Category: publishing

“Strangely, the Austrian city of Klagenfurt doesn’t have a public library … However, an initiative dubbed Project Ingeborg is turning the municipality into a book repository of sorts with 70 QR code and NFC chip-equipped stickers. Plastered throughout town, they direct users to web pages where they can download public domain works.”

“The author Douglas Brinkley and the actor Johnny Depp are teaming up to edit House of Earth, a previously unpublished novel by the folk singer Woody Guthrie that will be released next spring.”

“The winner, Boualem Sansal, … was scheduled to receive the Prix du Roman Arabe (the Arab Novel Prize) for his book Rue Darwin (“Darwin Street”). But in May, he spoke at a literary festival in Israel, and afterward Hamas … said he had committed ‘an act of treason against the Palestinian people’.” The 22 Arab diplomats in Paris who, as a group, sponsor the award promptly cancelled the ceremony and withheld the €15,000 in prize money.

“One wall held roll upon roll of whole calf and goatskins, most from Nigeria. Even within the same dye lot, each hide can take on a slightly different shade — variations, say, from a deep raspberry to a bright crimson. To the left of the leathers were rolls of book cloth (backed with paper for easier gluing) in various textures and fabrics, much of it imported from Japan. And to the right were stiff, creamy sheets of vellum and almost opalescent parchment imported from Britain; the parchment is treasured by botanical illustrators for its ability to hold the finest line without any bleed.”

They’re pretty damn crap. And they don’t even seem connected to the books themselves. What’s the point?

No. 11, “The Undiagnosed Colorblindness Ending”: ” ‘What are you talking about?’ the fisherman asked. ‘That light is blue, and your socks don’t match.’ “

“The Casual Vacancy, published in September, charts rivalry and small-time political strife in Pagford, a seemingly tranquil town. While the author is remaining tight-lipped about any real-life inspiration, Kelso in the Scottish Borders this weekend boasted a”

“The phenomenon is now so pronounced that you could say, without exaggeration, that there are two principal avenues for would-be writers in America. The first is to swallow the exorbitant price tag for one of the country’s multiplying creative-writing courses (usually Masters of Fine Arts, or MFAs); the second is to move to Brooklyn.”

“I read the reviews of my books and I am greatly affected by the reviews of my books. I can’t help it. They matter, both artistically and commercially. They scare me and I love them. How other people react is a part of storytelling. What reviewers say affects the book’s life. And because of this, the week before the reviews come, I am catatonic, greatly troubled by the storms of anticipation.”

“If left to stand, the library community says the ruling could strip libraries of their first-sale right to lend copies of works made abroad.”