For decades, self-publishing was derided as an embarrassing sign that an author couldn’t cut it in the “real” publishing industry—“the literary world’s version of masturbation,” as Salon once put it. And Amazon, the world’s biggest e-commerce site, with its bookstore-beating prices, was painted as an enemy to authors. But now its self-publishing service, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), has made it easy for people to upload their books, send them out into the universe, and make money doing so. Its store has created a place for readers to go and easily find inexpensive self-published books. The site that got its start by radically changing where books are sold is now reshaping how books are published and read.
Category: AUDIENCE
Giant Scientific Publisher Cuts Off Scientists In Sweden And Germany From Access To Papers
Elsevier last week stopped thousands of scientists in Germany from reading its recent journal articles, as a row escalates over the cost of a nationwide open-access agreement. Negotiators in Germany and Sweden want all their papers published in Elsevier journals to be open access as part of any new contracts. They have said that they will not pay more than they did previously for subscriptions. But, until now, the Dutch publisher has offered other countries read-and-publish deals that cover only a small proportion of a country’s publishing output.
Movie Theatre Ticket Prices Rise To Record High
Average ticket prices in North America rose to $9.38 in the second quarter of 2018, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners. That number is a 22 cent uptick from 2018’s first quarter average of $9.16 and a 43 cent bump compared to the same period in 2017.
Musicals And Plays Adapted From Movies And Books Sell Almost Five Times As Many Tickets As Do Fully Original Scripts
According to a report from Britain’s Publishers Association using data from the industry group UK Theatre, “in 2016, adaptations took, on average, three-and-a-half times more at the box office and sold 4.8 times as many tickets as original productions. … A family musical based on a film attracts more than six times the revenue of an original show. Page-to-stage adaptations were also more successful than original productions, particularly when analysing plays.”
Defying UK Trend, V&A Museum Attendance Up 26%
“A new and less intimidating entrance has helped the [Victoria and Albert Museum] achieve record visitor numbers, bucking a trend of sharp falls across the UK’s museums and galleries. The museum said more than 4.4 million people visited the V&A and its London satellites, Blythe House and the Museum of Childhood.”
Cirque Du Soleil Is Working With Neuroscientists On Locating And Quantifying The Emotion Of Awe
“In exchange for free tickets to [the Cirque show] O and an upgrade to one of the VIP suites, [60 volunteers] agreed to be poked and prodded, and have their brain activity observed during a performance. Twice each night for five nights, Lab of Misfits techs” – yes, that’s the name of the neuroscience research firm – “wired six of us up with the headgear, and … they gave us iPads that prompted us throughout the show to answer questions about just how much awe and wonder we were feeling at that exact moment.”
Barnes Foundation Offers Tours Guided By — Anyone But Tour Guides
In a summer series called “Barnes Jawn(t)s” (referencing Philadelphia’s strange all-purpose noun), the museum is turning docent duties over to a bicycle transport advocate, an Indian classical dancer, a queer Latinx social worker, and a black female comic-book maven.
‘Hamilton’ Director Thomas Kail On How The Musical Has Gotten Young People Excited About American History
“We have students presenting their own material, and you’ll see a poem about Phillis Wheatley by a 17-year-old student, and you’ll see a song from Abigail Adams’s perspective. Neither of them are characters in our story, but for some reason they spark for those students. And that’s my hope, that this is just an ignition for something much larger. As a mediocre history major and the brother of a sixth-grade teacher, nothing would make me happier.”
Could Arabic Literature In Translation Be On The Verge Of A Breakout?
Hannah Johnson reports from a seminar on the topic at the New York Public Library, where publishers, agents, and other industry members were unusually eager for information.
Survey Suggests Pro-Brexit Voters Do Not Engage With Arts
“It’s not just that there’s a relationship between engagement in the arts and voting Remain at the area level: it looks like it’s particularly about attending cultural institutions, which must come as a challenge to the institutions themselves.”