If Joseph Papp had had his way, “Free for All,” Kenneth Turan’s newly published oral history of Papp and the Public Theater he helped found, would never have seen the light of day.
Books
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New York Times
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Long-Delayed Opening for History of, and by, Joseph Papp
6 Nov 2009 | 10:19 pm -
Exhibition Review | 'A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy': At the Morgan, the Jane Austen Her Family Knew
6 Nov 2009 | 10:16 pm“A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy,” a new exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum, includes many personal letters and early manuscripts by the author. -
Short Cuts
6 Nov 2009 | 9:36 pmThe life of Robert Altman, told in interviews with nearly 200 of his friends, colleagues and family members. -
She Did Go Home Again
6 Nov 2009 | 9:36 pmA wonderfully intelligent and frank memoir about the Mennonite upbringing Rhoda Janzen returned to after an emotional and physical crisis. -
Master of Disaster
6 Nov 2009 | 5:32 pmJohn Irving’s new novel follows a father and son through 50 years in “a world of accidents.”
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Publisher's Weekly Latest News
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BookExpo America Cancels Plans for Tuesday Exhibit Hours
6 Nov 2009 | 7:57 amBookExpo America officials have decided to limit the number of days the exhibit floor will be opened to Wednesday and Thursday when the annual convention convenes in New York City next spring. Originally, BEA had planned to open the floor from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday. -
Tomorrow Is National Bookstore Day
6 Nov 2009 | 6:20 amMore than 140 independent bookstores around the country have signed up to participate in National Bookstore Day, a PW-sponsored initiative to get customers into bookstores tomorrow. -
The PW Morning Report: Friday, November 6, 2009
6 Nov 2009 | 4:55 amBook and publishing news from across the Web: Publishing as Economic Bright Spot; A Self-Pub How-To; PW’s Top Ten Controversy; A New Indie Press Blog; ‘Going Rouge’. -
Results Rise at Simon & Schuster
5 Nov 2009 | 2:58 pmThird-quarter sales rose 2.4% at Simon & Schuster and earnings increased 13.6%. Though heartened by the improved performance, CEO Carolyn Reidy said she is disappointed that sales for the entire market have not shown more of an increase so far this fall. -
Borders to Close 200 Walden Outlets in January
5 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pmBorders has announced that it will close approximately 200 stores in its Waldenbooks Specialty Retail group in January. The store closings will leave Borders with about 130 mall-based outlets. About 1,500 positions will be eliminated in the downsizing, most of which are part-time jobs.
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NPR
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How Market Crash Helped Hedge Fund Operator
6 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmBefore the financial crisis hit, John Paulson was just your run-of-the-mill hedge fund operator, worth millions of dollars. But when the market crashed, Paulson made billions. How he did it lies at the heart of a new book called The Greatest Trade Ever. The book's author, Gregory R. Zuckerman, offers his insight. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Can Oceans Survive The Human Appetite For Seafood?
6 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amFaced with declining fish stocks, many nations are looking for sustainable ways to have their fish — and eat it too. But how much fishing is too much? Oceanographer Sylvia Earle discusses this and other topics in her book The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Sapphire's Story: How 'Push' Became 'Precious'
6 Nov 2009 | 9:47 amThe gritty realism of the film Precious is even more intense in the novel Push, upon which the film is based. Author Sapphire discusses the inspiration for her work — and her initial reluctance to allow her work to become a film.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Wal-Mart, Amazon Price War Extends To DVDs
6 Nov 2009 | 7:18 amWal-Mart Stores Inc. is trimming the online preorder prices of some upcoming DVDs following last month's price cut on books. The move led rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Target Corp. to reduce some DVD prices, which pushed Wal-Mart to take a few more cents off its offerings.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Excerpt: 'Invisible'
6 Nov 2009 | 4:59 am» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
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The New York Review of Books
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Dreams of Better Schools
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amBy Andrew Delbanco The Making of Americans: Democracy and Our Schools by E.D. Hirsch Jr. Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us by Mike Rose When Mike Rose, who teaches in the Graduate School of Education at UCLA, made some positive remarks about public schools on a call-in radio show a few years ago, one listener phoned in with disbelief: he said he 'didn't know one seventeen-year-old who could make correct change.' Others followed with 'assaultive' anger that 'did not, in any way, invite engagement, or mutual analysis, or thinking through a problem together.' -
Breaking a Conspiracy of Silence
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amBy Sue Halpern Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism by Muhammad Yunus, with Karl Weber This past July, a little over a year after the United Nations Security Council finally declared rape a crime of war, the parents of Taraneh Mousavi, a twenty-eight-year-old beautician from Tehran, received a call from an anonymous stranger. The young woman had been missing for weeks, ever since she'd attended a post-election rally at the Ghoba mosque; it… -
A Great Jump to Disaster?
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amBy Tim Flannery The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning by James Lovelock James Lovelock: In Search of Gaia by John Gribbin and Mary Gribbin The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive? by Peter Ward The idea that Earth is a living thing goes back at least as far as Plato, who according to Francis Bacon believed that the planet 'was one entire, perfect, living creature.' But it was James Lovelock and his colleague Lynn Margulis who, in the early 1970s, developed a testable scientific hypothesis aimed at investigating Earth's lifelike properties. Known as the Gaia… -
American Pastoral
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amBy Jonathan Raban Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits by Linda Gordon Daring to Look: Dorothea Lange's Photographs and Reports from the Field by Anne Whiston Spirn Published in 1935 in the middle of the Depression, William Empson's Some Versions of Pastoral casts a hard modern light on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century poems about shepherds and shepherdesses with classical names like Corydon and Phyllida. Pastoral, Empson wrote, was a 'puzzling form' and a 'queer business' in which highly educated and well-heeled poets from the city idealized the lives of the poorest people in the land. It… -
Can Our Shameful Prisons Be Reformed?
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amBy David Cole Race, Incarceration, and American Values by Glenn C. Loury, with Pamela S. Karlan, Tommie Shelby, and Loïc Wacquant Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice by Paul Butler Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities: Reentry, Race, and Politics by Anthony C. Thompson With approximately 2.3 million people in prison or jail, the United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world--by far. Our per capita rate is six times greater than Canada's, eight times greater than France's, and twelve times greater than Japan's. Here, at least, we are an undisputed…
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Salon
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Critic's Picks: The tragic twilight of Leon Trotsky
6 Nov 2009 | 5:11 pmA gripping new account captures the October Revolution's great intellectual facing doom (and feeding bunnies) -
The elegance of the gourmand
6 Nov 2009 | 5:11 pmMuriel Barbery's follow-up to "Hedgehog" makes for a delicious meal: One part novel, one part foodie fantasia -
A 10-best books list without women?
6 Nov 2009 | 5:11 pmControversy about Publishers Weekly's year-end list has the Internet up in arms -
Parents: Most of what you're doing is wrong
6 Nov 2009 | 5:11 pm"NurtureShock" says too much praise is bad, teen lying is normal and baby-genius toys could make your kids dumber -
Peter Straub on how to scare readers
6 Nov 2009 | 5:11 pmThe author of "Ghost Story" and "Koko" talks about the fine art of literary terror
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book-blog.com
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McNair, Cici: Detectives Don't Wear Seat Belts
6 Nov 2009 | 11:46 amCenter Street © 2009, 368 pagesNote: Review copy received from publisher. Amazon affiliate: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price.In her book Detectives Don't Wear Seat Belts, Cici McNair introduces readers to her very unusual life. As the title suggests, she's a private detective (see Green Star Investigations), and stories about her experiences as a detective form the backbone of her memoir: her initial attempts to break into the business, stake-outs with guys with thick accents and foul… -
Maugham, W. Somerset: The Hero
28 Oct 2009 | 11:35 amNorilana Books © 2008 [orig. pub. 1901], 248 pagesNote: Amazon affiliate: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price.In The Hero, which was originally published in 1901, Somerset Maugham tells the story of Captain James Parsons, who comes home to Little Primpton a wounded hero. He's been away for five years, first at Sandhurst and then in India and South Africa. During that time he has not seen his parents--his "people," as Maugham consistently refers to them--nor his fiancé, Mary Clibborn, to… -
Myers, Tamar: The Witch Doctor's Wife
23 Oct 2009 | 6:36 amAvon © 2009, 307 pagesNote: Review copy received from publisher. Amazon affiliate: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price.Tamar Myers' The Witch Doctor's Wife is set in the Belgian Congo in 1958. There are increasing demands at this time for Congolese independence from Belgian rule. But before they are compelled to cede power to the natives, the Belgians mean to extract as much profit as possible from the country's diamond mines. The town of Belle Vue, situated near a waterfall in the Kasai… -
Melikan, Rose: The Counterfeit Guest
17 Oct 2009 | 5:33 amTouchstone © 2009, 432 pagesNote: Review copy received from publisher. Amazon affiliate: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price.Mary Finch, orphaned teacher at a girls' school turned wealthy heiress, was introduced in Rose Melikan's 2008 novel The Blackstone Key (see my review). In that outing, Mary found out about her late uncle's surprising bequest, fell in with smugglers, and met the dashing artillery expert Captain Robert Holland. The Blackstone Key was delightful, a slow but still… -
Halloween Book Giveaway! Win 5 Scary Books!
16 Oct 2009 | 10:45 amThis contest is now closed. Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to participate! I enjoyed reading the responses and was very pleased with the enthusiastic reaction to the contest.I've now selected three entries using the random number generator over at randomizer.org. And the winners are:Rhonda Struthers (comment #40)Glenn (comment #43)Jeanette Huston (comment #60)I'll be notifying them by email as well.Hachette Book Group is at it again with another themed giveaway! Three lucky readers of book-blog.com will win a box of five scary books:The Heretic's Daughter By Kathleen Kent ISBN:…
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Chronicle Books Blog
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Stress relief at your fingertips with new mobile apps
6 Nov 2009 | 4:48 pmWe’re very proud to announce four more Chronicle Books mobile applications produced by our friends at Oceanhouse Media. Stay focused through those endless meetings with Essential Meditations. Add some Celtic Wisdom to your powerpoint deck. Keep your cool through tough negotiations with Perfect Calm, and unwind at the end of the day with the lovely illustrations and meditations in the Relax Deck. With these apps, you can flip between exercises, shuffle the deck, and email cards to your friends directly from your iPhone. You can even preview the apps on YouTube before you buy! -
Welcome to the Watercolor Revolution
6 Nov 2009 | 10:52 amOh my goodness, have you guys seen the artist roster for The Rest Is Up to You? Here, let me show you: Seriously! It’s like a who’s-who of the indie art world, all of them collaborating to make art with cute-as-heck boy wonder Cohen Morano: We’ve got the fiendishly playful Gary Baseman: Punk rock modernist Tim Biskup: Wandering bad-boy troubadour David Choe: Street art legend Barry McGee: Painter of enchantment Mark Ryden: Master of the universe James Jean: Poster maker extraordinaire Shepard Fairey: Comics monarch Chris Ware: Lowbrow goddess Isabel Samaras: I could go on and on. But as… -
Chronicle Craft Project: Floral Cocktail Coasters for a Thanksgiving Hostess Gift
5 Nov 2009 | 11:40 amGoodbye, October . . . hello, November. I’m so excited for Thanksgiving in San Francisco. The city empties out, the weather is always crisp and sunny, and the farmers markets will be bountiful. This year I’m feasting with friends. Since I’m not hosting, I want to spend some time making a gift for my generous hostess. Here’s a smart project idea from Kaari Meng of French General. It’s the perfect thing to make a bottle of wine not just a bottle wine. Floral Cocktail Coasters Excerpted from Home Sewn by Kaari Meng Photographs by Jon Zabala Illustrations by Jody… -
Enter the Worth Repeating Contest!
4 Nov 2009 | 5:56 pmKids say the darndest things! You just never know what’s gonna come out of their little mouths. One of our pals told us about this website called OutofTheMouthsof.com and we decided it would be fun to partner with them on a contest. Check it out at www.outofthemouthsof.com and if you have kids (or nephews, nieces, grandkids, whatever!) enter their quotes and you may win a new $250 library of our very own best-selling children’s books. The contest runs through the month of November and you can also vote for your favorite quotes. The winning three quotes will take home a $250… -
From the Chronicle KitchenNew Vegetarian
4 Nov 2009 | 11:32 amIt’s holiday time again, and time for vegetarians to decide on a centerpiece main dish for those special meals. I’ve been teaching classes on the topic of “Vegetarian Main Dishes,” and “Vegetarian Holidays” for many years, and I think I have a few things figured out. The special meal is not a time for stir fry or something ladled over rice. No, the special meal is one where you want to have everyone else look at your plate with longing. You deserve beautiful food that stands alone, like a savory pastry, a timbale, or this fab sformato. I actually developed this recipe years ago…
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Bookslut
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An Interview with Margaret Jull Costa
2 Nov 2009 | 2:13 pmReading Spanish novelist Javier Marías, whose narrators wrestle exhaustively with interpretation, my thoughts cannot help but turn to his real-life English translator, Margaret Jull Costa. Through Costa, whose translations have been praised by various critics as “smart,” “resourceful,” and... -
Wars of the World
2 Nov 2009 | 2:12 pmEvery day the world gets a bit more complicated, especially when we consider just how many ongoing conflicts are currently underway. Here are several excellent recent titles on war around the world, both declared and not, that older teens... -
Things That Are Good
2 Nov 2009 | 6:21 amI swear that I’m trying to work on my positive inner-speak, as so often encouraged by friends and loved ones. But sometimes I have to wonder if this is the moment we’ll look back on and say, “Yep, that’s... -
Inside Out: Graphic Sickness and David Small's Stitches
2 Nov 2009 | 6:05 amThere's a cute touch on the cover of David Small’s Stitches. Small's credit is held in a word balloon coming from his grandmother’s mouth, surrounded by her own introduction: “by my durn grandson DAVID SMALL durnit...!!” Adorable, right? But this... -
Failures of the Imagination
1 Nov 2009 | 3:35 pm“All night I had been hitting / on the daughter of a tiny woman / orphaned by Hiroshima.” -Brett Eugene Ralph “Before I can stop him, / my pet ferret gobbles / down the sliver of / hot pepper...
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Inkwell Bookstore Blog
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Bookish Conspiracy Du Jour
6 Nov 2009 | 10:30 amValentines Day is to greeting card companies what NaNoWriMo is to print on demand websites. -
Knitted Covers to Classic Novels
6 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amWanna see more of Olympia Le-Tan's work? Click here and/or here. -
Book News, In Brief
6 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amOne less reason to visit your neighborhood bookstore: Google Magazines! (Sniff, sniff. We'll miss your awkward porno purchases.)One more reason to visit your neighborhood bookstore: Borders will shutter approximately 200 of its remaining 330 mall-based Waldenbooks by January. Feign surprise. (Via)Over at The Huffington Post, Debbie Stier asks (and answers!) the question, Does Twitter really sell books? (Via: Twitter -- proof that it's good for at least one thing.)This Sunday's New York Times will feature a list of 2009's Top 10 Illustrated Books. To learn what the lemmings will be requesting… -
Famous Authors' NaNoWriMo Tips(as found on twitter)
5 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmHere's a li'l something for those insane souls who have taken up the National Novel Writing Month challenge (a.k.a. the completion of a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days). It's a collection of famous authors' Tweets re: your unwieldy undertaking. Some of their tips will surely help you with your writing, the others will simply kill a couple seconds. Either way, they'll prove a temporarily distraction from your writer's block.@C_Bushnell #NaNoWriMo tip:Use SpiceGirls speak.Instead of "Whaddya want?" say "Tell me what you want,what you really really want" +8 words!@Steph_Meyer #NaNoWriMo tip:… -
Underwhelming Adaptation News(don't say I didn't warn you)
5 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amThose wacky Twilight books are being adapted again. This time, as Barbie dolls.Entertainment Weekly has "first look" photos of the film version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and honestly...meh.Equally unimpressive, the trailer for How To Train Your Dragon is now online. Ah, generic CGI cartoons -- I hate you and the stupid families that make you profitable.The New York Times feigns surprised at what computers can do these days, heaping hyperbolic praise upon Robert Zemeckis' 3D/CGI A Christmas Carol.Big budget television adaptations of four of China's most popular novels have the world's largest…
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Powell's Books: Overview
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Review-a-Day for Sat, Nov 7: Meditations (Modern Library Classics)
7 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amMeditations (Modern Library Classics) by Aurelius Marcus, a review from Powells.com by Doug Brown. -
Daily Dose for Sat, Nov 7: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
7 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amThe Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson Reviewed by Lisa from Las Cruces, New Mexico. -
Review-a-Day for Fri, Nov 6: The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard
6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amThe Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard by J. G. Ballard, a review from Harper's Magazine by Nicholas Fraser. -
Daily Dose for Fri, Nov 6: Mortal Coils
6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amMortal Coils by Eric Nylund Reviewed by Jonathan from Covington, Georgia. -
Review-a-Day for Thu, Nov 5: The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis
5 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amThe Collected Stories of Lydia Davis by Lydia Davis, a review from The Oregonian by Erika Recordon.
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800 CEO Read Blog
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The Future
6 Nov 2009 | 12:03 pm“The future you shall know when it has come; before then, forget it.” –Aeschylus -
Lee Eisenberg’s Shoptimism (and 50% off of The Number)
6 Nov 2009 | 10:20 amOne of the books we really tried to get people to read in 2006 was Lee Eisenberg’s The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think about the Rest of Your Life, published by Simon & Schuster imprint Free Press. We were huge evangelists of the book, constantly blogging and telling everyone we could about it. It was a Jack Covert Selects and Todd picked it as one of his best books of 2006. And, even though it was a best-seller, it never caught on as much as we thought it should. As Todd wrote looking back on it that year: The book was released with high hopes from Free Press and the… -
The Portfolio Catalog & Business Beat
6 Nov 2009 | 7:43 amBeing the publisher of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, we’re obviously fond of the folks at Portfolio. Beyond the personal connection, though, we feel they have consistently put out some of most intriguing books in the business genre over the past decade, and continue to do so. The list below contains the titles coming out of that publishing house in hardcover before year end. (In the interest of full disclosure, I nabbed this list from the Portfolio Javelin blog.) Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss by Katherine Crowley & Kathi… -
October’s Best Selling International Titles
5 Nov 2009 | 12:26 pmIt’s been awhile! A whole summer, in fact! Have you felt as much out of the loop as to what’s HOT across the seas, oceans and borders of the world as I have? Well fear no longer, gentle reader for I have got 800CEOREADs listings of what business types and cohorts are reading! So, if you’re wondering what’s shakin’ in Shanghai or what’s new in Newfoundland – hang on tight, for we’re going around the globe – Take a look at our TOP TEN INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLING BOOKS of OCTOBER 2009: No. 1 - Australia: Put More Cash in Your Pocket by Loral… -
Brainstorming?
5 Nov 2009 | 12:08 pmEvery day, people come together in groups to brainstorm: share ideas, create projects, and turn dreams into reality. The leaders of those groups would be well advised to serve the appetizer, The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life by John Hunt before those meetings get under way. Because, let’s be honest, oftentimes, there are people who think they have “the answer” before the question has really been explored. And others feel like they have nothing to say at all. Both cases, of course, are untrue, and this uniquely designed book creates a great starting point…
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Charles Petzold
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Random Globules This Time
2 Nov 2009 | 3:59 pmAfter I posted a blog entry on writing a random-rectangle program for Silverlight, I added a comment with links to Win16 and Win32 random-rectangle programs. It's really amazing to see how fast those old programs run on modern machines! Can we persuade a WPF or Silverlight version to run as fast? I don't think so. Keep in mind that WPF and Silverlight implement retained-mode graphics systems where a composition layer is responsible for assembling all the visual objects into a composite video image. Retained-mode graphics is pretty much essential for the correct implementation of animation and… -
Random Rectangles in Silverlight (using WriteableBitmap)
30 Oct 2009 | 7:37 amI remember going to COMDEX in Las Vegas sometime in the early 90s when Microsoft Windows had just reached some kind of tipping point (at least among manufacturers if not users) and the floor of the Convention Center was ablaze with Windows machines, most of them running random-rectangle programs. The traditional random-rectangle program is short, simple, silly, and ridiculously hypnotic as it covers the display with an ever increasing number of overlapping rectangles of random sizes and colors. Some of those early random-rectangle programs worked off the Windows timer, but the really fast… -
Book Royalties, Advances, and "Retainers"
29 Oct 2009 | 11:19 amLike many authors, I had to be briefly hospitalized upon learning that Sarah Palin was paid a $1.25 million advance for her memoir "Going Rogue." But what really puzzled me was the description in the press of this amount as a "retainer." I've never heard the word "retainer" used in connection with book publishing. Apparently, this is the word Ms. Palin used on the financial disclosure statement rather than the more customary word "advance," and the New York Times suggests that the $1.25 million is only part of her advance! Some people may not be familiar with advances (and other details about… -
Reading “Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age”
19 Oct 2009 | 4:35 amThe photograph on the book's cover shows an elegant Grace Hopper in a black dress rather than a Navy uniform, with a sleek flip to her hair, stylish earrings, and — Yikes! Is that a cigarette??? Yes, indeed! When the same photograph adorned a children's book about Grace Hopper a few years ago, the offensive nicotine-delivery system was removed. But for Kurt W. Beyer's Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age (MIT Press, 2009), that very visible cigarette is the first indication that the book itself will be an honest, unvarnished appraisal of this brilliant pioneer in… -
Reality
18 Oct 2009 | 1:58 pmRichard Heene has been featured on two Reality TV programs. The first was called Wife Swap. The second was Runaway Weather Balloon. Wife Swap is what we might call "real" Reality TV, in that it was created by a production company and purchased by a television network, and the world was alerted to its broadcast. Runaway Weather Balloon, however, was "fake" Reality TV, in that it wasn't unauthorized by anyone actually connected with TV. Richard Heene thought it up all by himself, and then it was sprung on us suddenly and without warning. But here's what's weird: Real Reality TV programs like…
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The Book Design Review
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Five for Friday, 11.06.2009
5 Nov 2009 | 9:03 pmPerfect Rigor; design by Martha Kennedy:Cockroach; design by Albert Tang:The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights; design by Jaya Miceli:Too Many Murders; design by Jason Gabbert:Some dude named Chip Kidd talking about book covers: -
Obamanos
5 Nov 2009 | 4:46 amDesigner credit to comeI know he's just waving. But here's where my mind went immediately:Anyone else? -
Our Hero: Superman on Earth
3 Nov 2009 | 4:06 amDesigner credit to comeI'm dying to know how far you can push Superman iconography before hearing from the law firm of Siegel, Shuster & Luthor.(FWIW, the same author's It's Superman! novel has a trademark disclaimer right on the front cover.) -
Random Monday Stuff
2 Nov 2009 | 4:23 amHad family in town this weekend. Thus:Unpublished concepts for Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue and Troublesome Words. Via The Casual Optimist.The new Penguin Podcast features Ron Currie, Jr., author of Everything Matters. I loved that book.Old dust jackets. I mean really old. And most likely, pretty dusty. -
Late '80s Harry Crews Harper Perennial Fiction editions
30 Oct 2009 | 4:26 amIllustrations by George CorsilloA busy week has kept me out of the bookstores, so here are a few from home. Frequent BDR readers know I'm a big Harry Crews fan, constantly on the prowl for that copy of Naked In Garden Hills that *isn't* $150. (Should you ever see this at a garage sale or whatever, can you pick it up for me? Seriously.)I'm not sure how many Crews books were published in this series; these are the ones I own. Two thoughts popped into my mind when I was scanning these:1) Man, 1988 was a long time ago in book-cover-years.2) Wow, these aren't just yellow. They're YELLOW. But…
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The Millions
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Sarah Baracuda, In Her Own Words
6 Nov 2009 | 2:55 pmSarah Palin’s memoir, Going Rogue, arrives in bookstores on November 17th; For those who can’t wait, may we suggest The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring and Activity Book? -
Coming to a theater near Tokyo
6 Nov 2009 | 2:42 pmFirst it was Pebble Beach, and now they want our movies. After years of bad Hollywood remakes of good Japanese movies, turnabout is fair play. -
A Tipping Point for Gladwell Haters?
6 Nov 2009 | 11:16 amThe Nation expends about 7,500 words to say Malcolm Gladwell is a hack. The source of the umbrage: “a cheerful, conversational voice deployed in a perfectly paced dopamine prose that had the palliative effect of nullifying whatever concerns readers might have about this product or that problem.” -
RIP Mall Bookstores
6 Nov 2009 | 11:15 amMourning the death of the Waldenbooks at the mall. “But in a way I’m glad, as this means that yet another supposed agent of publishing’s ever-imminent death is now biting the dust itself.” -
Stocking Stuffers
6 Nov 2009 | 11:12 amIt’s not even Thanksgiving, but Dalkey Archive Press is already Jingle Bell rocking their holiday sale. 60% off pretty much all Dalkey books.
