Making Book on the Great Depression of 2009
In this time of economic stress, publishers have some financial advice for the little guy
by Dermot McEvoy -- Publishers Weekly, 12/15/2008:
Maybe the mainstream media is just too polite to come out and say: we're pretty damn close to a depression in this country (recently, the National Bureau of Economic Research finally confirmed that the nation has been in recession since December 2007). In just a year the stock market almost halved its highs of 2007; nearly two million jobs have been lost in 2008 alone; foreclosures are rampant; the housing market is years from recovery; bankruptcies are at an all-time high; 401(k) plans are at an all-time low; the clueless Detroit automakers are near extinction; and, by the way, Americans owe over $1 trillion on their credit cards. Let's face it, this is an economic mess that would put fear even into the stouthearted Franklin Delano Roosevelt himself.
But the “D” word is seldom used (this side of Paul Krugman and Robert Kiyosaki), only that we are in for a “prolonged recession,” a “protracted recession” or a “slow recovery.” Even the cheerleaders at Fox Business and CNBC, although more solemn than the giddy days of only 15 months ago, have failed to broach the dreaded “D” term. (You'll also notice that they don't call Maria Bartiromo the “Money Honey” that much anymore; perhaps “Credit Crunch Wench” doesn't have the same sex appeal.)
But what's bad for Wall Street can be good for publishers and Americans facing unprecedented financial stresses. If there's one place that Americans can get information about debt, foreclosure, dwindling 401(k)s, etc., it is from books. The publishing industry not only boasts the biggest names in the personal finance business (i.e., Ramsey, Orman, Kiyosaki, etc.) but also a steady group of professionals who know their stuff.
And in these unprecedented times, publishers have stepped up, with one publisher, Grand Central's Business Plus, even considering a new book from Rich Dad's Robert T. Kiyosaki free online, chapter by chapter, starting sometime this winter (before turning it into book form sometime next year).
It will be called Conspiracy of the Rich: The New Rules of Money, and it will be a daring venture on both the part of Grand Central and Kiyosaki's Rich Dad empire. “[Kiyosaki] wants to do this,” says Mona Gambetta, president of the Rich Dad Company, “because he believes he can't wait for the traditional book publishing route—the message is too timely, too important, it's in the headlines every day. People are frustrated and angry and scared a little bit. They feel out of control, and that's what moving Robert to say this book has to happen now. And in this economy, it's really the right price. They can download it, they can print it, they can send it to their friends—no hidden agenda.”
Rick Wolff, publisher of Grand Central/Business Plus, notes, “Robert is compelled to help the millions everywhere who feel that they've been betrayed by the Wall Street leaders, and he's very eager to get his message out right away. Doing an online book—for free—makes a lot of sense in terms of facilitating Robert's message as quickly as possible.”
We are in uncharted economic waters, and Kiyosaki is not one to sugarcoat the disaster we may be morphing into. “There's two kinds of depressions—inflation or deflation,” says Kiyosaki. “The question on the next depression is, which one will it be? Which type? Because if you know which type it is, at least you can prepare, but if you don't know which type it is, you can be cleaned out. I'm doing my best to boil it down so chapter one is, 'Are you prepared for the coming depression?' ” READ MORE CLICK HERE:
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