob mom? Not saying I want to see books on those subjects, but I am surprised they haven’t surfaced yet.)

But back to the Wall Street books… somehow I can’t imagine that writers were pounding on Scribner’s doors less than a week after Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929. How long did it take the writers of the era to sell — and write — books about their own financial calamity?