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The Book Publicity Blog
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NPR Books Watch — 10/30-11/5
6 Nov 2009 | 6:59 amCheck out the new NPR Books feature “What We’re Reading.” Here are the NPR interviews for the last week. Anyone who emails me the imprints of all the books listed (or houses if no imprint is available) will win the NPR Books Grid for the prior week that includes, in addition to the information below, interviewer, pub date, imprint, genre, post-interview Amazon ranking, pre-interview ranking (if the book was mentioned on Shelf Awareness and I was able to look up the number before the interview), and interview hyperlink. TOTAL book stories for the past week: 29 (30 last… -
NPR Books Watch — 10/23-10/29
30 Oct 2009 | 6:11 amHere are the NPR interviews for the last week. Anyone who emails me the imprints of all the books listed (or houses if no imprint is available) will win the NPR Books Grid for the prior week that includes, in addition to the information below, interviewer, pub date, imprint, genre, post-interview Amazon ranking, pre-interview ranking (if the book was mentioned on Shelf Awareness and I was able to look up the number before the interview), and interview hyperlink. TOTAL book stories for the past week: 30 (31 last week) All Things Considered: 6 (10 LW) Diane Rehm: 4 (4 LW) Fresh Air: 5 (5 LW)… -
Why email signatures are important
26 Oct 2009 | 6:15 amOne of the reasons why I haven’t posted in a while is because it’s been really crazy — as fall often is for book publicists — and I’ve been madly booking interviews (and rescheduling them, as so often is the case). Lots of late nights and heading to the office on weekends. Now more than ever I’ve come to appreciate that some people are easy to reach and others … not so much. For example, some producers routinely list three phone numbers in their electronic signatures — direct number, show / studio line, cell phone — while others… -
NPR Books Watch — 10/16-10/22
23 Oct 2009 | 7:03 amHere are the NPR interviews for the last week. Anyone who emails me the imprints of all the books listed (or houses if no imprint is available) will win the NPR Books Grid for the prior week that includes, in addition to the information below, interviewer, pub date, imprint, genre, post-interview Amazon ranking, pre-interview ranking (if the book was mentioned on Shelf Awareness and I was able to look up the number before the interview), and interview hyperlink. TOTAL book stories for the past week:31 (25 last week) All Things Considered: 10 (7 LW) Diane Rehm: 4 (4 LW) Fresh Air: 5… -
NPR Books Watch — 10/9-10/15
16 Oct 2009 | 6:55 amHere are the NPR interviews for the last week. Anyone who emails me the imprints of all the books listed (or houses if no imprint is available) will win the NPR Books Grid for the prior week that includes, in addition to the information below, interviewer, pub date, imprint, genre, post-interview Amazon ranking, pre-interview ranking (if the book was mentioned on Shelf Awareness and I was able to look up the number before the interview), and interview hyperlink. TOTAL book stories for the past week: 25 (26 last week) All Things Considered: 7 (3 LW) Diane Rehm: 4 (3 LW) Fresh Air: 7 (3 LW)…
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Book Launch Cafe
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Caroline Myss' new book Defy Gravity
21 Oct 2009 | 9:17 amJust released October 13, Caroline Myss' new book Defy Gravity October 28 (9am pacific) Book Launch Special on Hayhouseradio.com. Listen from anywhere you are with an internet connection! Join Caroline Myss for this enlightening hour as she introduces us to the material in her powerful new book, Defy Gravity. Joined by author Andrew Harvey (The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism), Caroline opens up about some of her own personal struggles and how she came to believe that healing is a mystical experience. -
An afternoon with Ray Bradbury
21 Oct 2009 | 8:56 amI didn't know much about Ray Bradbury besides the unread paperback, Fahrenheit 451, that's sitting on our bookcase. It was such an honor to hear him speak at the Lobero Theater last week. The witty intro was by Steinbeck's son so it was a double treat. Ray Bradbury really captured the audience's with his story telling like he was just having chat with you. I wonder how such a creative imagination has such peace in his mind. His presentation was about Farenheit 451, the Santa Barbara Reads selection. He also talked a lot about his support of libraries all over the world and how… -
Ray Bradbury at the Lobero Sunday, free
7 Oct 2009 | 5:35 pm"The things that you do should be the things that you love and things that you love should be the things that you do ... Imagination should be the center of your life." - Ray BradburyRay Bradbury a southern Californian and author of Fahrenheit 451 is this year year's Santa Barbara Reads selection ... and he will appear at the Lobero Theatre! This event is free and open to the public - first come, first seated. Mr. Bradbury will be introduced by author Thom Steinbeck. Sunday, October 11, 3 pm. TALK. Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 and many other books, speaks at the Lobero… -
Big Sur(ge) of energy bathe in it
7 Oct 2009 | 2:38 pm(freeforming it in Esalen breathing in freedom for the Self; nude luxurious bathing at its best atop the bath house oh but it is more than that, just look beyond the surface) Big Sur has a surge of energy that has a tremendous power over me and I'm sure for those who have visited but couldn't explain what it was. This power is a life-giving power that if you allow it into your being, your consciousness stirs a mass of confusion to awaken and enliven the receiver. This place keeps bringing me back. It was first a camping trip to Big Sur that I felt this un-easiness. I wanted… -
Special message to my readers
7 Oct 2009 | 1:54 pmFantastic Fall to you! This is a reminder that earlier this year I dropped the author "book party" in a sense that I am not featuring new books, latest books, most popular books, etc... if I do then it is by chance. I am getting back to my mission which I will honestly say that I strayed from. Getting back to the mission of sharing my reading, either personal or professional, that is shaping my life. It's a very personal journey but one I hope that share our connection with each other. The internet is a great space to do this. So you'll see some remnants of me getting off…
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ReadersRead.com Book Blog
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Berenstain Bears Books to be Made Into Film
3 Nov 2009 | 6:14 pmUSA Today reports that Walden Media has acquired the film rights to the popular Berenstain Bears books. Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) has signed on to direct a film based on the children's book series. "To stand that kind of test of time is pretty formidable," says Levy, who will produce the film through his company, 21 Laps. "People read them as kids and can now read them to their kids. Any piece of culture that proves that enduring has something special in its DNA." Though his next film is the more adult Tina Fey-Steve Carell comedy Date Night, the Berenstain films "happen to fit firmly… -
Barnes and Noble Eying European Expansion
2 Nov 2009 | 1:05 pmBarnes and Noble is considering expanding into Europe, according to The Bookseller. The bookseller wants to expand its online store, BN.com, and has hired Russell Reynolds Associates to find a new head of international business. [Techcrunch] reports that the job entails building the international business for BN.com from scratch, hiring the team and "building the infrastructure outside the US". In the late 1990s Barnes & Noble was rumoured to be looking into a move into the UK, and reportedly even began hiring executives to oversee the development, before its US rival Borders trumped it with… -
Borders UK Looking to Sell Online Unit
30 Oct 2009 | 12:04 pmBorders UK is reportedly looking to sell its online unit to its digital agent Tangent. The Bookseller reports: The digital agency, which is a division of Tangent Communications, already works extensively on the online side of the Borders business, including its email marketing. It also works with Borders in Australia, out of its international office. This follows the buyout of Borders UK by its management team in July backed by Valco Capital Partners, the private equity arm of restructuring firm, Hilco. Borders UK chief executive Philip Downer said in a statement at the time of the deal that… -
Sarah Palin's $1.25 Million Advance
28 Oct 2009 | 7:00 pmSarah Palin was paid a $1.25 million advance for her upcoming autobiography Going Rogue. For a politician known more for her folksy expressions than her literary prowess, Sarah Palin has made enough money on her yet unpublished first book to make most writers blush. The former Alaska governor, 2008 vice-presidential candidate and likely 2012 Republican presidential contender earned at least a $1.25m advance for her memoir Going Rogue, to be published next month by HarperCollins. It is unclear how much the advance will total once the book hits shelves, since book advances are often distributed… -
Ivanka Trump Talks New Book
26 Oct 2009 | 6:00 pmIvanka Trump talked to Borders about her new book, The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work. Ivanka is quite polished and has some great stories to tell, like the time Michael Jackson came to see her in a ballet recital and the other dancers were so excited that they all wore one white glove - during The Nutcracker. She said she was completely humiliated at the time (she was just a pre-teen), but now realizes it was pretty funny. Take a look: Permalink | Recent Headlines | Our News Feeds
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Eye on Books - Author Interviews
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Lidia Bastianich - "Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy"
2 Nov 2009 | 5:48 pmFor a country of less than 120 thousand square miles, Italy produces a disproportionate share of the world's most appreciated cuisine. In her book "Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy," famed restaurateur and TV chef Lidia Bastianich takes her readers on a virtual tour of the land of her birth. From north to south, Lidia introduces all kinds of new recipes that she says represent a back-to-basics respect for fresh, wholesome ingredients. -
Irene Khan - "The Unheard Truth"
2 Nov 2009 | 5:46 pmPoverty is not about a lack of money. The secretary general of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, makes the argument that poverty is a global human rights violation, inasmuch as it is really a crisis of insecurity, deprivation, discrimination, and voicelessness. She makes her point in a book called "The Unheard Truth." -
Brandon Sanderson - "The Gathering Storm"
1 Nov 2009 | 3:57 pmMany say Robert Jordan was the greatest fantasy author of our time. His untimely death at age 58 in 2007 left his masterful "Wheel of Time" epic unfinished. His widow and longtime editor Harriet McDougal handpicked bestselling author Brandon Sanderson to complete the Wheel of Time. With access to Jordan's papers, recordings, and notes, Sanderson realized the final book would have to be three books - the first of the series-ending trilogy is called "The Gathering Storm." We talked with both Brandon Sanderson and Harriet McDougal at a recent bookstore event near Baltimore. -
Vince Flynn - "Pursuit of Honor"
1 Nov 2009 | 3:56 pmDo whatever it takes. That instruction, in the hands of Vince Flynn's series hero Mitch Rapp, means two things: one, that there are some really, really bad guys to be taken out. And two, that Mitch will get the job done, whatever it takes. In Flynn's latest, "Pursuit of Honor," a brazen and bizarre act of terrorism has shocked Washington, DC, and Mitch and his trusted cohort Mike Nash have a nasty job to do. -
Nicholas Sparks - "The Last Song"
25 Oct 2009 | 3:03 pmAn angry and self-absorbed teenage girl has her eyes opened to the rest of the world - including her estranged father - in the Nicholas Sparks novel "The Last Song." Exiled from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina for the summer by her mother, 17-year-old Veronica Miller must find a way to coexist with her father, who walked out on the family three years earlier. And, as in every Nicholas Sparks book, there will be love found - and love lost.
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Boston Globe
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Fuel for corruption, conflict, addiction
6 Nov 2009 | 10:43 amOil is tearing Nigeria apart. It’s bankrupting the United States morally, if not economically. It backstops dictators spanning the grotesque Teodoro Obiang, president of Equatorial Guinea, Russia’s chilly chief Vladimir Putin and the canny, showy Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. It keeps anything but respectable company but, because of its clout and the global addiction to oil, its grip is tight. ... -
The literate burglar
6 Nov 2009 | 8:43 amRare books provoke passion in collectors, who expend untold time and treasure in their pursuit. Some surrender their scruples, too. -
Finding the magic in geeks’ fantasy, reality
5 Nov 2009 | 10:56 amIn his debut, freelance journalist and “avowed, out-of-the-closet geek’’ Ethan Gilsdorf embraces his love of J.R.R. Tolkien, Dungeons & Dragons and all things fantasy, embarking on a quest to discover what motivates those who devote significant portions of their lives to what many others dismiss as escapist fantasies. -
Picture Shakespeare in new format
4 Nov 2009 | 10:09 pmFlip to any page of the graphic-novel version of “King Lear” by Gareth Hinds and it’s easy to slip into the story. On page 23, night has fallen on the castle walls. Outside, amid the moody gloom, a flaxen-haired young man lays in wait. “Brother, a word! Descend, brother I say,” he calls. It’s a trick. He’s crafting a greedy ... -
Masons seek to dispel image of a secret society
4 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmFreemasons have frequently sparked conspiracy theories and drawn the ire of groups ranging from religious organizations to the Nazis.
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The Book Deal: A Publishing Blog for Writers and Book People
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Ask the editor: The top 5 secrets to getting a book deal
29 Oct 2009 | 6:20 pmQ: I haven’t had any luck finding a publisher for my book. What’s the secret to getting in the door? A: Here’s my advice on how you can beat the odds and overcome the biggest reasons most books get rejected. But first, I’d like to give you an idea of what it’s like behind the scenes at a publishing house, and how acquiring editors go about the business of signing up books. The reality: Editors are desperate to find books! Writers often don’t realize that editors are strongly motivated, in fact desperate, to find authors and their books. Editors wake up in the… -
Why book publishers love short stories
12 Oct 2009 | 4:07 pmShort story collections are big business. Thousands of anthologies are in print with many more published each year. A quick look at Amazon shows 29,000 story collections listed. Of those, more than 3,500 are anthologies of stories by a single author. That may surprise some short story writers, including those who’ve asked me if they have a prayer of ever getting the attention of agents and book publishers. There’s a robust market for books of stories We know that avid readers love short stories. Short stories are easy to digest, and can provide a little emotional sparkle or epiphany… -
Ask the editor: Help! I can’t seem to finish my book
23 Aug 2009 | 5:28 pmQ : Everyone says I need to wrap up my manuscript and stop writing already. But I’m really stuck. Any advice? A : This isn’t unusual. You may have taken a wrong turn early in the story as a result of poor planning. Or you may have painted yourself into a corner. Or you could be suffering from avoidance, procrastination, and other writer’s blocks. Structural problems and solutions The inability to finish up a book can often be traced back to a lack of adequate initial planning. Have you considered the narrative arc and characterizations? The balance of dialogue, visual description… -
Proposal critiques: 3 novels, a biography, a children’s book and an academic treatise
15 Aug 2009 | 9:28 pmWelcome to the final round in our series of book proposal critiques. It’s an audiocast, so to get started, just click the play button below. The six book proposals •The first proposal we’ll be looking at today is for a sci-fi/fantasy novel that takes place in a South American jungle. The hero is a hack novelist, whose fictional characters, including a serial killer, come to life. •The second is an illustrated children’s story about a boy, his dog and a conductor, who make music from the noisy sounds of the their city. •Then, we’ll take a look at another novel, a… -
Why a video will help sell your book
8 Aug 2009 | 10:48 pmA shopper who watches a video about a product is more likely to buy it. That’s why publishers and video producers are rushing to collaborate on low-cost video book trailers. Publicists and marketing professionals believe these videos are the best new way to create the kind of buzz that attracts readers and sales. In the past few months, publishers like Simon & Schuster, Harlequin, Scholastic, Wiley and others, have commissioned and produced hundreds of these short videos. They’re posting them on their own company websites, on Amazon, YouTube, author sites and blogs, and an…
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Personanondata
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Segmenting Publishing Strategy
8 Nov 2009 | 10:28 pmThere is a self-publishing conference in NYC this weekend which reminded me of a project I worked on several years ago. After reading an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review about defining a company's corporate strategy, I decided to use the ideas in the article to spur discussion about my clients strategy. The HBS article Charting Your Company's Future is available from the HBS site and is summarized as follows:Few companies have a clear strategic vision. The problem, say the authors, stems from the strategic-planning process itself, which usually involves preparing a large… -
K-12 Online Learning to exceed 10.5mm students by 2014
5 Nov 2009 | 7:25 amA report recently conducted by is bullish on the growth of online learning suggesting that the number of K-12 students taking online courses will jump from 2mm currently to over 10.5mm by 2014. The results we discussed in a webinar and the full report is available for $4K (LINK):The information was presented in a Webinar that coincided with a new report from Ambient Insight focusing on the growth of the electronic learning market (in terms of dollars spent on products and services) from 2009 to 2014. Titled "US Self-paced eLearning Market," the new report highlighted some of the dominant… -
Maggwire.com: The iTunes of Magazines?
4 Nov 2009 | 4:30 pmI've been going to monthly meetups for the NY Tech group for the past year and they are a lot of fun (I've mentioned one of two presentations shown there in the past year - Snooth is one). At these meetings start-up companies are given five minutes to present their company and answer questions from the audience. The response from the audience is generally positive; however, the audience are not afraid to challenge the presenters over some aspect of their offering and worse not ask any questions if the company has failed to inspire. Each monthly meeting has about 700 attendees.Last night one… -
Digital Book World Conference in January
4 Nov 2009 | 7:02 amThere is an upcoming conference that seeks to break the mold of your traditional digital media conference and I hope you can join us in January at Digital Book World. Below is an update on our progress and a discount code you can use based on my role as an adviser to the conference.We're gaining some tangible momentum as we close in on our early registration deadline. In the next 2+ months leading up to the January conference, we will continue to offer insightful content and resources that are relevant to both the specific topics covered in our conference sessions, as well as in areas not… -
Christopher Walken Reads Lady Gaga
2 Nov 2009 | 1:23 pmAnd if you haven't seen Chicken with Pears it is worth a look: Link PND
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Ghost Word
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McSweeney's "newspaper" issue on San Francisco will be 380 pages
5 Nov 2009 | 3:55 pmMcSweeney’s has announced some details of its newspaper-sized edition focusing on San Francisco and northern California.The 380-page broadsheet will go on sale the first week of December and feature an investigation into the reconstruction of the Bay Bridge, the growth of pot farms in Mendocino County, a 116-page book section, a 112 page magazine and three pull out posters.Lots of well-known writers are contributing to the paper, including Stephen King, Michael Chabon, Andrew Sean Greer, Nicholson Baker, Allison Bechdel, Junot Diaz, and Michelle Tea, among others.“We think that the best… -
Why Small is the New Big: Hyperlocal Sites
3 Nov 2009 | 9:35 amMy life is continuing to spin faster than I can handle, and posting to Ghost Word keeps getting left to the end. In recent weeks, my freelance journalism has picked up. I have written some stories for the Bay Area section of the New York Times, as well as a book review for the Los Angeles Times. After blogging so much for so long, it’s nice to be writing for newspapers again.That said, I am very excited about a new project. In recent weeks I have been writing for a new hyper-local website called Berkeleyside. It’s a website devoted to all things Berkeley, from the lofty (Berkeley’s… -
Andrew Sean Greer and the Art of Writing
30 Oct 2009 | 11:11 amAndrew Sean Greer (right) talking to 5 month nephew Arlo, who is sitting on the lap of Greer's identical twin brother, Mike. New York Times photo by Heidi Schumann Earlier this week, the New York Times' new Bay Area section published a story I wrote on the Sunday routine of novelist Andrew Sean Greer.The article touched on what Greer did on a typical Sunday. One thing he does not do is write. When he got together with his husband, David Ross, 13 years ago, he promised that he would avoid working on weekends.Of course, I couldn’t interview Greer and just ask about when he drinks his first… -
James Baldwin visits San Francisco in 1963 to explore the lives of urban youth
25 Oct 2009 | 9:48 amIn 1963, the author James Baldwin came to San Francisco to explore the increasing sense of bitterness and isolation felt by urban youths in America. He chose San Francisco in order to peer beneath its veneer of liberal acceptance. He found a city that he declared was no better than Birmingham, Alabama. Racism and discrimination were everywhere, if a little more genteelly hidden.A KQED television crew followed Baldwin and produced a show called "Take This Hammer." You can see the video here on the San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive website.The video is interesting for its view of San… -
Surviving the Literay Death Match
21 Oct 2009 | 11:02 amThis is a shot of me on the stage at Literary Death Match. I don't know why it's red, but all the photos posted on the website from that night are red. It's probably a way to convey the mood of the evening.Because this certainly was an event like no other. More than 100 people crowded into the Verdi Club on Potrero Hill in San Francisco to hear four authors read a piece and to hear biting and hilarious pronouncements from three judges.While I wasn't the oldest reader (I think Lynka Adams is older than me) I certainly was the most staid. I read a piece on my growing obsession with James the…
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The Guardian (UK)
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Linklog: the age of margarine, clearing shelves, and more
6 Nov 2009 | 7:44 amLiterary criticism in the 21st century: "Before we knew it, the Age of Margarine was upon us – not golden, but bright yellow, and full of suspicious adulterants."• Positive results of a book clearout, plus additional bookshelf porn.• Positive reader reviews for sale in bulk.• I'd be more interested in the original scroll version of On the Road if it looked like this.• The beneficial effects of hiring an agent: "The book, formerly titled Every Day I Know Less and Less: Postcards From the New Times Square, has been sold to Denise Oswald of Soft Skull as Last of the Live Nude… -
Guardian book club: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
6 Nov 2009 | 3:16 amTold with palpable anger and scant sympathy for its characters, this is a powerful novel but I confess that I struggled to really appreciate itWhen Kiran Desai's Inheritance Of Loss won the 2006 Booker Prize, a few eyebrows were raised. Although she had a famous mother (Anita Desai) who had herself been on the Booker shortlist three times, Kiran was relatively unknown. Comparatively few had read her book, and the bookies had her down at fifth or sixth favourite. So far so normal – Hilary Mantel's victory this year is the first time I can remember a favourite winning. What was unusual that… -
After Philip Roth, where next?
6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amIt's sobering to think about how small the world of American letters will look without himHe's just published a new novel, and another is finished and due for publication next year, but the memorialisation of Philip Roth has already begun. The towering American novelist has recently had his works published by the Library of America, giving him an immortal status usually reserved for dead authors. At age 76, his birthdays are now "commemorated" rather than celebrated, with his achievements discussed by awestruck admirers. And Roth himself has been batting off curious journalists probing into… -
Favourite children's books we should never have loved
5 Nov 2009 | 4:38 amIt's an unsettling experience to discover just how bad some of the books one adored as a child actually wereI visited the offices of Pan Macmillan last week to interview William Horwood, he of Duncton Wood fame, and in the process got chatting to his editor Julie Crisp about the children's books which hold up on rereading as an adult. It was sparked by Horwood's moles, which, we both agreed stand the test of time (although both of us had failed tonotice the incest when we were children, adding fuel to my censorship-is-pointless theory that kids take what they want/need from books, ignoring… -
Prescribed reading: medicine in literature
5 Nov 2009 | 3:33 amA new book prize turns a welcome spotlight on a rich and varied tradition of writing about health and medicineLast night I attended the prize ceremony for the inaugural Wellcome Trust book prize, awarded to "outstanding works of fiction and non-fiction on the theme of health, illness or medicine". I was attracted by its slightly barmy mixing of literary disciplines. And I was impressed by the calibre of the judges, among whom were Jo Brand (chair, and 10 years a psychiatric nurse) and Raymond Tallis, one of the few people whose writing clarifies, rather than further muddles, my understanding…
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Ready Steady Book
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Claude Levi-Strauss RIP
3 Nov 2009 | 8:50 amVia AP: The Academie Francaise says that Claude Levi-Strauss, an influential French intellectual who was widely considered the father of modern anthropology, has died. He was 100. Levi-Strauss was widely regarded as having reshaped the field of anthropology, introducing new concepts concerning common patterns of behavior and thought, especially myths, in primitive and modern societies. During his 6-decade-long career, he authored many literary and anthropological classics, including "Tristes Tropiques" (1955), "The Savage Mind" (1963) and "The Raw and the Cooked" (1964). The Academie… -
Sontag on Simone Weil
30 Oct 2009 | 5:12 amSimone Weil by Susan Sontag (1963; and available in Against Interpretation and Other Essays): The culture-heroes of our liberal bourgeois civilization are anti-liberal and anti-bourgeois; they are writers who are repetitive, obsessive, and impolite, who impress by force—not simply by their tone of personal authority and by their intellectual ardor, but by the sense of acute personal and intellectual extremity. The bigots, the hysterics, the destroyers of the self—these are the writers who bear witness to the fearful polite time in which we live. It is mostly a matter of tone: it is hardly… -
Thomas Bernhard's stories
30 Oct 2009 | 2:57 amVia Steve over at This Space: In May 2010, the first translation of Thomas Bernhard's early stories is due from Seagull Books, distributed by the University of Chicago Press. The website provides the following information: "First published in German in 1967, these stories were written at the same time as Bernhard’s early novels Frost, Gargoyles, and The Lime Works, and they display the same obsessions, restlessness, and disarming mastery of language. Martin Chalmer’s outstanding translation, which renders the work in English for the first time, captures the essential personality of the… -
Steampunk
29 Oct 2009 | 3:34 amAnyone near Oxford should make the effort to head to the Museum of the History of Science's superb Steampunk exhibition. It is, we're told, "the world’s first exhibition of Steampunk art" and is a delight. One of the most enjoyable and surprising exhibitions I've seen in a very long time. Only two fairly small rooms, admittedly, but packed with some startling artefacts. Do it. Imagine the technology of today with the aesthetic of Victorian science. From redesigned practical items to fantastical contraptions, this exhibition, curated by Art Donovan, showcases the work of eighteen Steampunk… -
New translation of 'The Tin Drum'
23 Oct 2009 | 1:58 amJust out is a new translation, by Breon Mitchell, of Günter Grass's The Tin Drum -- to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Via the literary saloon, my attention is brought to Scott Esposito'a Q & A with Breon about the re-translation (over at Two Words). The most powerful works of literature compel us to reread them—and often more than once. The effect they produce is a combination of linguistic artistry and richness of meaning. The Tin Drum treats universal themes (the father-son conflict, youth and art, sexual awakening, guilt and atonement) against the background of one of the most…
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ABA Blogs
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Something for everyone edition
6 Nov 2009 | 10:30 amFor those who prefer their information in flowchart form: apostrophe usage and "Hey Jude." If you're just looking for an excuse to write on walls - or know your customers would love to: IdeaPaint. Ugliest? Sure. But some of these qualify for so-ugly-it's-cute - although I don't think I'll be trading my Civic for a CitiCar. If you thought the Harry Potter parties of 2007 were impressive, check out BTW's photo gallery from bookstore Graveyard Book parties. Speaking of holiday events, Buy Books for the Holidays is gearing up for another season, and they've extended a special invitation… -
An e-book for Mr. Herriot
30 Oct 2009 | 11:05 amThe audio versions of James Herriot's books are awesome. The books are narrated by Christopher Timothy, who played Herriot in the BBC series based on the books, and the man's got a gift for the Yorkshire dialect. And I've been thinking (because listening while I drive to work means there's plenty of time for such ponderings) that Herriot's books are about a technology gap. Sure, they're also about small-town life and family and animals and the bygone world of rural England and what it's like to be on call 24 hours a day - but look at how many of the stories boil down to conflicts between the… -
Just a few links
23 Oct 2009 | 8:27 amRegarding the bestseller price wars, ABA's statement is fully contained in the letter reprinted in Bookselling This Week. But our members have plenty to say, as do some of our friends, so take a look at commentary from The Avid Bookshop, Bear Pond Books, Elizabeth Dulemba, Chris Doeblin, Geoffrey Jennings, Accent on Books, Loganberry Books, Aaron's Books, Rich Rennicks, Bob Miller, RiverRun Bookstore, Steve Ross, Josie Leavitt, Boswell Book Company, the Florida Center for Literary Arts, Beyond Her Book, Pudd'nhead Books, Ryan Chapman, TeleRead, Paul Kozlowski, several St. Louis-area… -
BookWeb status updates
14 Oct 2009 | 7:27 amAs of 9:00 AM on Thursday, 10/16: The site is back to normal, and everything's working. Thanks for your patience during our downtime! As of 11:30 AM: I'm going to try to provide some more details here, but I admit that computer hardware isn't really my thing. (Except smacking the machine when the fan starts making noise. I'm pretty good at that part.) According to our very smart (and currently sleep-deprived) people who understand this stuff, a power failure last night damaged part of the motherboard on the server that normally hosts BookWeb. They were able to move the bulk of the site onto a… -
Fully disclosed edition
9 Oct 2009 | 11:33 amIf you spend any time around the book blogosphere, you may have seen the name Richard Cleland pop up this week - a few hundred times. Mr. Cleland is the Federal Trade Commission official frantically supplying answers ranging from "of course you can fit a disclaimer in 140 characters" to "come on, do you really think we can read every blog?" in response to questions raised by the FTC's "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising" issued this week. The "Guides" are an interpretation of how existing FTC regulations apply to…
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Litopia
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The Joy Of Rejection
6 Nov 2009 | 10:57 pmImagine this. You have a letter of acceptance in your hand, and one of rejection... which one are you going to brood over? If you’re like most writers, you’ll take the rejection to heart, while discounting the positive news. There seems to be something about human nature that focuses on the sting of rejection while negating the good stuff. But why? With Dr. Susan O’Doherty on tonight’s illustrious panel, we’re probing the hidden depths of the human psyche to find out the evolutionary basis for our fear of rejection – maybe there’s a good reason for it, after all? Joining Dr. Sue… -
The Wrong Palin
5 Nov 2009 | 11:29 amChris Christie, the new Republican Governor Elect of New Jersey, has been called out as a copyright thief – by Monty Python. Scholastic tells an author to rewrite books to exclude a gay couple if she wants to be included in their book fairs. And After indie booksellers announce plans to buy their books at Amazon and Wal-Mart (it’s cheaper than buying from the publishers), the big guys limit the amount of books purchasers can buy. Which just goes to show, you should never announce your evil plans! All this and more in today’s Write Report with Donna Ballman. And Donna’s own book The… -
Writers As Slaves
4 Nov 2009 | 5:22 amPeter gives a brief update on current developments in the Colony; when will all the construction work end? And then, he tackles a subject that’s looming large on the writing horizon – the way in which writers are increasingly being used as slave labor. Maybe writers are their own worst enemy? -
Live From The Canarian Islands
2 Nov 2009 | 3:31 amEve’s Salmagundi Club comes to us live and direct from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, where it’s an impressive 90 degrees (London is shivering in damp grey mist). But doesn’t the eternal sunshine of paradise get a bit boring eventually? Not if you’ve brought some holiday reading! Eve and Richard gives us a run-down of the books they’ve consumed to date. -
Party Pooping Potter
30 Oct 2009 | 5:27 amDid Harry Potter’s lawyers (alright, Warner Bros lawyers) act way too heavy-handedly when they recently acted to suppress a Harry Potter-style house party in London? Press reports suggested they acted like party poopers – but on today’s Write Report with Donna Ballman, we look at the evidence and conclude rather differently. Also, there are at last moves in the ponderously slow English legal system to reform our appallingly anachronistic criminal libel laws - about 900 years too late - and UK personality (famous for her boobs) Jordan causes a riot at a book signing. We should be so…
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Omnivoracious
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Graphic Novel Friday: Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2009
6 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amThis year was an invigorating one for Comics & Graphic Novels, marked, notably, by the debut of a New York Times Bestseller list for the medium. All of a sudden, comics went legit, extending beyond True Believers and into mainstream literary circles. Our editors' picks for 2009's Best of Comics and Graphic Novels showcase the wide spectrum of critical darlings and sleeper favorites that made this year a rewarding one for comics readers. Kicking off our list is David Small's graphic memoir, Stitches, which recently caught a few eyes thanks to a National Book Award… -
YA Wednesday: New Moon and NaNoWriMo
4 Nov 2009 | 7:22 pmOnly 16 days left until the release of New Moon (the movie!). If you can't wait, you can act out scenes from the book, or make up your own, with the Bella Barbie (found via abebooks) and Jacob doll which you can carry around in your Edward backpack, so he's always watching. And if you've had just about enough of Twilight hype, you can find refuge in Nightlight, the Harvard Lampoon's spoofy version of book 1: Pale and klutzy, Belle arrives in Switchblade, Oregon looking for adventure, or at least an undead classmate. She soon discovers Edwart, a super-hot computer nerd with zero interest in… -
Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009)
4 Nov 2009 | 6:01 pmI mentioned the death of Claude Levi-Strauss in the Daily News this morning, and I'd love to be able to add a lot more to the story, but mainly I'll just link to some people who know him better than I. The Literary Saloon points to a few of the substantial obituaries that have already appeared, e.g. the LA Times, the Telegraph, and the WSJ. And Rob(ert) Mackey at the NYT's The Lede (who happens to be a great old friend who I'm still beholden to for, among other things, turning me on to Flann O'Brien), links to Edward Rothstein's NYT obit (which I think is the… -
Omni Daily News
4 Nov 2009 | 10:42 amIsn't the world ending in 2012?: On the day after an off-year election day, Marc Ambinder notes that the top three GOP frontrunners for 2012 all have books (and big book tours) on the way in the next six months: Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney.Speaking for all PWBJHTPMMATOK?s: At the NYT, novelist/ironist Colson Whitehead celebrates the one-year anniversary of Obama's election (and the apparent end of all racism forever) by offering to be the first secretary of postracial affairs: "Some changes will be minor. In television, 'Diff’rent Strokes' and… -
Guest Post: Boneshaker's Cherie Priest Comes Clean on Why She Done a Bad, Bad Thing
3 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amCherie Priest is a rising star of smart, textured cross-genre fantasy whose latest novel, Boneshaker may be her best yet. She'll be appearing with Cat Rambo and me at the University Bookstore in Seattle tomorrow night at 7pm., as I kick off the northwest leg of my book tour. Here Priest explains why it was necessary to, erm, do bad things to Seattle. -- Jeff VanderMeer “Why I destroyed Seattle for the sake of Steampunk”Cherie Priest As you may be aware, Amazon.com is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. As you are somewhat less likely to be aware, I kind of, sort of, completely…
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FreshFiction...for today's reader
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Fresh Pick | ANCIENTS by David Lynn Golemon
6 Nov 2009 | 1:46 pmEvent Group #3May 2009On Sale: April 28, 2009480 pages ISBN: 0312942869EAN: 9780312942861Paperback (reprint)$7.99Thriller Buy at Amazon.com Ancients by David Lynn GolemonTO SECURE THE FATE OF THE WORLD Eons before the birth of the Roman Empire, there was a civilization dedicated to the sciences of earth, sea, and sky. In the City of Light lived people who made dark plans to lay waste to their uncivilized neighbors using the very power of the planet itself. As the great science of their time was brought to bear on the invading hordes, hell was set loose on Earth. And the civilization of… -
SANDRA BROWN | HOW TO QUICKLY MAKE A BOOK TRAILER
5 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pmOnce upon a time the only place you saw movie trailers was in your local theater, shortly before the movie started. These days, all you have to do is “Google” to find a trailer for an upcoming movie—any upcoming movie. Have you looked around out there? Now it’s not just movies getting their thirty to forty-five seconds in the spotlight, but books too! I’ve been writing for…let’s just say many years, and I’ve seen many changes in publishing. One of the most interesting aspects of being a published author in 2009 is book trailers. I consider myself incredibly lucky that my… -
Fresh Pick | THE UNITED STATES OF ATLANTIS by Harry Turtledove
5 Nov 2009 | 6:14 amDecember 2008On Sale: December 2, 2008448 pages ISBN: 045146236XEAN: 9780451462367Hardcover$25.95Fantasy Historical Buy at Amazon.com The United States Of Atlantis by Harry TurtledoveEngland has driven the French from Atlantis, giving King George leave to tighten his control over the colonies. The Redcoats have seized the continent’s eastern coastal towns, depriving the Atlanteans of the markets where they sell their goods as part of a strategy to bend the colonists to their will.Instead, England’s tactics have only strengthened the Atlanteans’ resolve to be free. As leader of the… -
Daily Dose | Top Ten Holiday Flicks
5 Nov 2009 | 5:33 amIt’s the holiday season, yes I know that here in the States, Thanksgiving is still three weeks away, but we’re already doing the holiday shuffle. We have two birthday parties, one to attend and one to throw. We’re hosting the family for Turkey Day or in our case, Honeybaked Ham Day. There are school projects and writer’s conferences, a book release and school vacation, not to mention a panel on vampires, a tea, a readers group, NaNoWriMo – okay, I’m getting tired just thinking about it. But beyond all the things to do and the places to go, the holiday season is about downtime too. -
Carolyn Brown | An Interview With Jane Day The Heroine Of One Lucky Cowboy
4 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pmThank you for having me on your website today. It’s a pleasure to be here. Tell me, has a character in a book ever become so real that you wish you could interview her to find out a little more than what was written? Well, I have many times so I thought we would interview the heroine of ONE LUCKY COWBOY today. She had a big pair of ladies cowboy boots to fill after Milli Torres in Lucky in Love but I think she did a fine job of kicking up the Texas dirt when she inherited them. So let’s see what she thinks about her story in One Lucky Cowboy.Carolyn Brown: What did you think the first…
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Young Adult (& Kids) Books
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Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
6 Nov 2009 | 10:58 amAutism is in the news a lot these days. And why wouldn’t it be? The statistics are alarming; more and more kids are diagnosed every day with everything from Asperger’s to Rett Syndrome and everything in between. Happily, great strides have been made in facilitating communication with those who have autism (on ALL sides of the spectrum).Nora Raleigh Baskin’s book, Anything But Typical is told from the viewpoint of an autistic boy. Jason is a sixth grader and a talented kid. But he also has a lot of trouble dealing with the day-to-day world in ways that a non-autistic person has problems… -
Another Kickstart a Classroom Library winner
6 Nov 2009 | 9:41 amThis one is an 8th grade teacher: Jody Litkenhus.In her words: I started teaching a few years ago. I went to school in my 30s with three kids and a husband and all that comes with that. I have taught 8th grade this whole time and have students who I supply with books from Godwill and thrift stores. I rarely am able to purchase new books as there are so many students who need books in their hands and this is the only way I can get enough to go around.This library jumpstart would be such a cool thing for our classroom. Our school library is very limited, and… -
Some Winners of Kickstart a Classroom Library
6 Nov 2009 | 9:38 amJacquelyn McCanse, as nominated by Kalina Badzioch.Ms. McCanse is a first grade teacher and, according to Ms. Badzioch: "She has a heart of gold, and truly deserves a jump start on building her class library."I don't have a huge amount of books for that age group, but what I have will be going to Ms. McCanse.-----------More winners: two teachers at Prairie Crossing Charter School (K - 8), as nominated by Terry Wrzesinski, a HS teacher. They are: Mrs. Mallin, 8th grade and Mrs. Jeffrey, 3/4th grade.More winners to come...I'm still dividing up the books. -
Ghost Huntress: The Guidance
3 Nov 2009 | 12:23 pmKendall is still trying to settle in her new home. Radisson, Georgia is a lot different than her hometown of Chicago. One thing that seems to be different is her ability to see ghosts. And there's a lot of them here in Georgia. Ghost Huntress: The Guidance continues the tale of Kendall and her team of ghost hunters as they search out more ghosts in this Southern town. But what's different is resident mean girl Courtney, former girlfriend of Kendall's now boyfriend Jason, is up to no good. Read more of my review at YA Books Central and find out what happens when Courtney decides to dabble in a… -
Catching Fire Winners! Finally!
