We have more to ask our intelligent, well-informed staff, including what they perceive is the trend of the year, who they believe is the author of the year, and what they'll do differently as writers in 2010.

What was the most significant event or trend to affect the industry in 2009?

Ross Browne:  Who can say, but the closing of Kirkus weighs heavily on my mind at the moment.  And the surprising shift sales figures and revenues between traditional and self/POD publishing.

Jesse Steele:  My guess would be the economy, really.  And the massive layoffs everywhere in the publishing industry.  Agents and acquisitions editors are less willing to take chances now because they need books that will sell.

Kate Steele: The economy, without doubt.

Peter Gelfan:   I think publishers are quietly panicked that what has already devastated the music industry is now at their door: the impending loss of a physical object on which to base their entire business model.

Renni Browne: The Kindle.

Andy Meisenheimer: Traditional publishers opening self-publishing imprints.

Betsy Tice White: I guess it's Kindle, although I'll be a reluctant convert.

Shannon Roberts: Everyone seems to be jumping on the Kindle bandwagon--though personally I don't care for it. For the true collector, a book is more than its contents, and while readers like Kindle have made a splash, I'm not sure they'll be able to sustain, though I do think it's going to alter how we see the publishing industry as a whole.

Jen Howard: The increased variety of media we have to choose from. I was doing some Christmas shopping on amazon.com, and any given book could be purchased in print, on CD, on mp3, on Kindle, etc. I can download books onto my iPod. I love a "real" book in my hands, but there's still part of me that finds that insanely wonderful.

Penelope Stokes: Most significant? In my opinion, the economic downturn. There's much less money to go around for midlist writers, and publishers are reluctant to take on anything that's not a slam-dunk big seller. Advances are minimal, even dismal, for a working writer who's just trying to pay the bills. But this is not a new trend--for years now, artistic excellence has taken a back seat to the blockbuster, and the whole scope of published fiction has suffered because of it.

What is your writing New Year's resolution?

Ross Browne:  To finish up work on Dialogue for Fiction Writers.

Jesse Steele:  To find the time to do some?  I'd like to get some new poems done this year, and I'm in the process of developing a novel outline with my partner, so I'd like to get that fleshed out, too.

Kate Steele: My New Year's writing resolution is to write every day ... make more time to do so, as opposed to finding the time.

Peter Gelfan:  To find a partial antidote for its antisocial lifestyle (wouldn’t want a full cure now would we?).

Kristi Jenkins:  Finish my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel so that it is fit for public consumption, and then tackle NaNo 2006 (one with actual publication potential).

Renni Browne: Dialogue for Fiction Writers, with Ross!  My resolution is to finish the book in 2010.

Andy Meisenheimer: Write well no matter what I'm writing. I hope I finish my first novel and move on to my second. But I'm happy either way. An agent asked me a couple of weeks ago if I was writing a novel that will sell or the kind of novel he would expect me to write. It's the latter. I'm okay with that.

Betsy Tice White: Never stop writing personal letters, with the accent on personal. It's a dying art, and once it's in the coffin for good, our civilization will have lost too much.  Email is evanescent, and unless those of us who care about language keep writing real letters, we'll have rung future historians' and biographers' death knell.

Shannon Roberts: Actually it's a reading resolution--I've simply got to read more books for fun. When you read for work, it gets really hard to turn off that editorial switch...

Jen Howard: Ah, to put my own writing higher on my priority list. As is always my resolution.

Penelope Stokes: To journal more, write more poetry, walk in the woods. To rediscover real creativity in my soul.

December 2009 • The Year in Review Issue • The Editorial Department Year in Review • The Editorial Department Speaks! Part 1/Part 2 • The First Great Book of 2010 • The Best Nonfiction Title of 2009 • The Best Fiction Title of 2009