USPS has released a preview of the upcoming Maya Angelou forever stamp.
The stamp features a hyper-realistic painting of Angelou by the Atlanta-based artist Ross Rossin. The original painting is currently on display at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery through Nov. 1. The stamp also features a quote from the author: \"A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.\"
The stamp will be issued at a dedication ceremony on Tuesday April 7th. In the meantime, you can preorder the stamps here.
If you’ve missed this report in the news feeds, here it is. It seems that the powers that be are contemplating a complete closure of the postal system. Yes, folks, the USPS is under scrutiny for more than paltry stamps.
The projected deficit for the agency for 2011 is between $9-11 Billion. Somehow, I don’t think adding another two cents to the cost of a stamp is going to offset that figure. Use of snail mail is down significantly with the increasing use of FAX and the internet. More businesses are doing business online. One of the few props to the system now is bulk mail (better known as JUNK MAIL.) And we all just love getting junk mail, don’t we?
Hundreds of little postal stations have already been put on the chopping block, leaving tiny communities across the country without a nearby Post Office. Many larger stations have gone to a reduced number of delivery days to defray costs.
The reports of the past few months about the state of the USPS have left me with a question or two of my own. If you’ve been around this blog often, you already knew there were questions coming, didn’t you? This time, though, the questions are strictly for the publishing industry/
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that the USPS does, indeed, end operations. Where does that leave today’s publishing industry?
Many publishers, both for magazines and books, do not accept electronic submissions, and I can understand that. On the publisher’s side there is the cost of downloading a book manuscript to hard copy, sent by a writer that isn’t already on the payroll. That slush pile will get awfully slim. The publisher will have decide whether getting potential blockbusters from an electronic slush pile outweighs the cost of making hard copies.
Granted, many of those same publishers have already begun using electronic ARCs for reviewers to their new releases as a way to make the bottom line healthier. As a part-time reviewer, I see both sides of the equation on this decision. I love having the “real” book in my hands when I read. At the same time, I don’t have to wait for the delivery of my copy of a book to get out a quicker review. The ARC becomes available immediately; I download, and begin reading that same day. I even get notices when to look over the entrees for choice.
Many authors have received electronic contracts for a few years now. Email and faxing have made this practice painless and cost-effective for both parties.
Magazine publishers may have a much harder decision to make than mere slush piles, however. While many print magazines accept only electronic submissions, others continue with only postal submissions or they accept both. Without the USPS those magazines that prefer hardcopy will find none in the mailbox. They will either have
Interesting article, and baffling questions. If our USPS does indeed shut down, the “industry” will need to find ways to cope. My guess is that Fed Ex and UPS will need to step up to the plate as well, and modify/increase their services.
And here’s another dilemma: For those who can afford a stamp to mail checks to pay their bills, but can’t afford a computer with internet service to pay online … where would the closing of our USPS leave them?
Interesting stuff, Clauds.
Thanks, Marie. Most people will never stop to consider such ramifications. It’s too bad. Whether USPS closes or not, the financial and social burden will be paid by all of us and in ways that most would never conceive until it happens.
You, at leastk, considered one small ramification, but also one that truly impacts those who can’t afford the gas to drive into town for an extra errand, or those who are shut-ins, etc.
I’m not too surprised by this, considering we haven’t gotten much in the way of “real” service from the postal system in some time. I AM surprised at their shortfall of so many billions of dollars. It makes one wonder, doesn’t it, if maybe there wasn’t some kind of hanky-panky going on at the top?
As to what it means: UPS and FED-EX will be hiring many more drivers to drive the many more trucks that will have to be built to take care of the many more routes that will be created. Thus, many more jobs will also be created. Plus, more people who work in the UPS and FED-EX routing stations will have to be hired, more pilots for the planes, meaning possibly more planes will have to be built. Put it all together, and you have a great plan for creating an enormous multitude of jobs. BUT! more jobs means more payload which in turn means more/higher charges for services rendered. A good and a bad dilemma which isn’t going to be solved easily.
There are indeed many factors to consider in this one issue. And while some jobs would be created, the load of jobs lost would probably override those new ones. I’m curious to see whether the multi-billion dollar balloon payment the USPS has coming due on the 30th will be made without an emergency bail-out from the feds.
We’ll all just have to wait and see how this new quagmire dries up.
Thanks, Mikki. It’s always good to witness your insights in action.