3 Nov 2009 | 10:09 amAt long last, here are the Catching Fire Giveaway winners: Sandra Bannerman Hillary Krajewski Tina Johnson Cheyenne Schroeder Beth RevisEmily Remer Yan Lin Dwan Proctor Sara Grochowski Julie HoldenCongratulations!
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Top Shelf Reading Picks
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Welcome to Twitterville
22 Oct 2009 | 9:53 amI’ll be honest. having just read Trust Agents and a couple of other books about social media, I was hesitant to dive into yet another one. However, Twitterville: How Businesses can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods by Shel Israel was different than expected. It’s less of a “how to tweet” and more about the evolution of the era of microblogging. Why would anyone tweet? From the forward by Charlene Li: “Twitter is made for my mom. That’s because she’s always infinitely interested in what I am doing and thinking, no matter how mundane–or… -
‘New Job, New You’ by Alexandra Levit
10 Oct 2009 | 9:41 pmWhen pal Alexandra Levit sent me an advance copy of her book, New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career, I thought it was quite timely. With the economy still stagnant and the unemployment rate bumping up against double digits, many individuals have to reinvent themselves to find employment. For some this may mean moving in a whole new direction, for others, it may mean it’s time to step back and reprioritize. Levit centers the book on seven motivators for change (listed below). Then throughout the book, she uses individual stories as examples for why and… -
How to Be a Trust Agent by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
29 Sep 2009 | 11:17 amMost of what I read about social media is geared to audiences that either need to be converted or need to convert others, and who potentially have budgets in the tens of thousands to spend on social media. However, Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith is the first social media book that I found helpful for newbies as well as active users, no matter what size the budget. I’m going to gloss over all the “here are more reasons why you can no longer ignore social media,” and focus on items that are… -
For English Majors Who Love Social Media
17 Sep 2009 | 12:34 pmA couple of years ago, my co-author Lindsey Pollak and I were struggling with how to write an engaging “how to online network” book. Then we pondered: What would Jane Austen do if she were a blogger? The result: The Savvy Gal’s Guide to Online Networking (or What Would Jane Austen Do?). This is why when I heard about the book Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don’t Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook by Sarah Schmelling, I just had to get my hands on it. Classic Lit + Social Media = Witty Fun! Schmelling takes classic literature characters and transports… -
Top Shelf Picked as Top 50 Business Education Blog
15 Sep 2009 | 10:31 amI was thrilled to learn that Top Shelf Reading Picks has been selected as one of the 50 Top blogs for business education by The Biz-learner. Thanks for the honor!
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Read Roger
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If Jim Carrey says it's Christmas now, who are we to argue?
6 Nov 2009 | 8:12 amWhile we've already given you our choice of the best holiday-themed books of the season, Deborah Stevenson and her elves at BCCB offer a handy handout of more than three hundred recent titles suitable for gift-giving. Deborah and I both learned our trade from Zena Sutherland and Betsy Hearne, so you know she has excellent taste. Too. -
More Meta
4 Nov 2009 | 8:45 amIn Betsy Bird's SLJ article "This Blog's for You" (and I thank her for including Read Roger in the list of "Ten Blogs You Can't Live Without"), she asks a bunch of swell questions:Do kids' lit bloggers influence publishing decisions? Are library systems basing their purchasing decisions on our recommendations? Should they? And to what extent is a blog about literature for youth a reliable source of information?My short answers to the first three are not a lot, ditto, and no. As to reliability: while I don't see a lot of misinformation on children's lit blogs and am in fact impressed by the… -
Not quite the Myracle it seems
2 Nov 2009 | 4:18 amWhile Scholastic has gotten a lot of press these last couple of weeks about censoring its book club selections, this is not new; the company has been cleaning up its club editions ever since dirty words started appearing in children's books. Six Boxes of Books has the best analysis of the controversy I've seen yet.Props to SLJ for getting this story out in the first place, but I have to note one thing that skeeved me out about the lede in the original article: "Don't expect to see Lauren Myracle's new book Luv Ya Bunches (Abrams/Amulet, 2009) at Scholastic school book fairs this year. It’s… -
Why Such a Lonely Beach?
1 Nov 2009 | 8:35 amThe new issue of the Magazine is out (with a cover by Lane Smith that makes me want to watch Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol immediately). You can see the table of contents with links to selected reviews (holiday books!) and articles (fan fiction!) right over here. -
I know this has happened before,
30 Oct 2009 | 8:04 ambut when do you think trick-or-treating starts when Halloween is on a Saturday? I can't believe Hopey has been running things since January and still hasn't gotten back to us on this.
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Former Fine Books Blog
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This Blog Has Moved
17 Oct 2009 | 9:11 pmThe Fine Books Blog has moved. Fine Books & Collections magazine is blogging here. Scott Brown, the author of the Fine Books Blog, is now the owner of Eureka Books, in Northern California. The posts from the old Fine Books...
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Joe Wikert's Kindleville Blog: All Kindle, All the Time
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Francis Hamit: An Author's Point of View
2 Nov 2009 | 8:27 amAuthor Francis Hamit emailed me recently about a major frustration he recently ran into with Amazon. Although Amazon generally offers a terrific customer service experience, Francis' story sheds light on the challenges faced by authors and other content providers. I asked him to write a guest post about his experience and here's what he had to say:I’ve pulled the Kindle edition of my novel “The Shenandoah Spy”. Although it was priced at six dollars less than the print version, it sold less than one percent as well as that edition. I saw a post from another author who said he was selling… -
Coming Soon to Your PC: Kindle Books
22 Oct 2009 | 9:13 amFirst there was the Kindle iPhone app and now Amazon is further hedging their hardware bet with this announcement about the future ability to read Kindle books on your Windows PC. No word on Mac support, btw.The most important point in this announcement is captured by these three words: "No Kindle required." You probably won't want to read on your laptop for hours at a time, but a netbook/tablet device becomes a more viable option, even with a backlit display.Just as printed books will never go away I can see where dedicated e-readers like the Kindle, Sony Reader, iRex, etc., could be around… -
The Asus Eee-Reader: I Don't Get It
14 Sep 2009 | 6:00 amHave you seen the leaked photos of the upcoming Asus Eee-Reader? If you missed it, here's a short article on CNET with a picture. OK, I get the lower price. Sure, that's something the market is clamoring for as the Kindles, Sony Readers, etc., are destined to be nothing more than nichey luxuries as long as they're $300+.But what's with the 2-panel hinged display? Why take a relic of the print book and force it into an e-reader? Think about it. There's not a single time in the past year where I've said, "gee, I really wish this Kindle had a second display that hinged onto this one." Never.Why? -
Managing Stolen/Lost Kindles
7 Sep 2009 | 8:10 amIt should be so much easier than this. I'm talking about Amazon's policy regarding lost/stolen Kindles, as outlined in this article. I can't imagine losing my Kindle and having Amazon tell me they won't disable it.Come on. That's an almost $400 device and it would be so easy for them to deny service to the person who found/stole it. If England can do this with cell phones why in the world can't Amazon do it with Kindles?Whatever happened to this company that built its reputation on a foundation of outstanding customer service? Anyone who accepts this policy and then buys another Kindle to… -
Sheet Music on Kindle DX
24 Aug 2009 | 6:07 amKudos to Andrys Basten and her Kindle World blog for opening my eyes to something I had never considered before: Using the Kindle DX to display sheet music. The DX screen still seems a bit too small to me for this but maybe that's just because my vision isn't what it used to be!You'll find there's a quite a bit of sheet music already for sale on Amazon's website but be sure to consider the free options as well. Andrys provides info on IMSLP, a free public domain sheet music library, as well as some screen shots of how sheet music renders on her own DX (here and here).If you're on Twitter, and…
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Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
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Smart Bitches in Marie Claire
6 Nov 2009 | 10:24 amThanks to alert awesome person Michelle Hauf, I found out that our site is featured in Marie Claire this month (December 2009 for those of you in Australia, where it’s already 2011). We’re on page 98 as part of a list of the top 15 Best Websites for Wasting Time. OH. My. GOD. Could I be more flattered?! HOLY HELL. We’re on a list with Daily Danza, CakeWrecks, There I Fixed It, and 1Bruce1—and Lifetime, Wow? I may swoon. Here’s a scan of the list, should you like 14 other ways to suck the time out of your day. I’m already working my way through the list. -
Friday Videos Love Spanish and Fighting
6 Nov 2009 | 4:04 amAmy sent this to me awhile back - and it’s hilarious. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s muy bien. So for all your NaNoWriMoFos out there, here’s some passionate inspiration, including a guy who understands the importance of the shirt unbuttoned, but still tucked in. And no romance novel is complete without a fight scene, right? Right! Becky sent me this one: it’s impeccable. All sequences of dramatic action should be so intense. And full of homoerotic tension. Note, if you will: COPIOUS MAN TITTY for Friday Videos, in both cases! WOO! -
Everything I Need to Know: High School Mystery Redux
5 Nov 2009 | 12:43 amTime once again for “Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Romance Novels,” where, with the power of enormous backlist, romance solves relationship problems. If you’d like advice, feel free to email me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom. I never reveal names or locations, so don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. Here’s this week’s letter: Dear Smart Bitch Sarah: I’m a long-time lurker - having only commented a handful of times - but one mystery has been constantly on my mind lately… and after driving all my friends crazy about it, I… -
Free Samhain book for Kindle
4 Nov 2009 | 11:54 amHeads up! Bound for the Holidays by Mackenzie McCade is free for Kindle download from now until 9 November. I haven’t received word of this title being free from other retailers, though in past months the Samhain freebie has also been available at BooksonBoard.com. Any other ebook giveaways you know of? Let me know. It’s the beginning of the month - time to load up the ereader! -
GS vs. STA: Groveling
4 Nov 2009 | 1:30 amGroveling is a powerful thing. When it’s done right, it can demonstrate that a hero or heroine has truly changed, that they understand the flaws of their past behavior and are ready to be not so much of an asshat. Sometimes, depending on the plot, the happy ending rests on the strength of the groveling scene. Groveling in a romance is something we’ve talked about before - particularly in the big behemoth thread from a few years ago on rape in romance. There’s some powerful juju in hearing someone say, “I was wrong. I was so, so wrong.” Whether it’s mistaken…
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Booksquare
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A (Probably Naive) Attempt to Move the DRM Conversation Forward
2 Nov 2009 | 8:43 amIf there are two truths we hold to be self-evident, they are these: 1) DRM does nothing to stop piracy, and 2) DRM, as used by many publishers today, frustrates legitimate purchasers of books. This leads many to conclude that DRM does not work, and that DRM is evil. How do we get past “it’s good” or “it’s evil”? Not true. And not true. Consumers will happily accept the shackles of DRM if the trade-off is worth it to them. For example, while some Kindle users grumble about loss of rights, they express joy at the ease of purchase created by the Kindle system. -
On Listening and Learning
30 Oct 2009 | 11:51 amAuthor Mur Lafferty offers her thoughts about the changes in publishing. What really surprises me is when you hear publishing people say that they don’t know what to do, or that they refuse listen to Internet professionals. They seem to believe if they do what has worked in the past, eventually the storm will pass and the anchor of tradition will have kept them steady and safe. They look at the people who are succeeding by merging their digital plans with their traditional print plans and call them anomalies at best, or insane at worst. What they need to be doing is learning from them. I Am… -
The Week That Was
23 Oct 2009 | 11:58 amA lot happened in publishing this week — so much that just as I wrapped my head around one thing, something new popped up to either make me re-evaluate my previous thinking…or to send me down a different rabbit hole. Let’s just put it out there: once you’ve gone subterranean, things start to make a lot of sense. Which probably accounts for my mood today. Here in the dark and dangerous world of the publishing underground, spirits are sapped and minds are bent. Sometimes you travel toward the bright light, only to find a seemingly insurmountable pile of… -
On Reality Based Business
20 Oct 2009 | 10:31 amIn his Frankfurt wrap-up, Richard Nash distills a lot of thoughts and questions into some very big ideas. Picking a single quote was hard, so go read and consider the whole thing. There will be an essay test later. What this means is that we (publishers, authors, agents) are going to need to make decisions based on the world that is (people will make unauthorized copies, people will undercut your price), rather than the world we will wish for. Until recently, it was not clear that the publishing industry accepted this, but these statements by Richard Charkin, Victoria Barnsley and other… -
Moving Beyond Catch Phrases
19 Oct 2009 | 11:18 amLike so many others, I am bemused by some of the coverage of the Tools of Change Frankfurt conference (bemused=not sure people interviewed were at same conference I attended)*. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but when your industry is undergoing what can generously be described as upheaval, it is imperative that you listen to other viewpoints. You do not have to agree, but if you’re not hearing what the other side is saying, you are making a huge mistake. DRM — Digital Rights Management — has effective and useful applications. I heard representatives from major European…
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carpelibrisreviews.com
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The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
When Dorrit Weger enters the Second Reserve Bank Unit, she knows she's there to stay; not by choice, mind you. She's hit that magical age where, without children and loved ones in need of her, she's become what has been considered "dispensable". While it's true the dwelling is luxurious beyond ... -
David Pritchard Guitar Quartet Music Videos
You may recall that not too long ago I featured the guitar music of David Pritchard. The music is astoundingly beautiful and complex, something to feed your brain and get your creative spirit flowing. Here now are a couple of videos from the David Pritchard Guitar Quartet. You can find ... -
“Bialetti Moka Express” Stovetop Coffee Maker Giveaway
Click Here for More Giveaways Is 'Italian" synonymous with "design"? Perhaps my husband could help answer that question. A proud European to the core, he practically shuddered with delight when a Bialetti Moka Express arrived in our home. Was I excited too? Yes, I adore coffee, especially any with a European ... -
“Cairo - Dancas Egipcias” by Nomad
Click Here for More Giveaways One thing I truly desire to do through this blog is to entice people to explore our world through music and literature. We sometimes get a little shortsighted in our selections, falling into the ruts of what is set before us through television and radio stations. ... -
Marianni - Vai Saber CD Giveaway
Click Here for More Giveaways When sitting still is just not an option, it's time to pop in Marianni Ebert's CD Vai Saber. This Brazilian Jazz singer puts on quite a show at the Zinc Bar in New York City, and fortunately you can hear a live performance anytime you like ...
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WriteBlack
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A confession
6 Nov 2009 | 2:38 amI haven’t been able to finish Douglas A. Blackmon’s Slavery By Another Name. Each time I pick it up, it makes me angrier. That is all. -
Video Wednesday: Colson Whitehead talks about the writer’s life
4 Nov 2009 | 2:38 am -
Review: Bachelor Untamed, Brenda Jackson
2 Nov 2009 | 2:40 amBachelor Untamed Brenda Jackson Kimani Press 2009 Please stop me before I read another Brenda Jackson romance. I generally have the same complaints about her books: unrealistic dialogue and insipid heroines (and in case you’re wondering why I continue to read her, it’s out of some sort of possibly misplaced Florida-girl loyalty). Bachelor Untamed still has the dialogue problem, but for once the heroine isn’t a complete drip. A complete one, I said. Here’s the story: Ellie Weston’s aunt dies and leaves her a lake house, where Ellie reconnects with her childhood… -
WriteBlack’s Twitter updates for this week
31 Oct 2009 | 9:59 pmDid not love latest Brenda Jackson, but bc I like to support Florida authors, I'll no doubt read her next one. # Love the new Beverly Jenkins. She gets more daring with each book. Review forthcoming. # Powered by Twitter Tools. -
Are you in NY? Go to the Mosaic Literary Conference
31 Oct 2009 | 6:57 amThe Mosaic Literary Conference is in one week, and if you’re in the general NYC area, think about going. The conference is a day of workshops that will, among other things, help teachers incorporate literature into their curricula. Tix are $40 for early registration. Details here.
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London Review of Books
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Jeremy Harding: Guantánamo
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Julian Bell: Van Gogh’s Letters
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Alan BennettAlan Bennett: ‘The Habit of Art’
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Colm Tóibín: John Cheever
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Thomas Nagel: I and Me
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McSweeney's
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The Police Blotter Shakespeare (11/6/09)
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Kevin Dolgin Tells You About Places You Should Go in Europe (11/6/09)
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Stained Teeth: A Column About Wine (11/6/09)
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The Emotional Hokey Pokey (11/5/09)
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Lists (11/5/09)
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Podiobooker
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Podioracket-Mark Rayner & Alex White
5 Nov 2009 | 9:03 amGet ready to Raise a Racket with Podioracket.com’s Episode 21! H.E. Roulo and Rhonda R Carpenter bring you interviews with Mark Rayner and Alex White, as well as promos from P.G. Holyfield and Seth Harwood. Mark Rayner Mark’s website: http://markarayner.com Book site: http://marvelloushairy.ca Twitter: http://twitter.com/markarayner Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/markarayner Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/308856 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Mark-A-Rayner/68490226665 Alex White The Gearheart Alex has tips and tricks on writing at his blog… -
Handbook for the Criminally Insane is COMPLETE!
5 Nov 2009 | 5:14 amBrian Holtz has put the final touches on his serialized free audiobook, Handbook for the Criminally Insane. All 14 episodes are now available! -
Theme and Variations
4 Nov 2009 | 6:15 amMichelle M. Welch today begins a new short story collection; Theme and Variations: A podcast anthology of speculative fiction with music as a theme. Science fiction, fantasy, and slipstream tales include stories of a future world where music has been lost, office workers whose embedded soundtracks direct their lives, the Martian superstar who doesn’t want to play anymore, singers who can compel men to kill with the sound of their voices, and more. The eight episodes present short stories by Keyan Bowes, Ernest Hogan, Elaine Isaak, Lejon A. Johnson, Jack Mangan, Rick Novy, Lon Prater,… -
The Rookie has been remastered
2 Nov 2009 | 10:10 amA quick note to let you know that The Rookie has been completely remastered. Note: This is still the “mature audiences” version. Scott didn’t go back and record chapters from the YA version of the book, which is out in print. He just had some cleanup done, normalizing the volume, pulling out some “less than critical” content and generally doing a better job than before. If you were subscribed before, you still are. But since there are now a different number of episodes, things may be off for you. If so, sorry about that. You’ll probably need to manually… -
The Sorcerer’s Secret
30 Oct 2009 | 6:59 amJ. A. Areces continues his fantasy saga today with The Sorcerer’s Secret: Book 3 of the Salem Concord begins where The Secret Society of Seven Sorcerers left off. In the Sorcerer’s Secret, Jesse ventures deeper into the wizarding world and discovers that the Wizardry must live a secret. A secret that history altered. A secret that FOLK must never learn. It’s up to Jesse and the secret wizard agent Ch-U-Ch to stop the forces that are trying to breach the Salem Concord and cause another Witch War. Meanwhile, Andrew and Brendan are learning that being a wizard in a FOLK world…
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Tripping the Muse
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Scrivener Offers Discount
20 Oct 2009 | 7:57 amI’m not usually in the habit of posting items that will be invalid after a few days or weeks but this is too good not to let you know about. Scrivener is offering a discount in honor of NaNoWriMo. If you know me you also know I’m a huge fan of Scrivener. I’ve posted about it a number of times in the past. I just checked and the discount is valid. Know also that this is in no way a paid advertisement for Scrivener nor do I receive anything from this. I’m honestly a fan and would love for the good folks at Literature and Latte (the makers of Scrivener) to be… -
Writing Competition News
20 Oct 2009 | 3:00 amDecember is almost here (really it is) and with it comes deadlines. Not just work deadlines but writing competition deadlines. Two that spring immediately to mind are those that will concern all of poets and short story writers out there. Travel on over to the Writer’s Digest contest page for more information. You still have some time to dust off those manuscripts and polish them up for submitting. If December is too soon and you know you won’t have the time, don’t fret. There are still many other opportunities out there. I’ll try to keep you posted as I… -
National Novel Writing Month
17 Oct 2009 | 7:36 amWell it’s here again. The National Novel Writing Month begins November 1st. For 30 days the goal is to write 50,000 words by midnight November 30th. In honor of this, and for those Mac fans out there, Jason Snell over at Macworld has put together a short list and video review of writing tools to help get you on your way. As always, my favorite writing tool Scrivener tops the list. Go Scrivener! If your a Windows fan (you have my sympathies) don’t let that stop you. Travel over to NaNoWriMo and get started! -
Just How Does That Time Machine Work?
26 Aug 2009 | 10:00 pmHere it is. The moment you and your reader have been waiting for. Your hero is about to pull the covers off his spectacular invention. A shiny new time machine! One that can move forward and backward in time as far as the imagination will take him. He yanks the covers back… and begins to tell you how it works… “Once the time/space continuum has been distorted or bent to the correct degree, I can then skim across its surface, jumping from wave to wave. It is all very simple you see. The rate of tachyon conversion allows me to slip across, at a quantum level, the very… -
Your First Draft Stinks
25 Aug 2009 | 3:16 amWhat if I told you your first draft stinks? “What?!” you scream. “How dare you….!” Ok. Maybe it doesn’t stink but who cares if it does or it doesn’t? Its very name implies that it isn’t the final product. It’s your first draft. Nor is it the only draft. If it were then it would be called “the Draft”. Being the first one means there will be second. Perhaps even a third or *gasp* a fourth iteration before you can consider it a job well done. I have no doubt that there is someone out there who says “Me? More than one go at it? I think not. I’m a…
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Bookshop Blog
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Children in Bookstores – Oh my….
