Category: publishing

“The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, appears to have taken to heart the criticism from previous years that its nominations went to obscure works that sold few copies.”

“Removal of books from libraries is the opposite of what should be happening.”

“Do-it-yourself publishing is burdened by DIY marketing, copy editing and cover design. It’s a distressing path for writers who just want to write. But a new choice will emerge, if changes in journalism over the past decade serve as a guide.”

“HarperCollins has announced the acquisition of Tolkien’s never-before-published poem The Fall of Arthur, which will be released for the first time next May. Running to more than 200 pages, … the poem sees Tolkien tackling the old king’s battle to save his country from Mordred the usurper, opening as Arthur and Gawain go to war.”

Haruki Murakami, at 2/1 odds. (But last year’s favorite was Adonis, and we saw how that worked out.)

“They have had an effect in shaping the biggest change in the library since it opened 101 years ago.”

“The Harry Potter novels have inspired more than 600,000 pieces of fan fiction, a total that increases by at least a thousand stories a week. And although fan fiction (or fanfic) predates the internet, the web has allowed the genre to flourish.”

“With a single-volume novel, it gets reviewed. How does one review a serial? You can review the episodes as they come out but since nobody knows how it ends there’s no overall way that you can comment on the whole thing, which is in some ways one of the charms, that nobody can peek.”

What is up with our fetish for print?

Ten pieces of writing advice from Margaret Atwood.