Biding Our Time…

Hey, have you heard? The U.S. economy is in free fall, and so are the economies of many of the other industrialized nations around the globe.

Oh, you have heard? Well that makes sense since the Chicken Little mentality of today’s news media is to preach doom & gloom 24/7. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as stressed out about this as anybody else. I’ve got five kids and two dogs to feed. I know this is serious. But if we could stop with the irrational panic and knee-jerk reactions on Wall Street, if we could stop with the finger pointing and mendacious denials in Washington D.C., if we could just sit down for some level-headed, bipartisan discussions about the true root causes of this financial crisis, we might actually make some progress toward rectifying it. Perhaps the new administration will prompt some calm and optimism.

In the meantime, as the little Boombox ship readies to set sail on a voyage to discover a new world of artistic freedom and multimedia expression, we’re facing some very stormy seas. And though I’m eager to begin this adventure, my primary duty as navigator is to chart a safe course. So I’ve reluctantly come to the realization that I would be an irresponsible idiot to launch Boombox Media’s initial publications right now.

Many “experts” look at the recent woes of book publishers and traditional bookstores as the death throes of an industry, soon to be replaced by the iPodization of printed matter via innovative devices such as Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s Reader, and Apple’s iPhone (or its legion of clones). They feel that the current economic recession will hasten the inevitable demise of physical books. I beg to differ. But I do feel the time has come to merge these multiple distribution outlets, and that’s why Boombox Media was designed to initiate a revolution in cross-media, multi-channel publishing.

Alas, due to the current state of the economy, that time isn’t now. We are officially delaying our launch party until 2009. After consumers have had a chance to focus on the holidays, the elections, a new year, and hopefully a slowly stabilizing economy, the waters should be much calmer. Ideally it will be the first quarter of 2009 when you will see our first publications: a manga anthology produced in-house, as well as a few debut books by creators who are destined to make a name in the world of pictorial literature.

Batten down the hatches!