2 Nov 2009 | 7:37 amNo One Cares This chapter is sort of a side-note to everything that is being discussed in this book. Of course, with a good selection, fair pricing, and a nice store, most everyone will appreciate your products and what you are doing as a bookseller. However, they don’t care at all about your books and sundry items until they have bought it for themselves. By using a short story, I will illustrate this point. Keep in mind that I am excluding how no one cares about the people around them while shopping in your store. As I write this chapter, there is a young man standing fifteen… -
10 things to ask when you’ve already bought the store
31 Oct 2009 | 12:58 pmSo you’ve just bought yourself a bookstore. Congratulations. You asked all the big questions before buying, rent, utilities, cash flow, inventory, etc. but before the old owner moves to Florida make sure to ask some specific questions about the details of doing business. 1. Where are the lightswitches? Oh you laugh, but I had to call the previous owner the first day because I couldn’t get the lights on. The lightswitches by the door didn’t work. All the switches are actually BEHIND bookcases. You need to move books to find them! If you’re in a brand new… -
A Journey to Opening a Bookstore
25 Oct 2009 | 7:30 pmAfter years of dreaming and almost two years of planning, Jessica Stockton Bagnulo and Rebecca Fitting finally opened Greenlight Bookstore in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. I’m well aware of Greenlight Bookstore’s opening even though I live 3,000 miles away and have never been to Brooklyn. How did they do that? Internet Savvy Jessica declared her desire to open a bookstore right here on The Bookshop Blog in February, 2008 and she continued to document her journey on her own blog, eventually entitled the Greenlight Bookstore. Readers kept up with her progress from the… -
Story Time at Blarney Books, Port Fairy
20 Oct 2009 | 5:28 amWell, I’ve gone & done it. After four and a half years of kid-wrangling, something in me has decided it’s time now to offer Story Time to the children of the Port Fairy community, and any visitors who happen to catch us on the right day. I made this decision over the last school break, so I had time to come up with vague plans for the last semester of the year. I’ve been contemplating this for some time now (years), but I’m not very comfortable with speaking in front of groups of people, so my thought has always revolved around paying someone else to do a… -
An Uncertain Future in the Used Book Business
14 Oct 2009 | 7:49 pmAn update on Christina Ambrosia’s bookstore Odyssey Ambrosia’s Books and More Bad Summer at the Bookstore This summer, though my first as a bookstore owner, was horrible. I’ve been agonizing over closing the doors completely or waiting out my lease. In reality, I’ll wait out the lease, but I dream of being home and writing more. The work involved in a used bookstore is far more than I ever dreamed. I do love being here, I love being surrounded by the books, and seeing that it’s been me and them for most of the summer, we’ve become friends. Seriously, even though…
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Berkeley Heights Public Library Book Blog
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A Few Reading Resolutions
3 Nov 2009 | 1:40 pmThere are so many books I want to read (upwards of 50 at last count) that I need some sort of plan to get through them all. This is embarassing to admit, but spending more time reading is not really an option. So this is my plan:1) Only check out books on my "to-read" list and books for the book group. No more checking out books on the spur of the moment!2) Quit reading a book if it isn't as good as I expected.3) Download some of these books from ListenNJ.com or NetLibrary, or check them out on CD, so I can listen to them on my computer as I do other stuff around the house.Am I the only… -
Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O'Brien
3 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amThe library book group will meet Friday at 10:30 a.m. to discuss Harriet and Isabella, which is the story of the relationship between half-sisters Harriet Beecher Stowe, an abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Isabella Beecher Hooker, a suffragist. The two sisters' loyalties were divided when their brother Henry Beecher, a famous minister, was tried for adultery in 1875. Simon and Schuster has discussion questions for Harriet and Isabella. You can see Patricia O'Brien talk about her book here. It seemed to me that Henry, Harriet and Isabella got upstaged by Victoria Woodhull, one… -
Loving (and Hating) Frank
2 Nov 2009 | 10:37 amLoving Frank is a fictionalization of Mamah Borthwick's relationship with the architect Frank Lloyd Wright (written by Nancy Horan). Mamah and Frank met in Oak Park, IL when Mamah and her husband commissioned a prairie-style house from Frank Lloyd Wright. Mamah left her two young children to live with Frank in Europe, and then in Wisconsin, at Taliesen. TaliesenLoving Frank was difficult for me to read, because I sympathized with Mamah so much, and yet I despised Frank Lloyd Wright. When he didn't have the money to pay his workers, he told them that they should be honored to have the… -
Happy Halloween
30 Oct 2009 | 1:10 pmWhile the library does not give out candy, if you go up to the circ desk and say "Trick or Treat" on Saturday, they will lend you a book for free.The Cat in the Hat was shelving books in the Zoological Science section today.The library's early literacy workstations have inspired one little girl to dress up as Stellaluna this Halloween. Stellaluna is the story of a fruit bat that gets separated from her mother (something we hope does not happen to the costumed Stellaluna).Years ago at another library I once wore butterfly wings on Halloween, a decision I came to regret whenever I was called on… -
Prep School Library to go Bookless
28 Oct 2009 | 12:15 pmUSA Today reports that New England boarding school, Cushing Academy, has decided to discard most of its book collection and replace it with electronic books and databases. The library had about 20,000 volumes which is now down to half that number, in the physical sense, but pumped up into the millions of volumes in the virtual sense. The library circulates Kindles onto which the librarians will download whatever title a student needs for a course. This decision has caused a strong reaction on blogs, according to USA Today reporter Greg Toppo. A small private school library with a generous…
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Joe Wikert's Publishing 2020 Blog
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B&N's Nook...and Beyond
26 Oct 2009 | 6:06 amThe big news in e-readers last week was B&N's announcement of their upcoming Nook device. My first reaction was "meh", but the more I think about it, the more potential I see...not necessarily for the Nook, but rather for the e-reader space. Let's start with the Nook features I find interesting:3G Wireless and Wifi -- I blogged about this long ago and have often wondered why Amazon didn't bother offering wifi with the Kindle. Some said it would be redundant with Whispernet. I say nonsense, particularly since I use wifi every day with my iPhone 3GS.Exclusive… -
Google Editions Should be a Game-Changer
19 Oct 2009 | 4:45 pmI spent last week in Frankfurt at the book fair and our inaugural Tools of Change (TOC) conference there. TOC was terrific, but one session in particular grabbed my attention. Amanda Edmonds, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Google gave a presentation on the much-anticipated Google Editions program. Google Editions is ebooks, done right. When it launches you'll be able to buy ebooks in (almost) every format for (almost) every device. Why "almost"? According to Amanda, the Kindle will be excluded.So how can a new service be successful when it ignores the market… -
How the Kindle Prevents eContent from Evolving
12 Oct 2009 | 1:09 amPerhaps I shouldn't single out the Kindle on this one. What I'm about to say is true for the entire current generation of dedicated e-reader devices, not just the Kindle. But the Kindle leads the way, so it gets the headline. The problem with these devices is that they encourage quick print-to-e content conversion and nothing more. In fact, they even discourage some of the simplest ways of enhancing print-to-e conversions. Embedded links are a great example. If you're a Kindle owner how often do you click on those links? More specifically, how often do you groan as… -
Have You Registered for this Week's Online TOC Conference?
5 Oct 2009 | 11:01 amThis is just a friendly reminder that it's not too late to register for the first online extension of O'Reilly's popular Tools of Change conference. The event takes place this Thursday from 12-3:30 ET and features 3 sessions of panel discussion. I'm moderating the ebook pricing panel which consists of Hugh McGuire (from LibriVox.org/BookOven.com), Neelan Choksi (from Lexcycle), Trip Adler (from Scribd) and Michael Tamblyn (from Shortcovers). The panel and I have been working on the right set of questions for the session and we're just about finished. If you… -
"The New How": My Letter to Reviewers
29 Sep 2009 | 4:22 amWe recently sent the following letter to reviewers of a remarkable book that's due to be published later this year. The book is called The New How and the author is Nilofer Merchant. If you're curious and would like to start reading the book now, visit this link to the Rough Cuts version of it at Safari Books Online. You can also follow Nilofer on Twitter; she's @nilofer there, or just follow this link. Here's what I said to reviewers -- I hope you'll consider how this applies to your own organization: Dear Reader,As a publisher I’m almost ashamed to admit…
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The Journal of Electronic Publishing
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How the Media Frames "Open Access"
The Journal of Electronic Publishing Vol. 12 Issue 1, 2009-02-15. Framing has its roots in how journalists construct news in a way that makes sense to lay audiences. Frames capture the essence of an issue. They define what the problem is, and how to think about it. Often they suggest what should be done to remedy a problem (Kinder 1998). -
Two Scenarios for How Scholarly Publishers Could Change Their Business Model to Open Access
The Journal of Electronic Publishing Vol. 12 Issue 1, 2009-02-15. In scholarly publishing as in many other industries, the Internet has also opened innovative new ways of doing business. A grass-roots movement of scientists advocating the publication of scientific journals openly on the Web, which they called “open access,” started in the mid-1990s (Guédon 2001). Open access can be seen as part of a larger Web-enabled phenomenon of peer production, user-generated content, and open-source development (Benkler 2002, 2006). The open access advocates propose two partly complementary… -
Toward the Design of an Open Monograph Press
The Journal of Electronic Publishing Vol. 12 Issue 1, 2009-02-15. The cellulose-based engine of academic life in the humanities and social sciences, otherwise known as the monograph, is being increasingly displaced not by MacBooks or FaceBook but by its long-standing junior companion, the journal. After playing a supporting role for centuries as a place for trial runs, interim reports, reviews, and updates, the journal article has become the principal measure of academic achievement in many disciplines. The journal does bring a measure of precision to the academy’s reputation economy, with… -
Open Access in 2008
The Journal of Electronic Publishing Vol. 12 Issue 1, 2009-02-15. A staggering amount of energy was poured into implementing open access (OA) in 2008. This is an attempt to show its depth and breadth, while admitting that the full story can’t be captured in one article. There’s a lot of detail here, but it’s selective and I’ve tried to present just the highlights of 2008 in nine categories, with a 10th section for highlights of the highlights. To keep it within bounds, I’ve omitted some sections I’ve formerly included, such as open education, open access for public-sector… -
Current Models of Digital Scholarly Communication: Results of an Investigation Conducted by Ithaka Strategic Services for the Association of Research Libraries
The Journal of Electronic Publishing Vol. 12 Issue 1, 2009-02-15. The networked digital environment has enabled the creation of many new kinds of works that are accessible to end users directly, and many of these resources have become essential tools for scholars conducting research, building scholarly networks, and disseminating their ideas and work. The decentralized distribution of these new model works can make it difficult to fully appreciate their scope and number, even for university librarians tasked with knowing about valuable resources across the disciplines. In the spring of 2008,…
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First Book Blog
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Odds and Bookends: November 6
6 Nov 2009 | 12:55 pmBig Bird’s still huge as ‘Sesame Street’ marks 40th anniversary This week marks the show’s 40th anniversary, and Seasame Street kicks off a new season on Nobember 10 with 25 hours of brand new programming featuring old friends like Bob, Susan and the lovable muppets as well as special guests including Michelle Obama. National Bookstore Day is Saturday November 7 National Bookstore Day, a campaign to draw attention to the nation’s independent bookstores, is this Saturday, November 7. Eloise Moves to the New York Public Library The New York Times reports that… -
Meet the First Book Staff: Bonnie J.
6 Nov 2009 | 11:17 amMeet the staff members that make the First Book magic possible! Name: Bonnie J. Where is your hometown? Spokane, WA What do you do at First Book? Management of Recipient Group grants from local Advisory Boards, Recipient Group aspects of corporate events and partnerships, small publisher donations, and all the odds and ends you could ever dream of! What are you reading now? The Forever War by Dexter Filkins – it is an account of America’s conflict with Islamic Fundamentalism and exploration of its human cost. What’s your favorite movie? It’s a toss up between Waynes… -
New Volunteer Opportunity: Registration Coordinators Connect Programs with First Book Resources
5 Nov 2009 | 9:06 amRecently First Book launched a new volunteer opportunity for individuals wanting to get involved with First Book. Registration Coordinators help us connect with the estimated 300,000 programs serving disadvantaged children nationwide providing them access to First Book’s resources. Here’s what one group told us: We bring books to children in need in shelters and those waiting for a permanent home. These children do not have the comforts of a mom and dad to put them to sleep at night or to read them a bedside story. We can provide a beautiful book for them to read at night hoping… -
Celebrating World Vision and Spreading the Word about First Book
4 Nov 2009 | 8:08 amI recently had the privilege of being part of World Vision’s grand opening of their warehouse space in the Washington, DC area. Representatives and Senators were present, along with school board members, teachers, community organizers and individuals interested in the organization. As World Vision employees led groups around the storage site, explaining their many domestic and international programs, a few First Book staff spoke with those eager to get books into children’s hands. Many were learning about First Book for the first time and as my colleague Tabitha and I talked to one group;… -
Adventures in family learning
3 Nov 2009 | 8:16 amGuest blogger Tina Chovanec is the director of Reading Rockets.org: the authoritative online source for comprehensive and accessible information about teaching young children to read and helping those who struggle. Reading Rockets is one of four multimedia educational websites created by Learning Media, a division of WETA, the PBS affiliate in the Washington DC area. Last week, the news media was abuzz over a startling stat: newspaper circulation in the U.S. had dropped 10% in just the past year – the steepest decline ever. Blame the Internet and its cheap, easy access to the news. I’m…
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Publishing 2.0
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High-End Brand Publishers Need to Sell Scalable Premium Ad Solutions, Not Commodity Ad Space
26 Oct 2009 | 9:26 amNewspaper online advertising has not benefited greatly from the recent upswing in online ad spending, according to the New York Times and most of the recent newspaper company quarterly results. This is no surprise because most newspaper websites sell SPACE for commodity advertising — display ads and classifieds — and thus are hard pressed to compete with ad networks that specialize in selling commodity ad space by the megaton (or giving it away for free, in the case of Craigslist). Back when newspapers where the only game in town for ad space, they could charge whatever they… -
Content Doesn’t Matter Without the Package
16 Sep 2009 | 8:25 pmIn response to the launch of Google’s Fast Flip, I observed that Google is correctly focused on creating a new user interface for news, when most media companies are not. A lot of people responded that Fast Flip is not an innovative or effective UI for news — which may be true, but that misses the point entirely. It doesn’t matter so much whether Google succeeds or fails with this particular experiment. What matters is that they are trying to solve the right problem. The challenge for media companies is not to figure out what to do with their content — content in and… -
What Google Understands About the Future of News and Publishing That Publishers Do Not
14 Sep 2009 | 5:37 pmGoogle knows a lot about the future of news — more than many publishers. It’s evident in Google’s new product, Fast Flip, which allows news consumers to “flip” through news stories. What’s striking about Fast Flip is that Google is innovating precisely where publishers used to lead innovation. Fast Flip is a new package for news. The publishing business has always been about packaging content. Newspapers. Magazines. Newsletters In digital media, on the web, the news package is now a function of software — which is why Google is innovating precisely… -
The Briefing: Start at Y Combinator, finish at EveryBlock
17 Aug 2009 | 1:54 pmIt was a busy Monday morning in two corners of the hacker journalist community: EveryBlock is acquired by MSNBC, and Y Combinator announces a “request for startups” to address that whole “future of journalism” question hanging out there in the open air. Want to catch up? Start here: Msnbc.com acquires local news Web site MSNBC.com | August 17, 2009 Ryan Sholin says: MSNBC acquires Everyblock. This brief includes a reminder that they bought Newsvine some time ago. Not a bad stable of news sites to have around. Tags: Media & Journalism, EveryBlock, msnbc, Adrian… -
What I Read Today: Facebook Buys FriendFeed Edition
10 Aug 2009 | 5:17 pmWhy Facebook Wants FriendFeed GigaOm | August 10, 2009 Scott Karp says: Om Malik calls it “the problem of plenty.” Facebook is trying to solve it by acquiring FriendFeed. Will news orgs compete? Facebook Takes FriendFeed To Take On Twitter TechCrunch | August 10, 2009 Scott Karp says: M&A, as always, is driven by startups building what incumbents should have but couldn’t. karaswisher: Now That There’s FaceFeed, Does That Make Twoogle More Inevitable?: http://bit.ly/fET9I Twitter | August 10, 2009 Scott Karp says: Winner – Best FF/Facbook Post Title mathewi:…
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Publishing Insider
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books make great gifts
5 Nov 2009 | 5:05 amThis has been a theme I've worked on off and on for twenty years. Even had great ads done up for a nat'l campaign that never got funded. Still, some good news courtesy of "the Shelf": Spirit of the season: a group of book bloggers has founded "buy books for the holidays," a nonprofit project whose name says it all. The group will post essays "about why and how to buy books for the people on your gift list, shopping suggestion lists, information about reading charities and spotlights of independent bookstores." Indies can sign up through the site. -
Remembering a bookman
4 Nov 2009 | 5:03 amFrom Shelf Awareness today: More on Robert Dike Blair, founder and longtime owner of the Vermont Book Shop, Middlebury, Vt., who died on Saturday. Steve Fischer, executive director of the New England Independent Booksellers Association, remembers: Dike hired me at the Vermont Book Shop in Middlebury, right out of college. I was hired to work down in the stock room while the regular guy worked through the holidays at a Christmas tree farm--making far more money than he would in a bookstore. Just as my stint was up, someone from the "shop floor" left and Dike asked me if I'd like… -
Provence Plus
31 Oct 2009 | 9:01 amThere's an office alongside Harper's that touts Sud de France, the forgotten neighbor of Provence. It sure looks pretty and they have lots of wine tastings! Color me intrigued!! (I've always been proud of being one of the first to talk up Peter Mayle's Year in Provence.) -
Gary V. rules
30 Oct 2009 | 5:15 amI got to see Gary Vaynerchuk at Book Expo last year, at the launch of Crush It, and I totally love this guy's passion and energy. I don't think he sleeps! Check out his latest rants and raves! -
brilliant Masterpiece Theater
29 Oct 2009 | 4:49 amAs if William Hurt needed another tour de force, but his portrayal of Prof. Willie Esterhuyse in Endgame is just brilliant. The entire production is brilliant and not to be missed.
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Publishing Talk
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Tools of Change at Frankfurt Book Fair
14 Oct 2009 | 12:25 pmFor those of us not at the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, it’s been easier than ever to keep up with the presentations, the deals, the gossip and the bar-hopping (er, I mean stand-hopping) with the #fbf09 hashtag. The various blogs and Twitter accounts covering the Book Fair include @thebookseller, the ever irreverent and entertaining @missdaisyfrost, and @pubperspectives - whose Frankfurt Book Fair Daily can be downloaded as a PDF. It seems to have been a relatively subdued Fair, with fewer publishers than usual - at least fewer editors attending from the big publishers, allowing more… -
social media workshops for publishers
2 Sep 2009 | 8:11 amOK, shameless plug alert. You may know I’ve been running in-house workshops for publishers on social media marketing for a while now. You may even have been on one. Some of you may be interested to know that, from October, I’m running some workshops in London that you can attend at an individual delegate rate. The first one is Tuesday 27 October, at the Reed Media offices in Fitztrovia, and is a half-day introduction to social media marketing for publishers. There are more details and booking instructions here. There is a 10% early bird discount available before 15 September -… -
not blogging but writing
31 Aug 2009 | 1:00 pmI know. I seem only to blog here these days when it’s a bank holiday in the UK… Well, fear not, dear reader - our little summer holiday at Publishing Talk Towers is now over! Oh, and in case you hadn’t noticed, all the action has been taking place over on Twitter lately. Do follow us there if you don’t already, for daily thoughts, news and links on publishing and social media. We now have over 13,000 followers, which puts us well in the top 10 in the wefollow directory with the ‘publishing’ tag. Have a look at the directory to find other publishing tweeters… -
amazonfail - 10 unanswered questions
15 Apr 2009 | 3:43 amIf you’ve been asleep for the last two days, there’s a very handy #amazonfail flowchart over at the National Coalition Against Censorship to help you catch up. But it’s over now, right? Amazon have said it was an error, they’re fixing it, it’s dropped from the top 10 trending topics on Twitter - get over it already. Right? Wrong. Dear Author give a very good analysis of why Amazon’s explanation is none at all. Pandagon also explain why it doesn’t add up. And Patrick at Vroman’s Bookstore writes about the dangers of an Amazon monopoly on… -
amazonfail = PRfail
14 Apr 2009 | 4:57 amMy favourite quote of the day comes from Amazon de-ranked author Gore Vidal: “Why don’t they just burn the books? They’d be better off and it’s very visual on television.” I still can’t quite believe that lovely, liberal Seattle-based Amazon would go in for the sort of virtual book burning we have seen at the weekend - even if they are more like Wal-Mart these days. Despite what at least one author was told, this seems less like deliberate policy, and more like corporate f***wittery on a grand scale. But the outcome and the appearance is the same: de-ranked…
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University of Nebraska Press
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Hurt Book Sale tonight and UNP author on CNN
6 Nov 2009 | 9:24 amHappy Friday, UNP blog readers. Two items of note today: First of all, the University of Nebraska Press Hurt Book Sale is tonight from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Swing by our warehouse (on R Street between 8th and 9th streets, in the Lincoln Haymarket) for cheap, cheap books ($2 paperbacks and $4 hardcovers) on the following topics: history and literature of the American West, Indigenous studies, translated literature, literary fiction, classic works by Nebraska authors including Willa Cather, Mari Sandoz, Ted Kooser, Bill Kloefkorn and others, sports history (particularly baseball) and much more. More… -
UNP author winner of France's top literary award
3 Nov 2009 | 12:33 pmAnd the winners of major literary awards just keep rolling in: Marie NDiaye is the winner of the Prix Goncourt, France’s top literary Prize. NDiaye is the first black woman to win the award, which was announced on Monday. NDiaye won the award for her novel Trois femmes puissantes, which translates to Three Powerful Women. The book traces the lives of three women in Africa and France and the places their lives intersect. More details about book, award and author are in this story in The Guardian. Interesting fact about the Prix Goncourt via the L.A. Times – the prize money is only about… -
Guest blog from UNP author Rob Fitts
3 Nov 2009 | 11:23 amRob Fitts, author of University of Nebraska Press title Wally Yonamine, is our guest blogger today, posting about the 75th anniversary of the 1934 All-American tour of Japan. Additional posts will appear on Fitts’ personal Web site throughout the week: Seventy-five years ago yesterday, nearly 500,000 Japanese had lined the streets of Ginza to welcome Babe Ruth and the All American ballplayers to Tokyo. Rows of fans, often ten to twenty deep, crowded into the road to catch a glimpse of Ruth and his teammates. The pressing crowd reduced the broad streets to narrow paths just wide enough… -
Today's treat (no tricks): A story and a link
30 Oct 2009 | 9:05 amHappy halloween, blog readers! A a tidbit of supernatural (though not especially scary) trivia in honor of Halloween tomorrow…… In 1922, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), best known as the author of Sherlock Holmes stories but also a devout spiritualist, published a book called The Coming of the Fairies in which he contested that fairies are real. Doyle was convinced of this by a set of photographs apparently showing two young girls from Cottingley in Yorkshire playing with a group of tiny, translucent fairies. Doyle’s book lays out the story of the photographs, their supposed… -
Off the Shelf: Into That Silent Sea by Francis French and Colin Burgess
26 Oct 2009 | 5:30 amRead the beginning of Chapter 1, "First to Fly" from Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 by Francis French and Colin Burgess with a foreword by Paul Haney: "When venturing into the unknown, the first step taken is often the biggest and the boldest. A young Russian pilot named Yuri Gagarin took humankind’s first step into space. He died in his mid-thirties, so his image is fixed: a youthful icon symbolizing the first human journey above our planet. As President Lyndon B. Johnson wrote, “Yuri Gagarin’s courageous and pioneering flight into…
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Up The Mast
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All You Have To Do Is Listen
26 Oct 2009 | 7:01 amMy prediction: Ebooks are here to stay and will be an accepted and even assumed part of publishing forever. I find it fascinating that for several years, devices and technology have been improving, and the quantity of ebook content increasing, yet we are still surprised when wide scale adoption actually begins. Which it has.I am not ashamed to admit, even though I am thoroughly embedded in the book publishing world, that I am already tired of the endless analysis and statistics on ebooks. I just don't understand why everyone is so surprised that tomorrow is now and regular people are buying… -
Brings Tears to My Eyes
3 Oct 2009 | 1:51 pmI am admittedly a geek. Seeing a new version of our software come to life very nearly brings tears to my eyes (not really, but you get the point). We have hit many key milestones during this long journey of completely re-engineering our Title Management software from a Windows client server app to a web based application. And this is one of them. Although we have had our web based Title Management in use for several years for specific constituents, and have installed Title Management Version 7.0 on the web exclusively to new clients coming aboard, Version 7.1 represents the first real… -
2009 Firebrand Community Conference Is Upon Us
17 Sep 2009 | 6:35 amWe are in the final stages of planning and preparing for our Firebrand Community Conference to be held October 5-7 in Newburyport. The registrations are climbing and the sessions are slowly coming together. Last year, we had to pull off the trifecta of re-branding the company, developing Title Management Version 7 to demo, and pulling together our first conference. Looking back now, it is hard to believe that it all came together, but such is the energy of pressure - and a lot of late nights. This year, the conference structure is back in place with some tweaks based on feedback from our… -
Klick, Klick Go The Kindles
22 Jul 2009 | 4:53 amIf you will indulge me for a moment, I would like to gush a bit about reading books the new-fashioned way - with an e-reader.Since I am an atmospheric guy, let me set the stage for you. It is late in the evening, all the girls are finally asleep (why is it the energetic kindergartner always stays up the latest?). We live on a dead-end street down near the bay, so it is quiet - really quiet. No traffic noise. No background noise, unless the wind is up (but for sake of atmospherics lets assume the sea breeze has died down and a light northerly has taken its place).But there is one curious sound… -
Where the Heck Did June Go?
7 Jul 2009 | 5:00 amTime to start making excuses - lots of them for not blogging, or even twittering much, in the past month. It is hard to believe that it is July and we are into full summer swing, but indeed it is.The spring is normally a very hectic time at Firebrand, given the intensity of preparing and executing our presence at BookExpo and other conferences and the follow up from each.This spring, however, was nearly unprecedented. Here is what I was up to in the last month alone:The biggie: Ingram Publisher Services is now live on our Title Management Enterprise software and Eloquence Metadata Solutions.
