Category: publishing

“The last decade has seen a huge expansion in creative writing courses. More than 90 British universities now offer a range of postgraduate degrees, and around 10,000 short creative writing courses or classes are on offer in the UK each year. But, 40 years on and amid all this clamour to master the art, how well do universities teach creative writing? Can anyone actually teach it at all?”

“Our inmates are only allowed to receive soft back bibles in the mail directly from the publisher. They are not allowed to have magazines, newspapers, or any other type of books.”

“Anybody in publishing will tell you that the prices they can charge advertisers for print (and now tablet) subscribers are far above the commodity pricing that rules on Web-based content. As more and more magazines end up in people’s laps, backlighted and without a mailing label, it’s a huge win for magazines, right?”

“Robert Loomis holds a revered place in the publishing industry as an editor known for nurturing writers including Maya Angelou, William Styron, Shelby Foote and Calvin Trillin. He is considered one of the last great old-school editors, a legend from the days when writers tended to stay put at a publisher rather than jump to a new one with each book, and when editors called all the shots within a publishing house, even if then, as now, they remained largely unknown to the public.”

“Self-published authors are putting downward pressure on publishers to reduce the price of their books. More important is the fact that a growing number of readers, especially younger ones, are savvy consumers and many have figured out that it’s not really necessary to buy every book that piques your interest.”

“The two-week exhibition featured more than 200 publishing houses from 32 countries displaying about 37,000 books at a massive conference hall in Mansur, west Baghdad, according to the event’s organisers.”

“The site intends to provide information for all things literary: suggestions on what books to buy, reviews of books, excerpts from books and news about authors. Visitors will also be able to buy books directly from the site or from other retailers and write recommendations and reviews for other readers.”

“Babar, Peter Rabbit, Curious George … conspiracy? All of these animals, after all, are male and all are protagonists in some of the most popular children’s books of the 20th century.” A new study finds that “there has been a bias toward male characters – men, boys and, yes, animals – in children’s literature over the last century.”

“Amazon sued the National Association of College Stores Inc. in federal court in Seattle, saying the trade group is trying to prevent it from advertising lower prices. The association filed a complaint in March with the Better Business Bureau in New York calling Amazon’s claims false and misleading, the online retailer said in its filing.”

“The past few years have been tough on cultural and historical institutions such as the Mount, [Edith Wharton’s estate]. In the recession, big donors grew scarce, and visitor counts declined. The market for ghosts and the supernatural, on the other hand, has boomed … So the conservators of several august literary homesteads and venerable historical sites have jumped on the bandwagon.”