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The Penguin Blog
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Around the World in 80 Books: the sixth leg
5 Nov 2009 | 8:18 amLast night, my visiting mother raised a perfect French brow and asked me, "Zo... you 'ave not put up a blerg* since June, non?"** I realised, with horror, that she was right, and set out immediately to rectify this terrible fact. Since there's only fifty-six-ish days left to complete my journey around the world, I reasoned that enough procrastination was enough, and it was time to dust off my passport and leave Austria for less... sadomasochistic climes. So here I am, in merry, merry Germany Sixth stop: Germany Book: The Complete Tales, by The Brothers GrimmView Around the… -
A morning in the woods: diary of an editor
30 Oct 2009 | 4:13 amIt’s been years since I set my alarm for 4.30 am – I’ll do anything to avoid easyJet or any other such ungodly calls upon my time – but on Monday I was going off into the forest to see the deer, and being up before the sun was part of the deal. So I set off in what I can only call the very, very dark and joined my guide for the day, Colin Elford, and his two dogs.I first met Colin, a forest ranger, when he’d come on one of his very rare trips to London. We’re publishing his diary of a year in the woods – aptly named A YEAR IN THE WOODS: DIARY OF A FOREST RANGER – so we had… -
In praise of independent bookshops
21 Oct 2009 | 9:39 amDon’t tell anyone I work with but I don’t actually buy that many books. I used to, when I worked in Waterstone’s, as I a) was constantly surrounded by lots I wanted, b) had a staff discount, and, most crucially of all, c) couldn’t get them for free like I can often do now. When I do buy books, though, I like to try and do it from an independent. Yes, it’s more expensive as you usually pay full price but I find the experience quite edifying, mainly for the fact that it feels like everyone else in the transaction is getting maximum benefit: writer, publisher and, of course and… -
Penguin Press Design blog Autumn '09
15 Oct 2009 | 9:13 amWith the latest stress of dates and deadlines passed there is just time to bring the second round up of new Penguin Press covers, this time looking at the pick of covers being published this Autumn 2009. So all these books are just out in the shops or will be imminently. There's been a few covers to get excited about this month, starting with Great Ideas Vol. IV. Again, David Pearson and his merry team, Phil Baines, Catherine Dixon and Alistair Hall, have run riot over these covers producing another diverse, irresistible and often beautiful set of designs, many are saying the best yet. -
Hitchcon'09
1 Oct 2009 | 6:03 amIt's nearly the end of September, and there's something seriously stirring in the Galaxy. The countdown (10 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes) is, well, still counting down, towards the much anticipated publication of 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Part Six of Three...And Another Thing' by Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer, published to mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of the Douglas Adams' first book. And to celebrate publication of quite possibly the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor (probably), a…
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will work for books
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That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
28 Oct 2009 | 6:00 amThat Old Cape Magicby Richard Russocloth978-0-375-41496-1KnopfRating (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being best)Plot: 4.5Characters: 5Writing: 5Final: 4.83Comments: This book deviates a little from the usual Russo formula where the small northeastern town is treated like an additional character. I happen to really enjoy that formula, but I liked this one, too.Griffin has been tooling around for nearly a year with his father’s ashes in the trunk, but his mother is very much alive and not shy about calling on his cell phone. She does so as he drives down to Cape Cod, where he and his wife, Joy,… -
Home by Marilynne Robinson
26 Oct 2009 | 6:00 amHomeby Marilynne Robinsoncloth9780374299101Farrar, Straus and GirouxRating (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being best)Plot: 5Characters: 5Writing: 5Final: 5Comments: I'm not going to be able to do this book justice. The two words that keep coming to mind are beautiful and devastating. It gave me a feeling I don't experience much any more--I don't know how common this feeling is, so this might not mean much to you. Particularly throughout my childhood, in that indefinable period of stillness between late afternoon and evening (generally on Sundays) I would be overwhelmed by what I can only describe… -
Marked and Anita
23 Oct 2009 | 6:00 amJana and Bethann's recent postings on Kellerman and Evanovich inspired me to review a couple of series I've recently read part of . . .I'd like to think I'm just not the demographic for the Young Adult novel anymore, and that maybe I never was. I fancy myself too cynical and jaded. Admittedly, I read the entire Twilight series. I'll even cop to staying up all night to read the first one and seeing the movie with my Twi-hard co-workers. It was a nice diversion, but in the end I wanted more biting and fighting. I vowed to move on.But, here I am again in the middle of another too young vampire… -
Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs
21 Oct 2009 | 6:00 amDevil Bonesby Kathy Reichsebook978-1-4165-7983-4Scribner (Simon & Schuster)Rating (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being best)Plot: 3Characters: 4Writing: 4Final: 3.66Comments: Not to be confused with Devil's Bones (no wonder I kept thinking I'd already reviewed this). The mystery, while fine, was less interesting to me in this one than the developments in Temperance's personal life. I do love a flawed main character.In a house under renovation, a plumber uncovers a cellar no one knew about, and makes a rather grisly discovery — a decapitated chicken, animal bones, and cauldrons containing… -
Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain
19 Oct 2009 | 11:12 amEvil at Heartby Chelsea Cainebook978-0-312-36848-7Minotaur Books (St. Martin's)Rating (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being best)Plot: 4Characters: 4Writing: 3Final: 3.66Comments: Cain hasn't run out of twisted ways to torment Archie yet. I wonder how long she can keep it up. Currently, though, Susan is my favorite. I'm so glad she has become a recurring character. Here is one of my favorite Susan bits where she is casually tossing around her Lewis & Clark knowledge:"Go Pioneers," he said."They should have gone with Seaman," she said."Excuse me?""They should have made the mascot Seaman. After…
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Pub Rants
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Why I Don’t Like Net Amounts Received
5 Nov 2009 | 11:03 amSTATUS: Phone conference in 10 so I’m trying to dash this entry out before it begins.What’s playing on the iPod right now? NESSUN DORMA by Paul PottsIf you read my Agenting 101 entries on royalty statements (see right side bar), you should know why Kristin wouldn’t like net amounts received.But if you haven’t, then I happy to just rant about it and tell you. There are two main reasons why I don’t like royalties to be based on net amounts received.1. It’s archaic and currently doesn’t serve much of a purpose as audio and eBooks have a retail price and there are high discount… -
A Little Tutorial On The Google Partners Program
4 Nov 2009 | 9:46 pmSTATUS: Time for sleep.What’s playing on the iPod right now? SELF-ESTEEM by The OffspringI want to talk about the Google Partners Program as this is not even remotely related to the Google Settlement issue but a lot of people are just plain clueless about it.So let’s start with defining it. The Google Partners Program is an agreement that Google makes with Publishers to allow book content to be available, previewed, and searched on Google Books.Since I’m assuming you know nothing, here’s the link to the Google Books Site.Everyone following along? Great. Then let’s move on. Not every… -
Dirty Word: Comment Moderation
3 Nov 2009 | 9:56 amSTATUS: I have a lot that needs to get done today. Doing a phone conference in 5 minutes and I’m in the middle of negotiating a deal.What’s playing on the iPod right now? ROAD by George WinstonThis morning I have to say that I’m a little annoyed. I’ve been blogging since 2006. I certainly wasn’t the first agent to start this process (waves to Jennifer Jackson and Miss Snark) but I certainly was early into this game.And for the most part, I love it. I love being able to rant when I want to and I love how sometimes my blog topics spark an interesting discussion in the comments… -
Happy Monday Indeed!
2 Nov 2009 | 10:03 amSTATUS: Holy cow what a morning!What’s playing on the iPod right now? EVERYTHING SHE WANTS by Wham!I’m getting no work done because all I’m doing is sitting around and grinning like mad.Remember back in July when I let y’all in on a little secret about how wonderful my colleague Sara Megibow is?Well, I’m giddy to report that the baby boy arrived yesterday at 3:25 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2009.Baby Trey is healthy. Sara is doing great. And the new parents are ecstatic and exhausted.Everything is as it should be!And if that weren’t news enough, this morning I read about… -
Publishers, You Want An Edge On the Competition?
30 Oct 2009 | 12:19 pmSTATUS: TGIF and blogging early as I actually want to leave the office before 7 pm tonight.What’s playing on the iPod right now? OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY by Led ZeppelinThen let me throw this idea out there before all of you jump on the 25% of net band wagon so as to be like every other publisher out there offering substandard e-royalties.Three years ago when I had a hot project (as in I’m getting pre-empts, potentially going to auction, going to have my choice of publishers), if Random House was in the mix, I’d lean their way. Why? Because RH had decent royalties for eBooks (at 25%…
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The Rejecter
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A rare reason to make a call
3 Nov 2009 | 1:29 pmDear Rejecter,I moved this past summer. Before I moved overseas, I sent a query to an agency that doesn't have a website or e-mail address. My relatives in the US informed me that the said agency replied asking for a full. I sent the full from my current country of residence in September. (The letter for the full came in July). My question is, should I call the agency to know the status of my manuscript? I know this is a no-no, but I did not send the package as certified because it was going to a PO Box, and for the past month, many letters have gone missing in the post offices around here. I… -
Non-Platform Fiction
31 Oct 2009 | 5:41 pmI'm a completely non angsty person, so feel free to punch as hard as you want on this one.I know that most non-fiction depends on a great platform; either you are famous already or you are writing about something insanely compelling(you accidentally spent a magical summer with chairman mao.). With that said, and while I acknowledge that this is a completely logical and fair way to do business, is there any space for someone with an interesting non-fiction concept, written with humor and wit?I'm talking about something without historic signifigance or tear-jerking poignancy, but still a… -
I Should Finally Say Something on E-Books
16 Oct 2009 | 1:21 pmSince I got a Sony e-Reader for my birthday, my parents have been utterly dedicated to cutting out clippings from newspapers about e-books and either mailing them to me or leaving them on my desk when I come home for some family event. When I came home last night I was met with about 7 clippings, and there was a front page article in today's New York Times that was already highlighted for me before I came down for breakfast. They all pretty much say the same thing, which is that e-books are new and awesome and libraries are using them to reach digital readers and Sony and Amazon are lowering… -
Misleading Demographics
13 Oct 2009 | 11:41 amDear Rejector, I have written a memoir about my experiences as a military brat living overseas (Vietnam). I've been sending out query letters and receiving mostly rejections (got one request for a MS from BIG NY AGENCY -- they passed), but I haven't been including any demographic info about my primary target audience: the approximately ten million former US military brats living around the US and world today.These brats (sometimes called Third Culture Kids) form a large, but mostly invisible sub-culture that has gotten little attention in the literary world. It seems like every week there's a… -
Questions I decided to answer because they were easy to find in my overflowing email account
6 Oct 2009 | 10:09 pmQuestions for The Rejecter...1. Is there a support group for people with completed manuscripts and six rejections from agents? Only six? Definitely not. You need like 50 rejections to qualify for terminal depression - for several manuscripts submitted over many years. At which point the support group would be called, "How to Find a New Hobby."2. How many rejections received would be the equivalent of a “universal hell no” ?I have no idea. Less that 40%. I'm just throwing out a number here, but most are just average manuscripst that don't sound compelling or wouldn't sell as a book or are…
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Kate's Book Blog
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Shelf Discovery Challenge
27 Oct 2009 | 10:35 amI've been successfully resisting participation in reading challenges all year, feeling that I needed a bit of respite after getting carried away with them in previous years and thereby transforming my pleasure reading into a source of stress. But Booking Mama's Shelf Discovery Challenge dovetails so nicely with my current project of revisiting the books that mattered most to me in childhood that there's no way I'm going to pass this one up! The challenge simply involves choosing six of the books featured in Lizzie Skurnick's Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never… -
Book Sale Finds
24 Oct 2009 | 6:45 pmI didn't get carried away at today's book sale, but I did come away with some good finds, each just a dollar or two apiece:C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism;Alain Robbe-Grillet, For a New Novel: essays on fiction;Jeffrey Meyers (ed.), The Craft of Literary Biography;Eve Garnett, Further Adventures of the Family from One End Street;E.L. Konigsburg, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; and,Carolyn Keene, The Clue in the Diary.An odd mix of weighty litcrit tomes and kidlit classics that nicely reflects my current preoccupations. -
Why I Still Love Encyclopedia Brown
21 Oct 2009 | 3:00 amI've just reread the first of Donald J. Sobol's Encylopedia Brown books, Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, and it is readily apparent to me why I loved these books as a kid, and why kids today continue to embrace them. Here are some of the reasons:1. Ten-year-old Encyclopedia Brown is an irresistible character. Sobol introduces him thus: "Leroy Brown's head was like an encyclopedia. It was filled with facts he had learned from books. He was like a complete library walking around in sneakers." People are always asking him questions. For example, old ladies stop him in the street to ask his… -
Childhood Reading: Mysteries
17 Oct 2009 | 7:00 pmA number of recent experiences/events have conspired to propel me into a new writing project: a series of essays on my childhood reading. The last thing I need is a new writing project, what with so many others (at last count, two novels-in-progress and two substantially researched and partially written legal monographs) already underway. But this excavation of my childhood reading is enormous fun and, as I have as yet attached no particular expectations to it, rather liberating. So I'm running with it.My current preoccupation is with the mysteries I read as a child. I think that my first… -
Betsy-Tacy Giveaway Results!
16 Oct 2009 | 10:30 amMy apologies for being so slow to draw names for this giveaway. I was waiting for the copies of the books that I'd ordered to arrive so that I would be able to mail them off immediately to the lucky winners. As you can see from the above photo, they have indeed arrived. They make an impressive looking stack, do they not?I'm pleased that so many people are interested in reading these books, and I wish that I had a copy to give to everyone who entered. Alas, I had to narrow it down to six. I did so using an online fruit machine thingy to randomly pick names from the list of entrants. And…
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800 CEO Read Blog
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The Future
6 Nov 2009 | 12:03 pm“The future you shall know when it has come; before then, forget it.” –Aeschylus -
Lee Eisenberg’s Shoptimism (and 50% off of The Number)
6 Nov 2009 | 10:20 amOne of the books we really tried to get people to read in 2006 was Lee Eisenberg’s The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think about the Rest of Your Life, published by Simon & Schuster imprint Free Press. We were huge evangelists of the book, constantly blogging and telling everyone we could about it. It was a Jack Covert Selects and Todd picked it as one of his best books of 2006. And, even though it was a best-seller, it never caught on as much as we thought it should. As Todd wrote looking back on it that year: The book was released with high hopes from Free Press and the… -
The Portfolio Catalog & Business Beat
6 Nov 2009 | 7:43 amBeing the publisher of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, we’re obviously fond of the folks at Portfolio. Beyond the personal connection, though, we feel they have consistently put out some of most intriguing books in the business genre over the past decade, and continue to do so. The list below contains the titles coming out of that publishing house in hardcover before year end. (In the interest of full disclosure, I nabbed this list from the Portfolio Javelin blog.) Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss by Katherine Crowley & Kathi… -
October’s Best Selling International Titles
5 Nov 2009 | 12:26 pmIt’s been awhile! A whole summer, in fact! Have you felt as much out of the loop as to what’s HOT across the seas, oceans and borders of the world as I have? Well fear no longer, gentle reader for I have got 800CEOREADs listings of what business types and cohorts are reading! So, if you’re wondering what’s shakin’ in Shanghai or what’s new in Newfoundland – hang on tight, for we’re going around the globe – Take a look at our TOP TEN INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLING BOOKS of OCTOBER 2009: No. 1 - Australia: Put More Cash in Your Pocket by Loral… -
Brainstorming?
5 Nov 2009 | 12:08 pmEvery day, people come together in groups to brainstorm: share ideas, create projects, and turn dreams into reality. The leaders of those groups would be well advised to serve the appetizer, The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life by John Hunt before those meetings get under way. Because, let’s be honest, oftentimes, there are people who think they have “the answer” before the question has really been explored. And others feel like they have nothing to say at all. Both cases, of course, are untrue, and this uniquely designed book creates a great starting point…
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Used Books Blog
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The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
31 Oct 2009 | 3:08 pmThe Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde is an entertaining, inventive read but doesn’t quite measure up to the Thursday Next series. Reduced down to a simple scale, The Big Over Easy is very good, while most of the Thursday Next series (including The Well of Lost Plots) are great. Fforde is a victim of his own creativity. The Big Over Easy is a mystery novel that follows detective Jack Spratt of the Nursery Crimes Division (NCD). Yes, he’s that Jack Spratt and in this alternate world nursery characters are real and live among us. The NCD is under the microscope after Spratt fails to… -
Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
3 Oct 2009 | 10:41 amArthur & George by Julian Barnes is an interesting blend of history, biography and mystery. Rich in description, Barnes is able to provide a compelling biography for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle through his relationship with the George Edalji case. In doing so, Barnes creates both a tense mystery and a personal account of a historic event. Arthur & George succeeds on many levels. It is an intricate character study, a period piece, a mystery and a biography. However, it does fall short in some areas. At times Arthur & George takes a turn into Jane Austen like territory. The incessant… -
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
15 Aug 2009 | 5:07 pmA Dirty Job by Christopher Moore is a quick, engrossing, macabre and hilarious novel. It is everything that Moore’s next novel, You Suck, is not. A Dirty Job remains original while still drawing on many characters from previous Moore novels. Where You Suck felt like a recycled paint-by-numbers affair, A Dirty Job feels fresh and is brimming with ideas and unique insight. Moore is a master satirist and combines his satire with blazing creativity and a healthy dose of the absurd. Be forewarned, Moore is not for the easily offended. Nothing is out of bounds and he’ll regularly write… -
Kindle Sales Theory is Flawed
10 Aug 2009 | 1:14 pmIn February, a Kindle sales theory was proposed by Citi Investment Research (PDF) using Sprint activation numbers. Thanks to CIR Telco Analyst Mike Rollins, we have uncovered a key disclosure in Sprint’s September Quarter 10Q filing. P. 42 in the Wholesale, Affiliate and Other Revenue sector. Here’s the text: “Certain wholesale devices are activated on the network by our wholesale partners prior to selling the device to the end customer, which resulted in approximately 210,000 such additions being activated on our network during the third quarter 2008.” Additional sleuthing on… -
Fear and Loathing in Borders Books
28 Jul 2009 | 9:13 amDue to the non-blogging contract, some Borders employees don’t feel like they can speak up for fear of being fired. I recently received an email from an employee at a store in Florida regarding a newly installed supervisor who posted the following by the time clock on July 4th. Read Me The past NO longer matters. It doesn’t matter who you are, how long you have worked here, or what your position is. If I do not feel that you are working hard meaning (selling make titles, shelving carts, cleaning the store, borders rewards, customer service, etc.) You WILL lose your hours and…
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Duffbert's Random Musings
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Book Review - Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson
31 Oct 2009 | 6:05 amOn the internet, the word "free" is often used to describe products and ideas. But what does "free" really mean, and how can you make a living if no one wants to actually pay money for what you produce? Chris Anderson seeks to clear up some of that confusion in his book Free: The Future of a Radical Price. After reading Free, I have a much better idea of how "free" fits into a business and marketing strategy, and how it can actually lead to higher sales of things that aren't gratis... Contents: Prologue; The Birth of Free Part 1 - What Is Free?:… -
Book Review - The Year of Living like Jesus: My Journey of Discovering What Jesus Would Really Do by Ed Dobson
31 Oct 2009 | 3:48 amOne of the first books I read and reviewed as part of the Amazon Vine program was A. J. Jacobs' The Year of Living Biblically. It somehow seemed fitting to also select Ed Dobson's The Year of Living like Jesus: My Journey of Discovering What Jesus Would Really Do when it showed up as a selection on Amazon Vine. Whereas I thought Jacobs stayed true to his premise in the book, I felt Dobson missed the boat on that criteria. That's not to say that there aren't things to learn in Living Like Jesus. I just don't think the actual journey lived up to the title. Ed Dobson is… -
Book Review - The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times by Nancy F. Koehn
30 Oct 2009 | 6:53 pmOne of my pet peeves about history is that we often look back at an event with a "sanitized" view of it. There's no mention of dissent, effort, conflict, or personality. The event happened, it turned out the way it did, and look how it shaped history. But it's only when we start digging into the day-to-day dialogue during the event that we find what it was really like to go through it. That's why I like this book I received from Harvard Business Press: The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times edited by Nancy F. Koehn. Koehn… -
Book Review - The Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis
30 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pmThe Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis showed up in the mail today somewhat unexpectedly. I started to leaf through it (it's small and nearly all pictures), and was quickly distracted from whatever it was that I was supposed to be doing. Jarvis makes the case that the best camera for a particular picture at any given time is the one you happen to have on hand. My DSLR is of little use if it's still in the camera case at home. He shows how you can take and enhance photos using nothing but the iPhone and an iPhone app called Best Camera. -
Book Review - PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God by Frank Warren
24 Oct 2009 | 4:50 pmI'm not completely sure what it is that makes the PostSecret concept appeal to me so much. I picked up the latest book, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God by Frank Warren at the library today, and devoured it in a single sitting. As with the website and all the other books, I felt a range of emotions as I peeked into the private lives of ordinary people sharing things that they've held close for years. And reading these secrets made me realize that I could easily add a few of my own to the collection... Thinking about the draw for me, the best I can come up with…
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Three Percent - Article
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Hey There, I'm an Author, You're a Reader . . . (Part V of the French Study Trip)
6 Nov 2009 | 1:28 pmThis isn’t the easiest of series to wrap up. In part because of today’s schedule (I have meetings/class from 10am until 1pm, so god only knows when this post will actually go live), and in part because there are no real conclusions that can be drawn. Well, except maybe one: Coming at it from a publishing diversity standpoint, the U.S. book scene is totally broke. I know some people appreciate the stacks of books fronting every B&N in the country, but not everyone. And I find it hard to believe that the endgame results of this are worthwhile. Namely, the fact that everyone in… -
Open Letter RSS
6 Nov 2009 | 9:54 amBy the way, we sometimes post here the highlights of goings-on at Open Letter, but if you really want to keep up-to-date on Open Letter news, events, reviews, releases, the occasional book giveaway, and etc., don’t forget that Open Letter has it’s own RSS news feed to which you may happily subscribe . . . -
Best Review Ever
5 Nov 2009 | 1:33 pmFrom Okla Elliott’s review of Season of Ash in Inside Higher Ed: Jorge Volpi’s Season of Ash is the kind of novel that reminds me why I read novels in the first place, but it’s also the kind that makes me wonder why I bother to write. Before the end of this review, I am going to try to convince you that Volpi is a genius, that you have to buy this book, and that he’ll end up with the Nobel Prize in Literature if there is any justice in the world (which there might not be . . .)—but before I attempt all that, you should know who Jorge Volpi is, as he is not yet well-known to… -
Open Letter Books Receives Grant from Amazon.com [1]
5 Nov 2009 | 10:44 amWe’re interrupting the longest posts known to bloggers to officially announce a grant that we received from Amazon.com to support The Wall in My Head. Here’s the official press release: Open Letter Books has been awarded a $20,000 grant from Amazon.com to support the publication and promotion of The Wall in My Head: Words and Images from the Fall of the Iron Curtain, an anthology of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry marking the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In addition to supporting the publication of this book, the grant supports the Wall in My Head blog, a… -
What's Your Consumer Surplus? (Part IV of the French Study Trip)
5 Nov 2009 | 8:22 amSo for the past couple years I’ve been taking business classes at the University of Rochester’s Simon School. Slowly (and I mean really slowly) working my way towards a M.B.A. (And making interesting friends along the way. If you want a lesson in perspective, try explaining the publishing world to future stockbrokers and number crunchers—we seem totally back-assward and mental.) Right now, I’m in an Intro to Marketing class, and on this past Monday, we talked a lot about pricing. I’m no pricing expert (hell, I’m not an expert in anything, really), but there…
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HarvardBusiness.org
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Is Your Business Ready for H1N1?
6 Nov 2009 | 8:26 amFeatured Guest: Dr. Robert Blendon, professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Kennedy School of Government. RELATED:Business Preparedness for Pandemic: Executive Briefing for Corporate and Governmental Decision Makers More than 200 corporate and government leaders came together at Harvard Medical School in Boston to learn about the most effective practices in preparing for a pandemic. This report captures the key takeaways from this leadership summit. -
Can We Simplify Financial Regulation?
6 Nov 2009 | 5:50 amThere's a common saying that you never pay attention to your electricity provider unless the lights don't come on. Well, it's the same thing with the various regulatory systems throughout the world. For the most part, they tend to be invisible, unless there's a problem. Unfortunately, over the past year the financial regulatory system has been extremely visible, and not in a good way. As the post-mortems on the economic downturn continue, regulatory bodies are being put in the spotlight. Why didn't they prevent the crisis or at least send early warning signals? How did the examiners allow… -
How to Ask for Help — Without Looking Stupid
6 Nov 2009 | 5:24 amLast week, more evidence emerged in the Securities and Exchange Commission's debacle over the mishandling of the Bernie Madoff über-fraud. While the SEC failed repeatedly to uncover the greatest Ponzi scheme in our country's history ($50 billion and counting), the New York Times revealed a tale of "unseasoned people uncertain about what to do and unwilling to ask for help." But learning how to ask for help — and how to do it right — is critical to doing your job well and setting yourself up for success. You may be afraid of looking dumb, but to be afraid to ask for and get the… -
When Should You Let an Employee Make a Mistake?
5 Nov 2009 | 3:43 pm"Put my training wheels back on," Sophia said in a stern tone, "Or I'm not going to ride my bike!" She had just turned four that day and wanted to learn to ride a bike like her older sister. Now she wasn't so sure. After a lot of encouraging and a little stubbornness of my own, she was willing to try. We agreed to practice 15 minutes a day until she got it. A couple of days later we weren't getting anywhere. It's not that she wasn't trying, it's just that she didn't seem to be able to get her balance on her own. Then it dawned on me: I was getting in the way. I didn't want my baby girl to get… -
Washington Must Help the U.S. Regain the Lead in Manufacturing
5 Nov 2009 | 1:41 pmThe federal government can and should play a much bigger role in helping American companies regain the lead in manufacturing. We need to invest a commensurate amount of federal R&D dollars in advanced manufacturing technologies as we do in other areas of science, technology, and engineering. The last administration created an assistant secretary for manufacturing in the Commerce Department, but that position really didn't come with any significant resources, and that's still true. There is some government investment in manufacturing R&D. For example, the National Institute of Standards and…
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Books on the Nightstand Blog and Books Podcast
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BOTNS Books Podcast #51: It's All the Rage
4 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amBooks on the Nightstand, Episode 51 (22:49) In this episode, we take a look at "literary fads" -- you know, like when every new book in the bookstore seems to be about the same thing, or uses the same type of jacket image. The current "fad" seems to be books inspired by Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Not all "fads" are deliberate, however, and coincidence plays a large part. In segment two, we bring one of these literary fads back to life by discussing it to death. (Sorry, but how else do you introduce a segment about zombies?). Yes, Zombies. As evidenced by books like Pride and Prejudice… -
BOTNS Books Podcast #50: FIFTY!
27 Oct 2009 | 9:05 pmBooks on the Nightstand, Episode 50 (18:13) Here we are, our 50th episode! It's been amazing and we're looking forward to what the future brings for Books on the Nightstand. We couldn't have come this far (or had such a great time!) if it weren't for all of you, our loyal readers and listeners. Thank you so much to Denise, Ashley and Shona who wrote in, and to Heather, Melissa, Suzanne and Tanya who called our voice mail line. They all shared books they loved, that they heard about here. All of the books mentioned are listed below and the titles link back to the original post or… -
Spotlight on: Arts and Culture Book Club
26 Oct 2009 | 10:53 amToday's Book Group Spotlight intrigues me because it's a group that not only revolves around a particular theme, but it is also an offshoot of the programming at a cultural institution. The Arts and Culture Book Club meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month (September through June) in the upstairs art gallery of the Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro, Oregon. Beth Stout, who works for the Arts Center, wrote in to tell us about the group: We got started because the Arts Center offers a free event every Tuesday of the month. On First Tuesday we celebrate our art gallery opening. On… -
BOTNS Books Podcast #48: October is Spooky Books Month
22 Oct 2009 | 7:27 pmBooks on the Nightstand, Episode 48 (24:31) I'm back from my short BOTNS family leave (though, since we prerecorded a few episodes, it's like I was never away!). Finn is two weeks old and very cute, but he's seriously cutting into my reading time... these days, I'd rather just stare at him! A quick reminder to please call our voice mail line with your story of a book you loved that you heard about here on Books on the Nightstand. We'd love to include several of these in our 50th podcast episode. Please call in by Wednesday, October 21st, so we'll have time to put the episode together for… -
An Update on Another Food Book that I Love
21 Oct 2009 | 10:13 amAnn mentioned in the comments section of today's podcast show notes that she just started listening to the audio of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and the she is really enjoying it. I too loved that book. Another book on the same topic (and one that Kingsolver references in her book) is Plenty by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon. Like Kingsolver and her family, Alisa and J.B. vow to eat a "100-mile-diet" for one year, but they do it without the relative luxury of living on a farm and growing their own food. I originally spoke about the book in episode 8 of the podcast, so…
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Omnivoracious
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Graphic Novel Friday: Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2009
6 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amThis year was an invigorating one for Comics & Graphic Novels, marked, notably, by the debut of a New York Times Bestseller list for the medium. All of a sudden, comics went legit, extending beyond True Believers and into mainstream literary circles. Our editors' picks for 2009's Best of Comics and Graphic Novels showcase the wide spectrum of critical darlings and sleeper favorites that made this year a rewarding one for comics readers. Kicking off our list is David Small's graphic memoir, Stitches, which recently caught a few eyes thanks to a National Book Award… -
YA Wednesday: New Moon and NaNoWriMo
4 Nov 2009 | 7:22 pmOnly 16 days left until the release of New Moon (the movie!). If you can't wait, you can act out scenes from the book, or make up your own, with the Bella Barbie (found via abebooks) and Jacob doll which you can carry around in your Edward backpack, so he's always watching. And if you've had just about enough of Twilight hype, you can find refuge in Nightlight, the Harvard Lampoon's spoofy version of book 1: Pale and klutzy, Belle arrives in Switchblade, Oregon looking for adventure, or at least an undead classmate. She soon discovers Edwart, a super-hot computer nerd with zero interest in… -
Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009)
4 Nov 2009 | 6:01 pmI mentioned the death of Claude Levi-Strauss in the Daily News this morning, and I'd love to be able to add a lot more to the story, but mainly I'll just link to some people who know him better than I. The Literary Saloon points to a few of the substantial obituaries that have already appeared, e.g. the LA Times, the Telegraph, and the WSJ. And Rob(ert) Mackey at the NYT's The Lede (who happens to be a great old friend who I'm still beholden to for, among other things, turning me on to Flann O'Brien), links to Edward Rothstein's NYT obit (which I think is the… -
Omni Daily News
4 Nov 2009 | 10:42 amIsn't the world ending in 2012?: On the day after an off-year election day, Marc Ambinder notes that the top three GOP frontrunners for 2012 all have books (and big book tours) on the way in the next six months: Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney.Speaking for all PWBJHTPMMATOK?s: At the NYT, novelist/ironist Colson Whitehead celebrates the one-year anniversary of Obama's election (and the apparent end of all racism forever) by offering to be the first secretary of postracial affairs: "Some changes will be minor. In television, 'Diff’rent Strokes' and… -
Guest Post: Boneshaker's Cherie Priest Comes Clean on Why She Done a Bad, Bad Thing
3 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amCherie Priest is a rising star of smart, textured cross-genre fantasy whose latest novel, Boneshaker may be her best yet. She'll be appearing with Cat Rambo and me at the University Bookstore in Seattle tomorrow night at 7pm., as I kick off the northwest leg of my book tour. Here Priest explains why it was necessary to, erm, do bad things to Seattle. -- Jeff VanderMeer “Why I destroyed Seattle for the sake of Steampunk”Cherie Priest As you may be aware, Amazon.com is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. As you are somewhat less likely to be aware, I kind of, sort of, completely…
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Avon Romance Blog
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Good News Comes In Threes
5 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pmEvery now and then we just can't help but toot our authors' horns...Okay fine, we sing their much-deserved praises from the rooftops any chance we get, but it's hard to ignore good news when it comes flooding in!In September, we found out Eloisa James' WHEN THE DUKE RETURNS grabbed a spot in Book List's Top Ten Romance Fiction of 2009Then, this week, we learned Julia Quinn's WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON and Eloisa's A DUKE OF HER OWN made Amazon's list of Top Ten Romance Books Of 2009!AND, as if that news weren't enough, Anna Campbell's CAPTIVE OF SIN and Margaret Carroll's A DARK LOVE landed on… -
Wrong Side Of Dead
4 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amRomance Radio Event: Jordan Dane’s on THE WRONG SIDE OF DEAD!Mysterious computer wizard Seth Harper awakens in a bloody motel room to find he’s not alone. The vacant eyes of a grisly corpse stare accusingly at him--the body of a young woman. Seth becomes the prime suspect of a heinous murder. If only he could remember what happened...For a thrilling ride of suspense and hot romance, start reading Jordan Dane’s THE WRONG SIDE OF DEAD, the second in her Sweet Justice series!Then, tune into Romance Radio Thursday, 11/5 at 2 PM as Jordan joins us to discuss her hot new release and takes… -
The Tip Of The Iceberg
2 Nov 2009 | 5:37 pmRecently, I found myself sitting in an audience filled with teens and tweens at a movie theater showing of FAME. At the start of the previews, the screen suddenly filled with a rather non-descript lake scene--well, apparently not that non-descript--as the 100 or so adolescent girls in the room began screaming with joy. Of course, it was the opening to the preview of the TWILIGHT sequel NEW MOON. Recently buff teenage werewolves and all...It got me thinking, what pop-culture fad had my friends and me falling over ourselves like that? The answer came rather quickly: Leonardo DiCaprio and all… -
Zombie Christmas!
2 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amIT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE ZOMBIESIt happens every year, and we all tolerate it...well, maybe just barely. Advertisers and stores love to push the yuletide envelope--dragging out Christmas decorations or displays far before trick-or-treaters have had a chance to put a dent in their Halloween candy.At the risk of jumping on the way-too-early bandwagon, but while giving all that goes bump in the night a fair shake at the season, I'd like to bring up a book that I find utterly delightful.Yes, that's right.... ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS CAROLS! (or rather classic carols littered with zombie-esque… -
Captive Of Sin
30 Oct 2009 | 7:46 amCaught Up In The Fairytaleby Anna CampbellThere’s a school of thought that every writer has a single story they tell over and over again in different guises. One theme that they return to--a bit like your favorite flavor of potato chip in the pantry.Am I giving too much information here about my eating habits? Hmm, Smith’s barbecue chips, where are you?And, if the chips start talking back, maybe it’s time to see a doctor!I’ve now written four books for Avon. The first was CLAIMING THE COURTESAN. A "Beauty and the Beast" story set in Regency Scotland. The second was UNTOUCHED. More…
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mediabistro.com: GalleyCat
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Writing In Between Alaska and NYC
6 Nov 2009 | 2:23 pmSince she spent years living in between New York City and Alaska, Joan Kane's poetry crisscrosses two vastly different worlds. In this video interview, she described how these two places influenced her new book, "The Cormorant Hunter's Wife." Kane was one of the ten writers honored at the 25th annual Whiting Writers' Awards last week. GalleyCat prowled the aisles of the 2009 Whiting Awards, interviewing a number of the winners about their writing lives, the recession, and the future of literature. The ten recipients each took home a $50,000 award for their literary efforts. Here's more about… -
Wal-Mart Pricing Not Predatory?
6 Nov 2009 | 1:23 pmIn a New Yorker blog post this week, James Surowiecki questioned the American Booksellers Association's "dubious" claims about "illegal predatory pricing" by Wal-Mart (WMT) in its Book Price War with Amazon.com (AMZN). Here's more: "[T]here's just no reason to believe that Wal-Mart is cutting prices now in order to raise them later: the company's entire history has been one of perpetual cost-cutting, even after it's become the country's dominant retailer." GalleyCat has been tracking the stock performance of the major companies that influence the bookselling business. We created this chart… -
Triumph Rushes 63,000 Copies of Yankee Book
6 Nov 2009 | 12:23 pmThe as the ticker-tape parade for the Yankees winds down in New York City, Triumph Books is running off a 63,000-copy first print run of "The Best! Yankees Bring the World Series Title Back Home"--a rushed 128-page book about the team's 2009 World Series-winning season. According to Publishers Weekly, Triumph will spend a considerable amount of money sending the short book to New York City bookstores via messenger service on Saturday morning. The publisher is a Random House imprint with offices in Chicago. Here's more from the article: "Mitch Rogatz, Triumph Books publisher, explained that… -
The $100,000 Comic Book
6 Nov 2009 | 11:23 amThe very first issue of X-Men #1--sold for $101,000 at a Missouri rare comic book auction--apparently setting a world record for comic book pricing. The 1963 comic was penned by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby. According to Digital Spy, the auction sold 3,000 comics for more than one million dollars, auctioning off an epic collection of comics inherited by an anonymous relative of a deceased comic book collector. Here's more from the article: "According to Tina Weiman of Mound City Auctions, it is unknown whether the original owner knew how much the comics are worth. 'I don't think he… -
Novelist Jackson Taylor on PEN's Prison Writing Program
6 Nov 2009 | 9:23 amWith over 2.3 million Americans currently incarcerated, prison outreach is a vital vocation. Today's guest on the Morning Media Menu was Jackson Taylor, the novelist and Mediabistro teacher who has directed PEN's Prison Writing Program for the last 20 years. Taylor shared his experiences working with hundreds of imprisoned authors and creative writing mentors. The writing program will be celebrated on Monday at Breakout: Voices from Inside--a fundraising event with appearances by Mary Gaitskill, Eric Bogosian, and John Turturro. Here's an excerpt from the interview: "[Some inmates] can't get…
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Chronicle Books Blog
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Stress relief at your fingertips with new mobile apps
6 Nov 2009 | 4:48 pmWe’re very proud to announce four more Chronicle Books mobile applications produced by our friends at Oceanhouse Media. Stay focused through those endless meetings with Essential Meditations. Add some Celtic Wisdom to your powerpoint deck. Keep your cool through tough negotiations with Perfect Calm, and unwind at the end of the day with the lovely illustrations and meditations in the Relax Deck. With these apps, you can flip between exercises, shuffle the deck, and email cards to your friends directly from your iPhone. You can even preview the apps on YouTube before you buy! -
Welcome to the Watercolor Revolution
6 Nov 2009 | 10:52 amOh my goodness, have you guys seen the artist roster for The Rest Is Up to You? Here, let me show you: Seriously! It’s like a who’s-who of the indie art world, all of them collaborating to make art with cute-as-heck boy wonder Cohen Morano: We’ve got the fiendishly playful Gary Baseman: Punk rock modernist Tim Biskup: Wandering bad-boy troubadour David Choe: Street art legend Barry McGee: Painter of enchantment Mark Ryden: Master of the universe James Jean: Poster maker extraordinaire Shepard Fairey: Comics monarch Chris Ware: Lowbrow goddess Isabel Samaras: I could go on and on. But as… -
Chronicle Craft Project: Floral Cocktail Coasters for a Thanksgiving Hostess Gift
5 Nov 2009 | 11:40 amGoodbye, October . . . hello, November. I’m so excited for Thanksgiving in San Francisco. The city empties out, the weather is always crisp and sunny, and the farmers markets will be bountiful. This year I’m feasting with friends. Since I’m not hosting, I want to spend some time making a gift for my generous hostess. Here’s a smart project idea from Kaari Meng of French General. It’s the perfect thing to make a bottle of wine not just a bottle wine. Floral Cocktail Coasters Excerpted from Home Sewn by Kaari Meng Photographs by Jon Zabala Illustrations by Jody… -
Enter the Worth Repeating Contest!
4 Nov 2009 | 5:56 pmKids say the darndest things! You just never know what’s gonna come out of their little mouths. One of our pals told us about this website called OutofTheMouthsof.com and we decided it would be fun to partner with them on a contest. Check it out at www.outofthemouthsof.com and if you have kids (or nephews, nieces, grandkids, whatever!) enter their quotes and you may win a new $250 library of our very own best-selling children’s books. The contest runs through the month of November and you can also vote for your favorite quotes. The winning three quotes will take home a $250… -
From the Chronicle KitchenNew Vegetarian
4 Nov 2009 | 11:32 amIt’s holiday time again, and time for vegetarians to decide on a centerpiece main dish for those special meals. I’ve been teaching classes on the topic of “Vegetarian Main Dishes,” and “Vegetarian Holidays” for many years, and I think I have a few things figured out. The special meal is not a time for stir fry or something ladled over rice. No, the special meal is one where you want to have everyone else look at your plate with longing. You deserve beautiful food that stands alone, like a savory pastry, a timbale, or this fab sformato. I actually developed this recipe years ago…
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The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf
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BOO TO YOU! (PICTURE BOOK)
23 Oct 2009 | 4:41 pmPICTURE BOOKBOO TO YOU! by Lois Ehlert (Beach Lane)A raccoon or a squirrel might bite a veggie,But a cat loves meat, and that makes us edgy.The mice are planning an autumnal celebration, but guess who they didn't invite? Their nemesis will have to crash that party, but at his peril, as these mice are prepared to scare! Busy collage illustrations camouflage the turquoise torn-paper mice, but nothing can hide the pumpkin seed teeth of the cat against a midnight black background. One part spooky and two parts seasonal, visuals are this story's strength, and the last page sports a double page… -
THE MONSTEROLOGIST: A MEMOIR IN RHYME (POETRY)
22 Oct 2009 | 7:54 amPOETRYTHE MONSTEROLOGIST: A MEMOIR IN RHYME "ghostwritten" by Bobbi Katz, illustrated by Adam McCauley (Sterling)Greasy green lizardsAnd raw chicken gizzards,Spell-binding spellscast by spell-casting wizards.Dead mice and head liceand flapping bat wings--these are a few of my favorite things!Yes, even Rogers and Hammerstein takes a Halloween hit in this erudite collection of rememberances by one who has spent his life chasing the most famous of creeps. This poem is a good representation of the work because it underscores the poet's distinct lyrical quality, with a wit, sophistication and… -
THE YELLOW TUTU (PICTURE BOOK)
9 Oct 2009 | 7:19 amPICTURE BOOKTHE YELLOW TUTU by Kirsten Bramsen, illustrated by Carin Bramsen (Random House)Too-too adorable. While that should probably be the summation line of a review, the degree of darlingness of this book dictates that adjectives go first. When Margo receives a lovely yellow tutu for her birthday, she decrees that the garment is better suited for wearing on her head, and is shocked and wounded when her circle shirks her fashion-forward thinking. Luckily, by putting her true self out there, she is able to locate an equally true friend, who appreciates a little creative couture. The… -
REDWOODS (NONFICTION)
7 Oct 2009 | 7:48 amNONFICTIONREDWOODS by Jason Chin (Roaring Brook)In this effective melding of picture book format and nonfiction content, a redwood forest sprouts from a book that a boy finds in a subway station. A Thanks to a fertile imagination, the facts carry him off into the world of the tallest living things on the planet, rising over three hundred feet in the air. Through the perils of a forest fire, encounters with things that creep and leap and soar (follow the little flying squirrel from page to page!) and a majestic climb into the crown of the Titan tree, the boy comes to appreciate the survival of… -
S IS FOR STORY and OTHER GREAT NEW BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS AND WRITING
4 Oct 2009 | 8:00 amPICTURE BOOKS IS FOR STORY by Esther Hershenhorn, illustrated by Zachary Pullen (Sleeping Bear Press)Y is for Your Story,yours to live and grow,of all you do,and where you've beenand where you hope to go.Well, I have stopped regular hours of the PlanetEsme Bookroom while I pursue my Master's in library science, but I HAD to open it up again today at 2:00 p.m. to celebrate the release of this book with a visit by the legendary author herself, famous not only for her own award-winning work but for her support of and influence upon the writing of other authors, and an open mike for kids (e-mail…
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The Writing Life
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Always Cover The Basics
3 Nov 2009 | 8:37 amLast week, I received a U.S. priority mail package sent to my old agency mailing address. My literary agency ended a year ago when I became a publisher at Intermedia Publishing Group. Check out this free teleseminar if you want to know more details about Intermedia and the distinct role we play in the marketplace. According to Sally Stuart, more than 90% of the entries in her market guide change each year. The address should have been my first clue to what was inside but it gets worse.The author failed to include a cover letter with his contact information--phone, mailing address and email… -
Are You Determined To Get Published?
1 Nov 2009 | 12:44 pmOne of the common failures among writers is their lack of determination to get published. Many would-be authors are rejected a few times and give up on their manuscript instead of continuing to look for the right place.Tap into the wisdom in James Scott Bell's article, Rejecting Rejection. It will lift your spirits and give you renewed determination. This weekend, I was reading Entertainment Weekly. This story from Kate Ward about Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help caught my attention: "Nearly 60 agents turned down Kathryn Stockett's debut novel before publisher Amy Einhorn picked it up in… -
Catch This Golden Opportunity
18 Oct 2009 | 5:17 pmLast week I spotted several neighborhoods that are stringing their lights for Christmas. Yes, it is only mid-October but we're moving closer to the Christmas season. Last week, something that came across my computer screen was counting down the days saying only 72 more shopping days (it is even closer today).Each holiday season brings new personal experiences in your life. Maybe you will be at a holiday gathering and see a new drink or desert. Or from reading the Scripture you will gain a new personal insight. Are you aware of those new ideas? Are you making the effort to write them down then… -
Find Your Open Door
16 Oct 2009 | 10:03 amIt's one of the most common failures for people who want to get their book published. They give up too quickly and lack the perseverance to keep looking for the open door. Yes, rejection is difficult. With the information, skill and training that you have, you have poured creativity into your words. Yet when you send them out to an agent or editor, it's returned to you. There is great wisdom in this article from James Scott Bell, Rejecting Rejection. If you are struggling with rejection, I encourage you to read this article from time to time. One of the keys from my perspective is to continue… -
The Engineered Bestseller
4 Oct 2009 | 9:35 amGather a group of experienced writers and often the conversation drifts toward the elusive dream: the bestselling book. How do you write and achieve a bestseller? What is the definition of a bestseller? In my many years in publishing, I've heard and read many different perspectives on these questions. The answer is complex and not something learned in a single place or book from my view. Bestselling books occur in many different ways.Recently I read a resource that provides insight into these questions and iswell worth reading. Eric Kampmann has written The Book Publisher's Handbook. From…
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The Kindle Reader
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A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 06 Nov 09
6 Nov 2009 | 6:50 amEach week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the November 6th issue include:The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America, by Timothy Egan. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. NONFICTION/HISTORY. EW's slant: "Few writers have the Pulitzer Prize-winning Egan's gift for transforming history lessons into the stuff of riveting page-turners." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (39 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled."On the afternoon of August 20, 1910, a battering ram of wind moved through… -
Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media (04 Nov 09)
4 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amFollow the talk shows? Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.ON CBS'S THE MORNING SHOW (03 NOV 09):Sarah from Alaska, by Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe. Public Affairs. Kindle edition $14.23. Text-to-Speech: Enabled."A year after her consequential, controversial vice-presidential campaign, Sarah Palin remains one of the most polarizing yet dynamic figures on the political scene. In Sarah from Alaska, Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe draw… -
Kindle Genre Watch (02 Nov 09)
2 Nov 2009 | 7:49 amGenre fiction - as opposed to nonfiction, graphic novels and picture books - lends itself to enjoyable Kindle reading because when you pick up a book of fiction you don't necessarily expect it to be illustrated. Authors of mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, romance novels and westerns paint word pictures and their readers use their own imagination to picture the scene of the crime or the stare of a vampire or the track of an alien space craft hurtling towards earth. Now you can spend less time searching for new genre fiction and more time reading it as I watch for newly-released genre… -
Barron's Magazine Now Available for the Kindle
1 Nov 2009 | 8:55 amAmazon has added the business weekly Barron's Magazine to the roster of magazines available for the Kindle. The price of $10.99 per month includes free automatic wireless delivery of each issue on Saturdays, starting at 11:00 am New York City local time. All subscriptions begin with a 14-day free trial period."Barron's is the premier magazine for market analysis and commentary, renowned for its market-moving stories. Published by Dow Jones & Company since 1921, it provides readers with a comprehensive weekly review of the market’s recent activity, coupled with in-depth, sophisticated… -
The Kindle Does Halloween: Mystery Fiction for the Holiday
31 Oct 2009 | 8:57 amOnce the trick-or-treaters are gone and you've eaten all those Snickers bars you cleverly held back for yourself, relax, curl up with your Kindle, and enjoy one of these Halloween-themed books for folks like me who enjoy a good mystery with a Halloween theme.A Catered Halloween, by Isis Crawford. Kensington Books. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $4.47. Text-to-Speech: Enabled."With the promise of a hefty commission and some valuable word-of-mouth for their catering business, A Little Taste of Heaven, sisters Bernadette and Libby Simmons agree to cater the charity…
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Storytellers Unplugged
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When I Wish I Wasn’t a Writer
5 Nov 2009 | 11:24 amWhen people ask me what I do for a living, I am always at a bit of a loss as to how to answer. It sounds a little too highfaluting to announce, “I am an author.” You just can’t say that sentence without sounding like you graduated from Oxford, or that you have something large that needs to be pulled out from your backside. My preference is to say, “I’m a storyteller,” but that involves too long an explanation. Usually I say, “I’m a writer.” As all of you know, that answer never suffices. You have to explain what kind of a writer you are, and then you are expected… -
Dream Versus Time, Life, the World, And All The Really Important Things
4 Nov 2009 | 7:12 amThe holidays are coming. We’re arriving at an intersection of worlds – the real and the imagined, outer and inner, concrete and symbolic, the past and the now. What must be done, what needs to be done. Kids dressed up as monsters expect candy offerings. Blood-bonded friends and enemies gather for the ritual slaughter and consumption of a flightless bird. Parents plot the delivery of gifts under the guise of a night-time visit by a big man in a red suit. Rev up the planner. Break out the color markers. There are responsibilities and commitments to be met. Shopping to be… -
Long-Term Relationships With Your Characters
31 Oct 2009 | 11:59 pmOne of the things authors decide when they sit down to write is how long and drawn out their relationship will be with particular characters. There are short stories, novellas, novels, and then – at the far end of the spectrum, you find trilogies and the continuing series. Each of these involves a level of commitment a little deeper than the last. I’ve written about this before, and since I’m involved in a project that depends on my getting it right, I’m going to write about it again. The series character. As a reader, one of the biggest problems I have with a series of novels… -
Etched Deep – Halloween Story and Podcast
31 Oct 2009 | 8:32 amI’ve put the podcast of this story up over at my website: You can listen to me reading it here…comments welcome! For Storytellers, as I do every Halloween, I’m offering the text here as a free story. This was written and published long ago, but for a long time I’d lost it. I ended up rewriting it from memory…so this is the new version of the old thing, as Aerosmith might say… Etched Deep By David Niall Wilson Ethan sat back in his rocker and propped one booted foot on the porch rail. He watched the sunset dribble down behind the trees. Trails of… -
LITTLE MIRACLES
30 Oct 2009 | 8:30 amWhile it is absolutely true that a writer, any writer, is the worst possible judge of his or her own work – especially after the third rewrite, when you’re no longer sure about anything at all and you start doubting every word on that page to the extent that you cannot conceive why on EARTH anybody else who didn’t have to read this stuff might possibly actually WANT to – there is a sort of instinct that you develop about things, especially if you’ve been doing this sort of thing for a while and you have some experience under your belt. A while ago I wrote a couple of pages of New…
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Paulo Coelho's Blog
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This Week : Pop artists and Prejudice
4 Nov 2009 | 11:44 amThere is a lot prejudices against pop artists. I was tweeting something and all of a sudden I saw that because I follow and I admire pop artists, pop singers, people says “oh, this singers are not good because they are so popular”. So I would like to know your opinion about popularity and quality. This is very important because I hate prejudices and at the same time, I think that people are loosing a lot of love and joy that pop artists can share with us. This is my opinion, off course you can have a different opinion. Thank you, Paulo DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR ENGLISH. BUT IF… -
Quote of the Week
2 Nov 2009 | 3:13 am“Surrealism” is to have 20.000 friends in Facebook&Twitter, but your phone doesn’t ring during the weekend. P.S. I am not talking about me, but about the society as I see it today (BTW I have more than that in T and FB) Related posts:Quote of the week The Warrior of Light knows the the old Arabic proverb that says: “God judges a...Quote of the Week Anyone who interferes in the destiny of others will never discover his own. (The Alchemist)...Quote of the Week No one can lose anyone, because no one owns anyone. Paulo Coelho ... -
The readers and my books
2 Nov 2009 | 12:11 amEnglish Português Español You are more than welcome to participate in a workshop on the titles above, discussing with other readers your opinions. In some months from now I will add other titles. Click on the covers for each Workshop or here to start the discussion. Love, Paulo Vocês são bem-vindos a participar do workshop sobre os títulos acima, discutindo com outros leitores suas opiniões. Daqui alguns meses colocaremos novos títulos. Clique nas capas para acessar cada workshop ou aqui para começar a discussão. Com amor, Paulo UD es bienvenido para participar de el workshop… -
The Warriors of Light Community
2 Nov 2009 | 12:10 amThis space is for you to share your ideas. You can also publish excerpts from your blogs or news and articles in general that you think make a difference to the world today. Edit what you post here, avoid links (use copy/paste).This blog is viewed by over 270.000 unique visitors a month. An open place where the warriors of light can interact with each other Related posts:Your Space in my Blog : 29th June of 2009 This space is for you to share your ideas. You can publish here excerpts from...Your Space in my Blog : 30th June of 2009 This space is for you to share your ideas. You can publish… -
Kierkegaard on the Couch (by Gordon Marino)
1 Nov 2009 | 3:15 am(this article was originally published in New York Times on Oct 28, 2009) All progress paves over some bit of knowledge or washes away some valuable practice. Within a few years, e-mail and Twitter moved the art of letter writing to the trash bin. And in an age when all psychic life is being understood in terms of neurotransmitters, the art of introspection has become passé. Galileos of the inner world, such as Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), have been packed off to the museum of antiquated ideas. Yet I think that the great and highly quirky Dane could help us to retrieve a distinction that…
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Condalmo.
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Scholastic flips on censorship of “gay-friendly” books.
30 Oct 2009 | 10:29 amDid you hear about the kerfuffle? Here’s the short version: Scholastic, one of the largest education publishers in the world with broad influence over the reading materials of children everywhere, just dipped its toe into the anti-gay movement. The publisher is censoring a book that depicts a girl character with two moms because they consider it offensive and inappropriate for children, preventing it from appearing in its Scholastic Book Fairs. These are the same book fairs that have reach to millions of schoolchildren nationwide. By censoring the book, Scholastic is sending the… -
Philip Roth and the importance of reading.
27 Oct 2009 | 7:30 amYou asked if I thought my fiction had changed anything in the culture and the answer is no. Sure, there’s been some scandal, but people are scandalized all the time; it’s a way of life for them. It doesn’t mean a thing. If you ask if I want my fiction to change anything in te culture, the answer is still no. What I want is to possess my readers while they are reading my book – if I can, to possess them in ways that other writers don’t. Then let them return, just as they were, to a world where everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt, and control them. -
The past future of reading.
20 Oct 2009 | 10:01 amIn schools and colleges, in these audio-visual days, doubt has been raised as to the future of reading — whether the printed word is on its last legs. One college president has remarked that in fifty years “only five per cent of the people will be reading.” For this, of course, one must be prepared. But how prepare? To us it would seem that even if only one person out of a hundred and fifty million should continue as a reader, he would be the one worth saving, the nucleus around which to found a university. We think this not impossible person, this Last Reader, might very… -
Book infusion.
17 Oct 2009 | 6:54 pmAfter going to the office today for a bit, then the bank, I stopped at the annual book sale of a local library. Here’s what I picked up: The Second Tree from the Corner, E.B. White. Why The Library of America hasn’t collected all of his work yet is baffling and disappointing. Mythologies, Roland Barthes. I’ll probably start with this one. Grimms Fairy Tales – I picked this up chiefly because there’s no publisher information, date, anything – except that it says BOOKS INC. on the side. Mysterious! Hopefully not the sign of a bad book. Four Souls, Louise… -
Paul Auster’s INVISIBLE…
16 Oct 2009 | 12:26 pm… which is a real PITA for his publicist. Blogs: where terrible jokes get their chance to shine. Word from home is that Auster’s new book INVISIBLE, forthcoming from Henry Holt, arrived in today’s mail. I greet the occasion of new Auster with excitement, but it’s a Doug Flutie sort of excitement – it’s awesome until you realize that one Hail Mary pass (The New York Trilogy) was as good as it got. Which I say without having read all of his books. (Though I’m pretty sure Timbuktu wouldn’t change my mind.) Leviathan was good but ultimately…
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Advanced Fiction Writing Blog
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My Interview With Margie Lawson
28 Oct 2009 | 8:44 amI have an interview today on Margie Lawson’s blog. Margie interviews me on my forthcoming book, WRITING FICTION FOR DUMMIES, which will be hitting the shelves in only a few weeks. If you leave a comment on Margie’s blog, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free copy of my book (to be shipped in a few weeks when I get copies). You’ll also be entered for a drawing for one of Margie’s six courses on writing. (I love her teaching, so any of her courses is well worth it.) -
Sam The Plumber On “Preaching to the Choir”
7 Aug 2009 | 7:07 pmThings continue here at a frenetic pace. After I finished off the first draft of WRITING FICTION FOR DUMMIES two weeks ago, just meeting my deadline, I then spent most of a week at a writing conference. It was great to see some of my loyal blog readers there, but when I got back, I already had a stack of chapters in my e-mail in-box with editorial revision comments. So I’m now working on revisions. As I mentioned in my last post, the book is about 122,000 words, so it’s going to be a tremendously demanding job to get it all edited. I’m looking forward to getting the book… -
I Hit My Deadline
25 Jul 2009 | 4:43 pmA quick note to say that I hit my deadline yesterday for completing the first draft of FICTION WRITING FOR DUMMIES. I’ve been silent lately because I’ve been working hard to get it done on time. By my count, it’s over 120,000 words, which is a lot to write in four months. I should start getting revision requests back within a week or two, so I’ll soon be back at the grindstone, but for now, I’ve got a few free hours. It’s nice to be done. I’ve rethought a few things about fiction writing as I tried to make things simpler and better. -
Sam The Plumber On Coaching
8 Jul 2009 | 10:26 amI’ve been working hard on the alpha testing for Snowflake Pro. I have a team of 23 testers and we’re making rapid progress. I will of course notify all my e-zine readers when Snowflake Pro is ready for prime time. In the meantime, it’s worth noting that my latest humor column, featuring the ever-enthusiastic Sam the Plumber, is now posted online. You can read all about “The Wife Coach” here. Have fun! -
Alpha Testing for Snowflake Pro
29 Jun 2009 | 8:08 pmI’ve been quiet on the blog lately because I’ve been working frenetically on my next software product, “Snowflake Pro,” which will make it fun and easy to work through the steps of the Snowflake method. “Snowflake Pro” also creates the skeleton of a book proposal, after you’ve completed the first 6 steps of the Snowflake method. [Note added on Tuesday, June 30:] I posted the above yesterday and asked for volunteer alpha testers. I received a flood of emails and have selected a team of alpha testers that is small enough for me to be able to manage all…
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ReadersRead.com Book Blog
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Berenstain Bears Books to be Made Into Film
3 Nov 2009 | 6:14 pmUSA Today reports that Walden Media has acquired the film rights to the popular Berenstain Bears books. Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) has signed on to direct a film based on the children's book series. "To stand that kind of test of time is pretty formidable," says Levy, who will produce the film through his company, 21 Laps. "People read them as kids and can now read them to their kids. Any piece of culture that proves that enduring has something special in its DNA." Though his next film is the more adult Tina Fey-Steve Carell comedy Date Night, the Berenstain films "happen to fit firmly… -
Barnes and Noble Eying European Expansion
2 Nov 2009 | 1:05 pmBarnes and Noble is considering expanding into Europe, according to The Bookseller. The bookseller wants to expand its online store, BN.com, and has hired Russell Reynolds Associates to find a new head of international business. [Techcrunch] reports that the job entails building the international business for BN.com from scratch, hiring the team and "building the infrastructure outside the US". In the late 1990s Barnes & Noble was rumoured to be looking into a move into the UK, and reportedly even began hiring executives to oversee the development, before its US rival Borders trumped it with… -
Borders UK Looking to Sell Online Unit
30 Oct 2009 | 12:04 pmBorders UK is reportedly looking to sell its online unit to its digital agent Tangent. The Bookseller reports: The digital agency, which is a division of Tangent Communications, already works extensively on the online side of the Borders business, including its email marketing. It also works with Borders in Australia, out of its international office. This follows the buyout of Borders UK by its management team in July backed by Valco Capital Partners, the private equity arm of restructuring firm, Hilco. Borders UK chief executive Philip Downer said in a statement at the time of the deal that… -
Sarah Palin's $1.25 Million Advance
28 Oct 2009 | 7:00 pmSarah Palin was paid a $1.25 million advance for her upcoming autobiography Going Rogue. For a politician known more for her folksy expressions than her literary prowess, Sarah Palin has made enough money on her yet unpublished first book to make most writers blush. The former Alaska governor, 2008 vice-presidential candidate and likely 2012 Republican presidential contender earned at least a $1.25m advance for her memoir Going Rogue, to be published next month by HarperCollins. It is unclear how much the advance will total once the book hits shelves, since book advances are often distributed… -
Ivanka Trump Talks New Book
26 Oct 2009 | 6:00 pmIvanka Trump talked to Borders about her new book, The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work. Ivanka is quite polished and has some great stories to tell, like the time Michael Jackson came to see her in a ballet recital and the other dancers were so excited that they all wore one white glove - during The Nutcracker. She said she was completely humiliated at the time (she was just a pre-teen), but now realizes it was pretty funny. Take a look: Permalink | Recent Headlines | Our News Feeds
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Joanna Campbell Slan
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A Beautiful Thought About Books...
5 Nov 2009 | 2:05 pmI don't think people should burn books, ban books or throw books away but I do think they are meant to be used in a way that best suits the reader. I have books from university, graduate school especially, which are filled with my notes, thoughts, on related and even unrelated topics that come to mind.My Norton Anthologies, Oxford and Penguin Complete Works, Histories of Art all have my scribbles in the margins along with arrows, highlights, underlines and circles, all precious memories.There are the Dr. Seuss books from childhood filled with scribbles and an added face to the ones in the… -
Cut, Crop & Die Approved by Tigger the Cat
5 Nov 2009 | 1:58 pmThis wonderful email came the other day: "Hi Joanna, I have read both your books and love them. Keep them coming. I am an avid scrapbooker. I just wanted to share a photo of my cat with you. Her name is Tigger and she fully endorses your book and even reads it by osmosis. Cheryl Nakayama" So it's official! Tigger approves. + -
Does Pre-Ordering a Book Matter?
4 Nov 2009 | 8:07 amGreat question popped up on one of the lists. The person asked, "Does pre-ordering a book help the author? Is pre-ordering more important than buying a book within the first 3 weeks it comes out?"Here's my answer:As I understand it, pre-ordering helps a lot. The publisher looks to pre-orders to determine print run--and early indications of popularity. The higher the print run, the more a publisher has invested in a book, and therefore, the more a publisher might "get behind" a book. That's incredibly important. Publishers allocate scarce resources based on which books they think will do well. -
Dealing with Depression
3 Nov 2009 | 9:04 amI thought I was handling my mom's death pretty well, until the other day. My sister sent me a photo of my mom's gravestone. I had asked her to, but somehow, seeing that stone with Mom's name and date of death, just...well...it sort of sent me over the edge.Of course, this came at a bad time. A lot of my professional life is up in the air. I'm living in a rental house, and it doesn't always work for me. My husband is working a lot of hours. None of my family or friends are nearby.There's this general feeling of emptiness that invades every cell. It's so hard to fill all those losses up.I'm… -
I'm Too Old for Mall Hours
30 Oct 2009 | 7:04 amI woke up around 4 am this morning to the sound of Rafferty yelping. Turns out our little boy dog was thirsty. This often oftens after he gulps down his dry kibble late in the day. He's just fine for a couple of hours, even three or four, then suddenly he HAS to have water RIGHT now. So I was stumbling around in the dark, more asleep than awake thanks to the 1/2 of an Ambien tablet I took, and trying to get his leash on so he won't get hit by a car--and he's prancing like one of Santa's reindeer, making it nearly impossible to snap on the leash. Once I get him all rigged up, I turn to his…
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Living to Read
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Living2Read Roundtable: On a scale of 1 to ...
5 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am“A decent novel can entertain you.A good novel can make you feel stuff.A great novel can change your life.” Brad BollenbachWhere does this novel fit?There are many ways to judge a novel.- Did it expand your emotional repertoire?- Did it deepen your self-understanding?- Did any character change your perception of the world?That’s a lot of heavy lifting for “made-up words.”How well do you think the author succeeded with this book? -
Living2Read Roundtable: The Language
4 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amWhat did you think of the author's use of local speech patterns...not exactly a dialect but the grammar of the less educated, I guess? Did you find it distracting or authentic? Some of the terms I never did figure out and just kept on reading. But I did have to smile when I finally realized that "baccy" meant tobacco.Did you notice the author's convention of writing all direct conversation in italics rather than in the conventional quotation marks?I was especially moved by the author's descriptions of the physical landscape, the weather, the skies, the sea, the dawns and sunsets. Those things… -
Living2Read Roundtable: The Characters
3 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amWith which character did you feel more empathy or sympathy: William or Sal?Did that feeling change during the course of the story?I thought the author was even-handed in her portrayal of the strengths and weaknesses of both William and Sal. Each had a certain measure of selfishness but also moments of compromise (how else can a marriage be sustained?). Sal's resilience and inventiveness in dealing with the poverty of her life as a young married woman in England, the squalor of their initial accommodations in Sydney and starting life on the river were remarkable. I kept trying to see myself in… -
Living2Read Roundtable: The Secret River
2 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amWell, it’s finally here: the first Living2Read Roundtable. Welcome!Our hope is that those of us who have read the book can engage with each other in an exchange of thoughts and opinions about the book. If you are a member of a book group, you know that discussion of the author’s themes, intentions and characters in a novel can provide a broader context for analyzing current real-world issues. Respectful disagreement is a good thing – and welcome. As we experiment with a format for these Roundtables, it may have the feel of a work in progress – it is. But in time a solution will… -
A Makeshift Family
1 Nov 2009 | 7:38 pmAnna Quindlen was a Newsweek columnist who won the Pulitzer Prize for her column “Public & Private” for the NY Times. She left the Times to write books. She has written four books, both fiction and non fiction, since she left her life as a columnist. Her novel “Blessings” was published in 2002.“Blessings” takes place in the small town of Mount Mason, just outside of New York City. Blessings is the name of the estate owned by Lydia Blessing and her family for over sixty years. The story begins as a teenage couple quietly drive up the long driveway to the main house at…
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RobAroundBooks
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Daily Bookshot: Mr Darcy Likes to Dance
4 Nov 2009 | 2:49 pmMr Darcy Likes to Dance, originally uploaded by Robert Burdock. You may remember back in July that I spoke about Dancing with Mr Darcy (Honno Press), an anthology of 20 original stories inspired by Jane Austen and Chawton House. Well here it is in all of its lime(ish) green glory, and I’m sure you’ll agree it looks rather covetable. To recap, the 20 stories contained within Dancing with Mr Darcy were selected by award-winning author Sarah Waters, from entries to the Jane Austen Short Story Award 2009 (an award specifically launched this year to mark bicentenary of Jane… -
Shot of Short #55: 1647 Ocean Front Walk by Dan Fante
4 Nov 2009 | 1:02 pmTitle: 1647 Ocean Front Walk by Dan Fante Date Read: 04 November 2009 Available Online?: YES (as one of the stories posted by Harper Perennial on their website Fifty-Two Stories, which promises a new (or classic) short story from their collection, posted every week throughout 2009). Briefly: Depressed at a lengthy bout of ‘writer’s block’, LA writer Bruno works to forget (and survive), by driving a taxicab. Already struggling with the mechanical problems of an aged cab, Bruno’s day is about to get a whole lot worse (or is it?), when he picks up Mrs. Randolph and her… -
Shot of Short #54: On the Weekends Sometimes by Ben Greenman
4 Nov 2009 | 1:02 pmTitle: On the Weekends Sometimes by Ben Greenman Date Read: 03 November 2009 Available Online?: YES (as one of the stories posted by Harper Perennial on their website Fifty-Two Stories, which promises a new (or classic) short story from their collection, posted every week throughout 2009). Briefly: Boyd has a good friend called Panos. Panos is married Annie. Boyd likes Annie A LOT, and is more or less single. Panos and Annie seem to be going through a rocky patch in their marriage. Will Boyd succumb to his urges and commit one of the biggest taboos – cheating on a best friend? -
Shot of Short #53: Beneath All That Bone by Jess Walter
4 Nov 2009 | 1:01 pmTitle: Beneath All That Bone by Jess Walter Date Read: 03 November 2009 Available Online?: YES (as one of the stories posted by Harper Perennial on their website Fifty-Two Stories, which promises a new (or classic) short story from their collection, posted every week throughout 2009). Briefly: Witnessing a particularly traumatic road accident on the freeway, Nate and Tracy decide to pull into a motel to reflect and spend some ‘private time’ with one another. At first all seems well, but there is more to this couple than first meets the eye. Afterthoughts: This is a really good… -
Bookshelf of the Week: JP Valentik’s ‘homely’ bookshelves
4 Nov 2009 | 10:51 amThe theme for this week’s Bookshelf of the Week is all about homeliness, and it probably doesn’t get much more homely than this shot of JP Valentik’s bookshelves, taken by the man himself. Mr. Valentik is a naturalist, with a keen interest in ornithology (his Bird Traveling blog can be found HERE), and a virtual browse of his bookshelves (best conducted using the highest resolution of the photo), wholly reveal Mr. Valentik’s love for nature. His passion is not just represented on these shelves in the form of books however. There’s a whole host of naturalistic (is…
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Bookninja
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How to write a great novel
6 Nov 2009 | 7:16 amThe WSJ asks a bunch of bigtime authors how to write a great novel. I think we all know the answer to that. Be a man. Or don’t. But be something. Or don’t. Sit with your hand up in the air. Bend paperclips into talismans from demonic cults. Use notecards, computers, typewriters, biros. Write in the early morning, late at night, in the basement, garret, at the kitchen table. Use folders, dividers, colour-coded pencils. Eat burritos before you write and then hold it in to create a sense of urgency. Get out the scissors, glue and paste. What the fuck? How about this one: stop… -
Fiction is dead! Long live Fiction!
6 Nov 2009 | 6:09 amHas the memoir killed fiction? Has fiction killed the memoir? I give up. I give the fuck up. You fucking arts journalists. Isn’t there a convention you could sort this out at? Cause I’d like fire a few Belfast-cocktails in there once you’re all in. With publication in everyone’s grasp, memoir becomes the great equalizer. Americans like ” ‘pulled up by your bootstraps’ stories in which odds or adversities are overcome,” says Lexy Bloom, a senior editor at Vintage and Anchor Books. “That’s what makes memoir so successful. We want hope… -
On women and best of lists
6 Nov 2009 | 6:06 amEvery few years this crops up and, being a feminist, I largely agree with the criticism leveled against the system, but the opinions become so vehement and emotional from both sides that I’m starting to think we may need to hire some sociologists to do an empirical study of the entire process to see what’s true and what’s not. I need the cool-headed, anger-assuaging bath of numbers to either prove my point or shut me up. Lizzie Skurnick does a good job of summing up the outraged perspective here. It is the conventional wisdom that women’s writing gets overlooked in the… -
Bolaño ain’t what he’s all cracked up to be
6 Nov 2009 | 5:57 amA novelist and friend of the late (but recently lit-knighted) Roberto Bolaño notes that all this myth building around him is getting to be a bit much. And worse still, the attention is giving a false impression of Latin America. Moya believes that, as the magic realism of Gabriel García Márquez began to lose its luster for the North American reader, the cultural establishment went looking for something new, landing upon the “visceral realism” of The Savage Detectives and deciding it would be “the next big thing, the new One Hundred Years of Solitude, if you will”. -
Giftmas will tell the tale on ebooks
6 Nov 2009 | 5:48 amConsidering the ridiculous growth of the ebook this last year, analysts are thinking this Christmas’s orgy of gratuitous unnecessary spending will be a key benchmark in the rise of the format. Or its DEATH KNELL.* This holiday season will be a crucial test of whether e-books can cross over from geeky novelty to mass-market must-have. Major retailers are pushing the format — and, of course, the gadgets they’ve developed to display it. Barnes & Noble unveiled its first electronic book reader last month, with access to all of the retailer’s titles and then some.
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Kat Meyer The Bookish Dilettante
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Glue: Online Book Curation That Sticks With You
4 Nov 2009 | 10:33 am"AdaptiveBlue's Glue is a site-centric product that acts as both a hub and a spoke of the social web." -- ReadWriteWeb "Last year, it was Facebook. This year, it's Twitter. What's it going to be next year? Allow me to present a possible contender: Glue." - Shelf AwarenessHello my bookish friends:I am hoping I can get you all to take a look at (and share) some info about Glue. In the not-so-distant past, I've waxed poetic about Glue and how it can/will revolutionize online book curation. Yes, I've loved and talked about them all along, and --BIG DISCLAIMER-- EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE A NOW A… -
#BISG Tweet Archive 090909
9 Sep 2009 | 11:41 amBecause I am a total geek, I've archived the tweets from this morning's Book Industry Study Group annual meeting. I find it fascinating. If you, like me, enjoy listening in on what smart bookish techy types discuss when they get together, here's your chance. While it's not exactly on par with my "Johnny Depp/George Clooney to Save Publishing" post, it is pretty good stuff. -
SXSW Panel Picker: A Self-Promoting (But Deserving) Pitch
21 Aug 2009 | 1:38 pmDear everyone: I need some SXSW Panel Picker Love. And, as I have no pride (nope, not really - used to, but then I noticed it was getting in the way of my ability to grovel - so it had to go), I am blatantly begging for votes. Please go vote for the cool SXSW panel that I'll be on with an impressive line up of very smart, creative, good looking, and forward-thinking bookish types, including: Joe Wikert, General Manager + Publisher of O'Reilly Media, and proprietor and head honcho of the Publishing 2020 and Kindleville blogs Lisa Holton, Founder and CEO of Fourth Story Media (making awesome… -
Ain't Nothing Wrong With Getting Horizontal - Just Let's Maybe Get To Know Each Other First.
14 Aug 2009 | 9:47 pmInstead of going horizontal based on relentless push marketing ("come on you reader, you. You know you want it! right? come on - i won't go away until you read me!"), today's reader needs to be able to trust that oh-so-widely-appealing book. -
Publishing - It's Alive! (Just Tune in Tomorrow)
8 Jul 2009 | 4:02 pmIn spite of rumors to the contrary- Very Persistent rumors! Yes, book publishing is alive. But, it looks like it may be morphing into something that looks different from what we're used to. It's like on a soap opera when a character supposedly dies going over a cliff in his fancy red sports car, but then he shows up one day, announcing he didn't really die, he just got washed down a river and lost his ID and they found him in some far away town, and he has had major reconstructive plastic surgery and been rehabilitated by this totally cute nurse, and has now come home to reclaim his position…
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Flashlight Worthy
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10 Out-of-Print Childrens Books Worth Overpaying For
I started collecting vintage children’s books after I paid $18 for a brand new hardcover of Where the Wild Things Are for my son’s first birthday and thought, hell, there’s got to be a cheaper way. I bought my first one (Helen Palmer’s 1964 classic Why I Built the Boogle House) for $1.25 at a used book shop and haven’t looked back since. Thought I still troll junk shops and Goodwills looking for those 25 cent holy grails, there are some books I would chop off my right arm for (and have… stops to wave with stump). These guys are the endangered species of… -
Favorite Reissues of Neglected Books
My web site, The Neglected Books Page, is devoted to the subject of forgotten, underappreciated, and (in some cases) never-discovered books. I usually focus on books that are out of print, but we are fortunate to have a number of publishing houses willing to take a gamble on reissues of books that have fallen by the wayside of popular and critical taste, and I wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to a dozen examples from some of these fine publishers.Click here to see the 12 books on the list -
Halloween Mysteries: 6 Great Mystery Books Set on All Hallows Eve
What better holiday to center a mystery around than Halloween? Ghosts and goblins, witches and monsters, other frightening things that go bump in the night. While you're stockpiling candy, preparing your costume and watching It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, sit back with one of these Halloween mysteries and enjoy.Click here to see the 6 books on the list -
9 Childrens Novels Both Boys and Girls Will Love to Hear
I have four kids – one girl and three boys – ranging in age from 12 to 7. Finding a book that keeps them all involved and engaged in the story is a delightful occurrence. These nine books are our favorite read-alouds of all time. All four kids loved them, and I did, too.Click here to see the 9 books on the list -
Business Books: First the Business, Then the Book
Business books usually fall into two categories: how-to or biographical. In how-to books, the author may or may not be an entrepreneur. Biographical books most frequently are written by someone (and, perhaps, their ghostwriter) who's built a successful business and tells the story of the inception and growth of that undertaking. Biographical books also may share advice, but often have the added advantage of being inspirational. After all, hardly anyone writes this kind of book to tell a story about how they got an idea for a business and found themselves rolling in success the next day.
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The Millions
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Sarah Baracuda, In Her Own Words
6 Nov 2009 | 2:55 pmSarah Palin’s memoir, Going Rogue, arrives in bookstores on November 17th; For those who can’t wait, may we suggest The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring and Activity Book? -
Coming to a theater near Tokyo
6 Nov 2009 | 2:42 pmFirst it was Pebble Beach, and now they want our movies. After years of bad Hollywood remakes of good Japanese movies, turnabout is fair play. -
A Tipping Point for Gladwell Haters?
6 Nov 2009 | 11:16 amThe Nation expends about 7,500 words to say Malcolm Gladwell is a hack. The source of the umbrage: “a cheerful, conversational voice deployed in a perfectly paced dopamine prose that had the palliative effect of nullifying whatever concerns readers might have about this product or that problem.” -
RIP Mall Bookstores
6 Nov 2009 | 11:15 amMourning the death of the Waldenbooks at the mall. “But in a way I’m glad, as this means that yet another supposed agent of publishing’s ever-imminent death is now biting the dust itself.” -
Stocking Stuffers
6 Nov 2009 | 11:12 amIt’s not even Thanksgiving, but Dalkey Archive Press is already Jingle Bell rocking their holiday sale. 60% off pretty much all Dalkey books.
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Jacket Copy
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Hulk Hogan wrote a book
6 Nov 2009 | 6:14 pmAnd he'll be at Book Soup tonight to prove it. According to the bookstore, although there is no formal line, fans have arrived and are milling about. Hulk Hogan is scheduled to appear at 7pm with his book "Hulk Hogan: My Life Outside the Ring." He seems like a rather unlikely author, but judging by the size of that bicep and those hands, I'm not saying anything more than that. Not saying anything more at all.-- Carolyn KelloggPhoto: Hulk Hogan with his memoir. Credit: Jeff Christensen / Associated Press -
Philip Gourevitch to leave Paris Review
6 Nov 2009 | 3:48 pmPhilip Gourevitch will leave his position as editor of the Paris Review in April, the magazine announced today. Gourevitch, a former New Yorker staff writer who won the L.A. Times Book Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for his 1998 book "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda," plans to return to writing full time. He has been editor of the Paris Review for five years. During Gourevitch's tenure, the Paris Review, one of the nation's leading literary journals, increased circulation and advertising revenue. -
Afghanistan's Malalai Joya speaks in So Cal
6 Nov 2009 | 2:49 pmAt age 27, Malalai Joya was the first woman elected to Afghanistan's parliament. She's an outspoken advocate for democracy -- so much so that she's been suspended from her job in the National Assembly for allegedly insulting her colleagues on television (the suspension has been criticized by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch). She's survived five assassination attempts and stays on the move to keep safe, although her friends will tell you that her car has been breaking down a lot lately. She's been the subject of a documentary and now has released a memoir, "A… -
Jonathan Safran Foer Q&A: You gonna eat that?
6 Nov 2009 | 8:53 amJonathan Safran Foer asks, what did you do when you learned the truth about eating animals? A take on that truth can be found in his occasionally inspiring, occasionally gruesome book "Eating Animals." It's the first major work of nonfiction by this award-winning novelist; he spent three years exploring the realities of animal husbandry in America. In her review, Susan Salter Reynolds writes that Foer has "a kind of fearless modernity: one part 'whatever,' one part descendant of Holocaust survivor (we've only got this one life, if that, to get things right) and… -
Isabel Rucker's long, long memoir
5 Nov 2009 | 8:48 amTonight the SOMArts Center in San Francisco holds an opening for two artists, including Isabel Rucker, whose very long memoir will be on display. How long, exactly? "The Unfurling" is more than 400 feet long, written and illustrated in graphic novel form on a 12-inch-high scroll. That's Rucker above, just after finishing the installation this week. Rucker, who is the daughter of science fiction author and cyberpunk visionary Rudy Rucker, began work on "The Unfurling" seven years ago when she lived in San Francisco. It details both her city life and her move to rural…
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Buzz, Balls & Hype
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THE DOCTOR IS IN
5 Nov 2009 | 10:01 pmMAYBE IT’S NOT YOU Hypersensitivity to rejection is a common complaint among writers. We all know that the odds are against any particular novel, story or poem being published; that editors are far from infallible; and that it’s in part a numbers game—it’s often necessary to resubmit repeatedly before work is accepted. Yet so many of us—including those whose writing does get published—register rejection in an intense, visceral way that makes us forget, temporarily, all of the positive feedback we’ve gotten over the years. They’re right; we are nothing; our work is… -
Women Don't Really Write
5 Nov 2009 | 4:41 amThat seems to be the message. I think I'm getting paranoid. Last week PW picked all male best books of 2009. As readers of this blog know sine 2005 Oprah has picked all male bookclubs bks. Now looking into it after reading an article about him and thrillers in the NYT Glen Beck seems to picks mostly all male thriller writers to interview on his show. WTF??And an all female list like the Orange prize won't fix this. Women need to be integrated. Can't believe I'm writing this in 2009 - can you? -
BOOK APP POPULARITY UP & UP
3 Nov 2009 | 5:29 amAn interesting little nugget of a paragraph in Shelf Awareness today.... Book apps now top game apps as the most popular category downloaded to iPhones. Flurry, an analytics firm, has published "a report which shows that games were the number one category of apps downloaded on the iPhone every month from August 2008 until August 2009," the Telegraph reported. "However, in the last four months, book apps have exceeded the popularity of games apps--with one out of every five new apps launching in October having been a book. In September, games apps were overtaken by book… -
Linktopia
2 Nov 2009 | 5:40 pmLinktopia (with the help of Judge Page) looks at going live, social women, and just how much is a chapter worth?Diet Coke is not the only brand going live to garner attention. Marketers including Burger King and Adidas are warming up to real-time Web content, mirroring a shift in digital media away from asynchronous communication and content delivery (e.g., the sending of e-mails and watching posted videos) towards instant feedback and interaction. Continue reading here. "And they are very loyal. If they discover something they like, they tell their friends about it. Women were… -
THE DOCTOR IS IN
29 Oct 2009 | 10:01 pmDear Dr. Sue,I've been pretty fortunate as a writer. Very soon after I really started writing seriously (late in life, after several different careers and many disappointments), I got an agent and got published. Then I got published again. Then I moved into a different genre and have one book published, another on the way, and am about to sign a contract for two more.Sounds like a pretty good affirmation of my ability, yes? Well, nonetheless, every time I sit in front of my computer, or even think about writing--which I do every day, and am pretty…
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My Mind on Books
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new book – ‘The Big Questions’ by Steven E. Landsburg
30 Oct 2009 | 12:45 pmThe Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics and Physics by Steven E. Landsburg (Free Press, 2009) (link for UK) Product description from the publisher: In the wake of his enormously popular books The Armchair Economist and More Sex Is Safer Sex, Slate columnist and Economics professor Steven Landsburg uses concepts [...] -
‘Fall of Sleep’ by Jean-Luc Nancy
27 Oct 2009 | 9:47 pmFound via the Book Bench at the New Yorker: Fall of Sleep by Jean-Luc Nancy, tr. Charlotte Mandell (Fordham University Press, 2009) (link for UK) Product description from the publisher: Philosophers have largely ignored sleep, treating it as a useless negativity, mere repose for the body or at best a source for the production of unconscious signs out [...] -
new book – ‘The Lives of the Brain: Human Evolution and the Organ of Mind’
25 Oct 2009 | 12:06 pmThe Lives of the Brain: Human Evolution and the Organ of Mind by John S. Allen (Harvard University Press, 2009) (link for UK) Product description from the publisher: Though we have other distinguishing characteristics (walking on two legs, for instance, and relative hairlessness), the brain and the behavior it produces are what truly set us apart from [...] -
“It’s all in your mind….”
24 Oct 2009 | 10:58 am“It was all in your mind,” Chade told me sometime later, and it stung that he dismissed so lightly all that I had endured. All of life, I wanted to tell him, is in our minds. Where else does it take place, where else do we add up what it means to us and subtract [...] -
new from Malcolm Gladwell – ‘What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures’
21 Oct 2009 | 10:26 pmWhat the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures is Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, a collection of his New Yorker articles (Little, Brown, 2009). (link for UK) Product description from the publisher: What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard-but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us [...]
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Reading Local
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Upcoming: Katherine Dunn Headlines a Panel Discussion on “Publishing In The Age of Electronic Readers”
6 Nov 2009 | 11:23 pmMark this down on your calendars as a must attend event. Monday, November 16th at 6:00pm Al Stavitsky, Portland Director of U of O’s School of Journalism and Communication, will moderate a discussion on how “digital books change us as writers, publishers, and readers.” A panel full of heavy-hitters includes: Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love; Dennis Stovall, director of publishing and publisher of Ooligan Press at PSU; and Vailey Oehlke, director of Multnomah County Libraries. Here is the teaser from U of O: Electronic book devices such as Amazon’s Kindle and Sony… -
Celebrate National Bookstore Day Tomorrow at Your Neighborhood Indie Store
6 Nov 2009 | 3:07 pmPublishers Weekly has spearheaded an effort to have tomorrow (11-7) serve as National Bookstore Day. They are encouraging indie bookstores across the nation to participate by holding one day promotional events including: raffles, giveaways, discounts, prize baskets, and other ideas. The Publishers Weekly website shows three Oregon bookstores partaking in the festivities: Third Street Books in McMinnville, Grass Roots Books & Music in Corvallis, and Portland’s St. John’s Booksellers who is having a “buy 2 get 1 free sale.” I’m sure that every other… -
Tonight 11-6: Jeff VanderMeer, Jay Lake, Cat Rambo, and Jeff Johnson at The Press Club
6 Nov 2009 | 8:07 amToday’s Featured Book Event: Jeff VanderMeer, Jay Lake, Cat Rambo, and Jeff Johnson (The Press Club, @5:30pm): Join Underland Press to celebrate the weird and the wonderful with readings by acclaimed authors Jeff VanderMeer, Jay Lake, Cat Rambo, and Jeff Johnson. With art by Benjamin W. Burch and music by DJ Santo, along with crepes, wine, and beer at the Press Club, we’ll stay and talk fantastic lit ’till the management kicks us out. Underland Press is dedicated to publishing weird, strange, odd, and unsettling fiction. Founded in 2007 by an ex Dark Horse editor, the press hit the… -
Must Read: Matt Briggs Explores The Impact Of The Espresso Book Machine
6 Nov 2009 | 7:45 amInspired by the news that three Seattle area bookstores have or will have the Espresso Book Machine at their store, Matt Briggs wrote a fantastic piece on Reading Local: Seattle yesterday about the impact this machine will have for bookstores, authors, and readers. I highly recommend you check it out, here is a quick sample: From a production standpoint, the machine is exciting, but both Chuck Robinson the owner of Village Books and Robert Sindelar, Partner at Third Place, pointed out that the operative word for the print-on-demand machine is demand. For Rob, he sees the machine providing… -
In The Mood For a Literary Adventure? How About A Trip To Bend for The Nature of Words!
5 Nov 2009 | 12:49 pmThe Nature of Words, Central Oregon’s Premier Literary Event, officially started their “long-weekend” of events last night with the Rising Star Creative Writing Competition Awards & Reception. It continues tonight with guest author readings and signings with Karen Karbo, Matthew Dickman, and Sherman Alexie at Bend’s Tower Theatre. Tomorrow’s (11-6) events include Sherman Alexie Unplugged (which I’ve heard is quite an experience), several guest author workshops, and another reading and signing event this time with Valzhyna Mort, Seth Kantner, Kim…
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Reading Copy Book Blog
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Readers want less reality in their books
6 Nov 2009 | 2:58 pmAccording to The Bookseller (via Beattie’s Book Blog) there’s been a massive slump in non-fiction hardback sales… Could it be that everyone wants a little less reality after a year of battling recession? Or perhaps everyone finally got over the myriad of crappy celebrity memoirs that were being pumped out? Or maybe its a reality TV backlash? Retailers are concerned about the performance of hardback non-fiction books in the run-up to Christmas, despite hardback fiction books “muscling” in to replace some of the lost revenue. Sales of this year’s top 10… -
Weird Book Room Update: Guns, Menstruation and Karl Marx
6 Nov 2009 | 1:06 pmToday is a s-s-s-l-l-l-o-o-ow-w-w-w day in terms of blog fodder, so I decided to treat you to a Weird Book Room Update one (working ) day early! This time around, our update’s weird book of the week is “What Not to Wear on a Horse” by Ginny Oakley and Stephanie Soskin, just in case you were worried your jodphurs might clash with your riding crop. Is it appropriate to wear argyle on an appaloosa? Plaid on a pony? Stripes on a stallion? You’ll have to read the book to find out. Rounding out the selection are Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation by Elissa Stein and… -
10 Literary Moustaches for Movember
5 Nov 2009 | 5:48 pmAs prostate cancer is an issue that hits close to home for my family, I was excited to learn that one of my co-workers is participating in Movember. What exactly is Movember? I’ll leave that to the pros on the Movember site: The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 over a few beers in Melbourne, Australia. The guys behind it joked about 80s fashion and decided it was time to bring the moustache back. In order to justify their Mos (Australian slang for moustache), they used their new looks to raise money for prostate cancer research… never dreaming that facial hair would… -
Famous Authors Narrate the Funny Pages
5 Nov 2009 | 2:34 pmOh, I love McSweeney’s more than I can say. So funny! so clever! So literary, sometimes even intimidatingly so! The feature that cracked me up today? Famous Authors Narrate the Funny Pages. I think my favourites are the Peanuts and the Family Circus. Peanuts by Jane Austen Miss Lucy van Pelt, young, witty, and handsome, found it unavoidable that she play a game of foot-ball with Mr. Charles Brown, the dreadfully wishy-washy companion of her otherwise commendable brother Mr. Linus van Pelt. Wishing to be rid of this bothersome neighbor, she lifted the foot-ball just as Mr. Brown ventured… -
Claude Lévi-Strauss passed on at 100
5 Nov 2009 | 10:21 amAfter living a full century (and nearly making 101) the great anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss passed away late last week. We have lost a great thinker of our time.
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About.com: Bestsellers
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Paperback Pick: Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh
4 Nov 2009 | 4:59 pmAs a young sociology graduate student at the University of Chicago, Sudhir Venkatesh spent much of about seven years hanging out in and learning about a Chicago housing project and the Black Kings gang that dominated it. Gang Leader for a Day is one of the author's books recording these experiences. It is a gripping account of a slice of life most readers will never experience and contains significant insights into the workings of gangs and impoverished urban communities. Cover Photo Courtesy Penguin Paperback Pick: Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh originally appeared on About.com… -
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
2 Nov 2009 | 4:38 pmAudrey Niffenegger's first novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, had such a unique premise and structure that it was difficult to imagine how she would follow it up. In Her Fearful Symmetry, Niffenegger once again takes a premise that sounds like it would be classified as science fiction or fantasy and writes it in such a way that it will appeal to those who do not normally read that genre. Indeed, even though Her Fearful Symmetry is a ghost story, at heart it is a story of family dynamics and love. It is a very satisfying second novel, and the perfect read for a cold November night. Read a… -
November New Book Releases Calendar
31 Oct 2009 | 5:43 pmNovember does not have as many releases as September and October, but there will be no shortage of novels from heavy hitters -- Michael Crichton's first post-mortem release, a collection of stories from John Grisham, a 1000+ page epic novel from Stephen King and an autobiography from Sarah Palin. November New Releases Calendar Cover Photo Courtesy HarperCollins November New Book Releases Calendar originally appeared on About.com Bestsellers on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 00:43:23.Permalink | Comment | Email this -
What is the Best Stephen King Book?
30 Oct 2009 | 8:12 amIn a week and a half, Stephen King will release what is being heralded as a new masterpiece. Those new to King, however, might want to try something less daunting than the 1000+ page Under the Dome. We asked Stephen King fans what they think the best Stephen King book is. Curious? Read their responses and weigh in with your own thoughts. What is the Best Stephen King Book? originally appeared on About.com Bestsellers on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 15:12:03.Permalink | Comment | Email this -
One Year Book Club Reading List
28 Oct 2009 | 8:46 amWith so many books on the bestsellers lists, how can you decide which books would be good reads for your book club? This reading list provides fiction and nonfiction recommendations complete with links to reviews and book club questions for a year of interesting and varied book club reading.One Year Book Club Reading List originally appeared on About.com Bestsellers on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 15:46:18.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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The Creative Penn
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Podcast: J.C. Hutchins on Writing Thriller Novels and Publishing Success for 7th Son
6 Nov 2009 | 10:10 pmI am just so lucky this week because I had the brilliant Mur Lafferty AND the fantastic J.C. Hutchins to interview! Since it is NaNoWriMo, I am asking these authors for their tips for writing. As I am writing a thriller, J.C. had some great tips for me (and for you too!) J.C. Hutchins is an award winning novelist best known for his 7th Son technothriller trilogy released as free podcasts in 2006-2007. With around 100,000 downloads still occurring each month, 7th Son is the most popular podcast novel series in history. The first novel in the series, 7th Son: Descent is out now in print on… -
NaNoWriMo Day 5 Update with Video
5 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmWord Count: 11, 185 on thriller novel, codename “Project Morgan” Here’s my video from Day 5 NaNoWriMo… and there’s text and links below the video! More Lessons Learned: My writing really sucks but that’s ok because brilliant author Mur Lafferty (who I interviewed yesterday) says it’s ok! I’m also just focusing on getting stuff out of my head. It doesn’t matter how it’s written at the moment. No one will see this draft! I am writing very fast especially on the train. I use a little Netbook (Dell Mini 9) and don’t even bother… -
Podcast: Mur Lafferty on Writing Novels and Top Tips for NaNoWriMo
4 Nov 2009 | 10:10 pmThere are some great authors online who are years ahead of me, who are achieving success and who also share their knowledge with other writers. Mur Lafferty is one of those people and I was thrilled to interview her during NaNoWriMo to get her tips on writing. Mur Lafferty is an author, podcaster and freelance writer. Her first novel, ‘Playing for Keeps‘ won the 2008 Parsec Award for Best Novel and was subsequently published by Swarm Press. It reached #1 in Science Fiction on Amazon.com and is also available as a free podcast novel. Mur has co-authored a book on podcasting, as… -
Great Example of Author 2.0 Marketing and Connection…And What You Can Do Right Now!
1 Nov 2009 | 10:10 pmIt is a new world of book marketing out there, and it is brilliant to see how authors are embracing it! Here is a little story of what happened to me this week that I thought I would share, so you can learn from it and also tips on what you can do to replicate this kind of connection success. Last week I went to a fantastic business bookstore in Brisbane called McGills. I love to browse there in my lunch times at the day job. It gives me a break and I like to see what latest books are out. A new book caught my eye, The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using… -
NaNoWriMo Day 1 Update and Lessons Learnt on Writing My First Novel
1 Nov 2009 | 12:14 amNaNoWriMo has started and thousands of people round the world are tackling new novels, aiming to finish 50,000 words in 1 month! This is a bit of a sprint but it has some great advantages (see this post for more details). I try to be honest and share my writing journey on this blog. I have now written 3 non-fiction books, I’m pretty good with internet marketing, but I seriously have no experience with writing fiction novels. I read like a maniac though so I know what I like. I also know I am capable of writing 150,000 words (with wicked editing, it will be a 100,000 word novel!) So I…
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www.publetariat.com
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Creating Your Villain, tips from Donald Maass
5 Nov 2009 | 6:26 pmThis post, from Debby Atkinson, originally appeared on the Type M For Murder blog on 10/21/09. It's Debby this morning, just returned from Bouchercon, where Sisters in Crime sponsored a terrific seminar, titled SinC into Great Writing. The headline speaker was literary agent Donald Maas, who gave so many great tips on improving our WIP's that I couldn’t write fast enough. Here are some of his suggestions about how to create a stronger antagonist. read more -
Why Creating A New Habit Is So Hard
5 Nov 2009 | 6:12 pmThis post, from Alex Schleber, originally appeared on his Business Mind Hacks blog on 9/30/09. It seems particularly apt with so many Publetarians trying to get into the habit of writing every day to complete their NaNoWriMo novels! Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.com recently writes in his post The Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior: read more -
Come With A Manuscript, Leave With The Knowledge And Confidence To Publish And Promote Successfully---And A Tan!
5 Nov 2009 | 5:35 pmThe Stem-To-Stern Workshop Cruise will be taking place 10/10/10 - 10/17/10, and just $25 paid to AAA Travel holds your spot on the cruise roster until May 6, 2010. It's a weeklong cruise vacation, and intensive writers' workshop series, and private consulting sessions, all combined into a single, affordable, tax-deductible* trip for writers! read more -
Why You Need To Fail
4 Nov 2009 | 6:31 pmThis article, from Peter Bregman, originally appeared on The Harvard Business Publishing site on 7/6/09. While it was originally written with business executives in mind, the information presented here is equally helpful to authors who are struggling with setbacks---who are, after all, businesspeople too. "Peter, I'd like you to stay for a minute after class." Calvin teaches my favorite body conditioning class at the gym. "What'd I do?" I asked him. "It's what you didn't do." "What didn't I do?" "Fail." read more
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Book Covers blog
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Meet John Foe
5 Nov 2009 | 11:25 amAs part of the National Novel Writing Month I will be posting quickly-designed covers for participating authors - a new one every day. This cover is a job for... Congress-Man? Action Comics, I thank you. -
The Beauty of a Grid
3 Nov 2009 | 2:58 pmAs part of the National NovelWriting Month I will be posting quickly-designed covers for participating authors - a new one every day. This will likely end in tears. Click here for the synopsis of this book. I wanted to create something that would represent – and agitate – the OCD-stricken protagonist. I really really really hope the book is not semi-autobiographical, heh. -
Traffic Lights
3 Nov 2009 | 10:34 amAs part of the National Novel Writing Month I will be posting quickly-designed covers for participating authors - a new one every day. This will likely end in tears. Click here for the synopsis of this book. -
The Business
1 Nov 2009 | 12:02 pmFor the month of November I am going to be participating in National Novel Writing Month by attempting to design one cover for participating authors every day - 30 covers in 30 days. The authors are randomly selected by the propietors of the NaNoWriMo project to have their synopsis/title designed around by yours truly. The point here is volume/output and not necessarily quality, but I'll do my best. This is probably a very foolish stunt on my part, and even more foolish to be turning it over to you dogs of war to critique! I won't pretend that these are going to be mindbogglingly good, as… -
The Interrogative Mood: A Novel?
30 Oct 2009 | 8:22 amAnother one of the few, the proud, the brave: a title-less cover, this one actually making a lot of sense. Considering the contents – a string of surreal questions about the necessary (or not) things in our filled-to-the-brim lives – the minimalist treatment also makes perfect sense. Of course, it is a bit easy to toss a question mark about in order for someone to pick it up, but even the question mark itself is weighty and ponderous.
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There Are No Rules
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Marketing in a Digital Age
3 Nov 2009 | 4:24 pmMore than a year ago, I left a comment on the Booksquare blog by Kassia Krozser, on a post titled "Why Publishers Should Blog." Kassia argued that publishers needed to be more vocal about supporting the titles they publish. I responded: Definitely agree, but I have to wonder if the lack of enthusiastic comments direct from publishers is primarily due to lack of time (and energy, sadly). If an editor (or whomever) is juggling dozens of projects in a given year, accomplishing just the basics can be enormously demanding. (Lean staffs!) The “friendly” online marketing or buzz building has… -
Every Writer Needs a Little Salesperson Inside
2 Nov 2009 | 3:16 pmIt's not a natural thing for most creative people to sell their work, but when it comes time to publish, you have to know something about how to sell. You have to put in the effort, make the calls, not get beat down by rejection. (It's why I love this Alec Baldwin video, and my advice based on it.) I'm definitely not a salesperson by nature. But it didn't take long to learn some basic skills, since my first editorial job depended on convincing salespeople my ideas were worthwhile. Most writers need a little help in understanding how to pitch their work effectively, and I love being the one to… -
Writer's Digest Hits Top 10 Amazon List
2 Nov 2009 | 2:55 pmJust got word that our recent release, And Here's the Kicker: Conversations With 21 Top Humor Writers on Their Craft by Mike Sacks, hit Amazon's Top 10 List of Best Entertainment Books in 2009. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review, and said, "Veteran journalist Sacks conducted dozens of interviews with the top humor writers of the last century, and the result is a whiz-bang collection of Q&As that will school readers just as often as it provokes laughter." Read an excerpt: an interview with Stephen Merchant, co-creator of The Office. (And go buy in our shop at Amazon-like pricing. -
Looking for Your Feedback: What Do Established Writers Need?
1 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pmOne of the biggest criticisms or complaints about Writer's Digest (usually the magazine) is that it's for wannabes, and that after a few years, the advice/information either becomes repetitive or irrelevant, especially for someone who works at the professional level. I've been daydreaming about how to develop a new periodical that would offer information and insights for advanced, established, or professional writers/authors, and remain relevant even after achieving publication. (Just to be sure, such a periodical would not serve to replace the current magazine.) But I need your help to get… -
Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 10/30/09)
1 Nov 2009 | 2:08 pmI watch Twitter, so you don't have to. Visit each Sunday for the week's best Tweets. If I missed a great Tweet, leave it in the Comments. Always welcome your suggestions on improving this weekly feature. Check out new Twitter lists: List of Tweeps most often included in weekly Best Tweets for Writers (always under development) Writer's Digest list of publishers on Twitter (let us know who we missed) Writer's Digest list of agents on Twitter (let us know who we missed) Best of Best The top 5 Secrets to Getting a [nonfiction] Book Deal (by editor Alan Rinzler) @mariaschneider Rights and…
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Better World Books Blog
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National Bookstore Day
6 Nov 2009 | 8:23 amSaturday November 7th is the first annual National Bookstore Day. We here at Better World Books are proud to support literacy, books and a love of reading in any way we can. Join us and the hundreds of bookstores across the country who are celebrating the day, by browsing the shelves, walking the aisles and finding a new treasure or an old favorite to add to your collection. Visit our brick and mortar locations: Better World Books Goshen 118 E. Washington Street Goshen, IN 46528 Phone: 574-534-1984 Better World Books Outlet Store 55740 Currant Road Mishawaka, IN 46545 Phone: 574-968-9701… -
Better World Books Podcast: Byron Pitts
3 Nov 2009 | 12:01 pmByron Pitts is a gifted broadcast journalist, an engaging and talented speaker, a published author and force for good. But that wasn’t always the case. As his book STEP OUT ON NOTHING details, Byron started out a skinny kid with the nickname “Pickle” who didn’t talk much and was often bullied. But worse than that, Byron was hiding and working hard to keep his secrets. He couldn’t read and had a debilitating stutter. If it wasn’t for his faith and the people who “stepped out on nothing” for him, Byron doesn’t believe he would have… -
My Trip to Books For Africa
26 Oct 2009 | 8:32 amby Paul “Paco” Miller On October 2nd and 3rd I had the opportunity to represent Better World Books (BWB) in Minneapolis/St. Paul at several events put on by our partner Books For Africa (BFA). Those two days were jammed packed with events that made me find my way around the twin cities, but were well worth the trip. My biggest take away is that BFA is a great partner for BWB. Everything about the trip reaffirmed how reputable an organization it is and made abundantly clear the important role it plays in the great task of confronting the obstacles to literacy and education in… -
Better World Books Podcast: Warren St. John
7 Oct 2009 | 8:14 amDid you ever have one of those days? The kind where everything comes together and you know you are doing what you are meant to be doing? That’s how I felt when I finished reading OUTCASTS UNITED and knew that I would have the opportunity to meet and interview author Warren St. John and help get the word out about this great book. The book tells the story of coach Luma Mufleh the soccer team of refugee boys she founded and the town of Clarkston, Georgia that wasn’t sure they wanted them… or their families. Once I finished reading the book, I knew it would be a perfect fit… -
Our partners stop by for a visit!
24 Sep 2009 | 11:02 amIt’s always great to meet with our partners face to face and to show them around our South Bend, Indiana warehouse so they can really get a feel for what’s we’re doing. Just last week we had a visit from Shaun Skelton, Executive Director of Visions In Action and Pat Plonski, Executive Director of Books For Africa where we discussed ongoing collaborative opportunities. Visions In Action is shipping seven containers of books to South Africa, Uganda, and Tanzania, with Books For Africa providing the books and Better World Books and the United States Agency for International…
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Art of Mike Cressy
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Abstract Art Update...
4 Nov 2009 | 1:48 pm4 Brand NEW Abstracts! Come and check them out on imagekind.com and pick a few for holiday gifts.http://mikecressy.imagekind.com/store/Images.aspx/97e5fe65-5006-4c0e-9745-c778120eb248/AbstractSee you next post!-MC -
Bunches of NEW Abstracts!
1 Nov 2009 | 7:10 pmDig man,...sweet new Abstracts to dazzle your eyes!Set on Highbeam and scan them crazy shapes...Hope you dig 'em!See you next post...MC -
Nov 1st leftover Monsters from the night before...
1 Nov 2009 | 11:17 amThese poor monsters didn't get a chance to have scary fun last night... there is always next year. Till then they'll be contracting at Santa's workshop to help finish off all the gifts that need to be done before Xmas!Hope everyone had a cool, ghoulish night!!!-MC -
Happy Halloween Everyone!
31 Oct 2009 | 12:21 pmHope you have a safe and fun Halloween!!!See you next post...BOO! -
Catching up with NEW Abstracts!
25 Oct 2009 | 8:05 pmHere is some of the latest Abstracts. I've got another batch waiting to be posted but I'll do that later in the week.I've been on a bit of a role with the abstracts lately. I hope to make over 100 by the end of the year. I've got 92 of them posted on http://www.imagekind.com/GalleryProfile.aspx?gid=97e5fe65-5006-4c0e-9745-c778120eb248Check 'em out when you get a chance!See you next post!
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The Reader's Advisor Online Blog
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Genre Wars
4 Nov 2009 | 5:19 pmBy Cindy Orr Cornelia Read on the blog Murderati says that literary fiction lost her in the 1980s. “I can’t stand novels that just kind of drift around about vaporous bullshit and then wander out of the room at the end without a point,” she says. She blames MFA programs for making an artificial distinction between genre and non-genre works in the past couple of decades. I thought I had a handle on the issue of this evaluative label: if you started your career as a “literary” author, then it’s okay to switch into genre fiction later. Take Cormac McCarthy or… -
PLA RA Programs - Preliminary Listing
3 Nov 2009 | 1:13 pmThe Public Library Association Conference will be in Portland March 23-26, 2010. Here are the Readers’ Advisory Programs we’ve found so far. Please let us know if we missed some. This conference has more RA programs than any in recent memory…and unlike other in the past, they’re not all offered at the same time. Way to go, Portland! Tuesday 8:30 - 5:30 - Preconference - “Librarians Get Graphic” Tuesday 8:30 - noon - Preconference - “Readers’ Advisory 2.0, the Next Dimension” Tuesday 2:00 - 5:30 - Preconference - “Opening Doors,… -
RA Run Down
1 Nov 2009 | 7:18 pmThe readers’s advisory librarian’s weekly update, from a scan of more than 100 blogs, newsletters, magazines, newspapers and television. This blog is brought to you by the Reader’s Advisor Online, the subscription database based on Libraries Unlimited’s Genreflecting Advisory series. We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to comment on any of our posts, or contact us at rablog@lu.com. By Cindy Orr This Week In Books New Titles on the Most Wanted Mashup This Week There are three novels new to the bestseller lists this week, and three nonfiction books. Fiction:… -
Most Wanted Mashup: Hottest Books of the Week
1 Nov 2009 | 7:18 pmFiction Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol Richard Castle - Heat Wave Michael Connelly - Nine Dragons Patricia Cornwell - The Scarpetta Factor Vince Flynn - Pursuit of Honor Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall Nicholas Sparks - The Last Song Danielle Steel - Southern Lights Kathryn Stockett - The Help Jeannette Walls - Half Broke Horses Nonfiction Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith Richard Dawkins - The Greatest Show on Earth Malcolm Gladwell - What the Dog Saw Edward M. Kennedy - True Compass Jon Krakauer - Where Men Win Glory Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner - Superfreakonomics Christopher McDougall… -
Under the Radar: Words of Wisdom? Presidential Speeches
1 Nov 2009 | 7:17 pmThurston Clarke - Ask Not: The Inauguration of JFK and the Speech that Changed America Thurston Clarke - The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America David Maraniss - The Clinton Enigma: The Four-and-a-Half Minute Speech Reveals the President’s Entire Life Kevin Mattson - ‘What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?’: Jimmy Carter, America’s ‘Malaise,’ and the Speech that Should Have Changed the Country William Safire - Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History Robert Schlesinger - White House Ghosts: Presidents and their…
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iBraryGuy
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Tr.im down that long URL and track its use!
6 Nov 2009 | 2:31 pmBy now, just about anyone who is familiar with using Twitter or microblogs is well aware of the importance of keeping URLs short. Character space is valuable real estate in Web 2.0. Twitter gives you but 140 characters to make your point. Long URLs eat up that space quickly. Most of you, thus, are also probably familiar with URL-shortening services like Bit.ly or Tiny.url. These services take those long URLs and shorten them to something far less space-consuming. Tr.im is not just the shortest of the shorteners (Its own name only takes up 5 character spaces!) it… -
New Dashboard lets you control your exposure on Google!
5 Nov 2009 | 9:25 amGoogle's new Dashboard is generating a lot of news and interest. From speculation as to whether it lets you control your privacy on the search site to claims that it shows you all that Google knows about you, folks have certainly had a lot to say. Well, iBraryGuy is no different in that regard. However, we hope to be a little more succinct and practical. Our tests lead us to say this . . . Google Dashboard puts you in control of just how exposed you are across the many services Google has to offer. You can access Dashboard in two ways: via a direct link or within your… -
More ways to get the latest news and reviews from iBraryGuy!
4 Nov 2009 | 8:57 pmWe here at iBraryGuy wanted to take a moment to thank our readers and followers. As iBraryGuy continues to grow and diversify, having such an awesome audience makes it a true labor of love. In the weeks ahead, we have some neat new features planned. From TwInterviews with librarians and info-pros, to guest product and service reviewers, to featured libraries and info centers, to live coverage of library and info events, we want to bring you the news that most interests and entertains you. Thank you for helping us grow! There are many ways for you to stay on top of what… -
Shareaholic browser tool let's you play nice online with others!
3 Nov 2009 | 2:55 pmWith so much emphasis on social networking these days and with so many of us trying to manage Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and many other accounts, sharing the things that interest you most can be a time consuming and often confusing task. Not so with Shareaholic. Shareaholic is actually a browser tool, or "plugin" if you prefer. It makes sharing news items and other online tidbits with your many social networking apps a piece of cake. Shareaholic resides in your browser and can be customized to share content with a myriad of social networks. All of the… -
Happy Halloween from Our Stacks to Yours! Haunted Libraries for All Hallows Eve.
31 Oct 2009 | 9:49 pmIn honor of this spookiest of holidays, we here at iBraryGuy want to wish a Happy Halloween to one and all. And what better way to get in the Halloween spirit than to celebrate some of the world's haunted libraries. Courtesy of the ALA, here is a list to help you discover some of the best. If there are ghosts in your libraries, we hope they are the kind that reshelve your books and tidy up the stacks! Happy Halloween! Permalink | Leave a comment »
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The Bat Segundo Show
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Marjorie Rosen (BSS #311)
28 Oct 2009 | 8:03 amMarjorie Rosen is most recently the author of Boom Town: How Wal-Mart Transformed an All-American Town Into an International Community. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Kicked out of bed. Author: Marjorie Rosen Subjects Discussed: The white and non-Hispanic white majority in Bentonville, Arkansas, numerous houses of worship, multiculturalism, the largest population of Marshall Island immigrants in the United States, work for unskilled laborers, exploitation at Tyson and Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart’s $319 billion annual profit and its failure to offer proper healthcare, sentiments from former… -
Nicholas Meyer (BSS #310)
24 Sep 2009 | 8:49 pmNicholas Meyer is perhaps best known for his work on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. He is most recently the author of The View from the Bridge. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Ah, listener my old friend, do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish best served cold? Author: Nicholas Meyer Subjects Discussed: Lotus positions, talking back to prescience, writing books when the Writers Guild goes on strike, Samuel Johnson, the origins of The Seven Per-Cent Solution, words as a place of retreat, William S. Baring-Gould, generating “scholarly” commentary, Meyer’s… -
Brian Evenson (BSS #309)
23 Sep 2009 | 7:47 pmBrian Evenson is most recently the author of Fugue State and Last Days. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Latching onto toccata. Author: Brian Evenson Subjects Discussed: Knowing when a story concept has legs, ideas that never come to anything, the origins of “A Pursuit,” The Open Curtain, maintaining surprise, text sources vs. personal experience, writing fiction moments that hit two simultaneous emotions, grisly moments and descriptive detail, the reader’s imagination, revision and rhythm, not showing work to people, the surprise of audience responses, Bjorn Verenson, certain… -
Lawrence Block (BSS #308)
22 Sep 2009 | 8:22 pmLawrence Block is most recently the author of Step by Step. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Ruminating upon a life of exquisite indolence. Author: Lawrence Block Subjects Discussed: Step by Step as an anti-memoir, exploring childhood experience in print, randomness and finding connections, writing with a greater degree of freedom, Random Walk, concerns about a limited audience, earlier attempts at memoir, attempts by Block to write memoirs in the mid-1990s, the virtues of getting older, being less guarded with age, following up on Block’s remarks from Galut, avarice as the guiding principle,… -
Michael Muhammad Knight (BSS #307)
22 Sep 2009 | 5:55 pmMichael Muhammad Knight is most recently the author of Impossible Man and Osama Van Halen. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Expressing forceful words about his distinct identity. Author: Michael Muhammad Knight Subjects Discussed: Knight’s powers of prescience, Muslim punk, fictional suicide as a form of personal critique, the fictional character Mike Knight vs. the real Mike Knight, the Amazing Ayyub, character creation as the author arguing with himself, spiritual poles and quasi-Mikes talking with Mike creations, romanticizing the failure to be an adult, the mythology of consolation,…
