Category: publishing

“Adjusting for inflation, consumer purchases of magazines decreased by 22 per cent between 2001 and 2008, according to the study, dropping from $801-million to $623-million.”

“While librarians are pushing for more e-books to satisfy demand from patrons, publishers, with an eye to their bottom lines, are reconsidering how much the access to their e-books should be worth.”

“This year’s International prize for Arabic fiction has been awarded jointly for the first time, with Saudi Arabian Raja Alem and Moroccan Mohammed Achaari sharing the $50,000 (£30,900) prize.” They are, respectively, the first woman and the first Moroccan to win the award.

“But although this year’s prize goes to two worthy novels and breaks two glass ceilings, it’s more likely to generate additional controversy (was Raja Alem chosen because she’s a woman? Did Achaari win because of his political connections and the novel’s western-friendly subject matter? …) than to quell it.”

“An e-book market cluttered with the self-published but unedited, and a beleaguered professional publishing arena where only a few bestselling writers can make a living is a particularly unfriendly scenario for Canada, a nation that has produced few bestselling genre writers but many mid-list literary writers.”

“How did people get the idea that there are electrified fences against foreign investment in Canadian literature? Unlike the protected business of banking, for example, there are no barriers to the free flow of books into Canada.”

“Controversial author James Frey is set to ignite another firestorm with his new book, The Final Testament of the Holy Bible, in which the second coming of Christ takes place in The Bronx projects — but the Messiah turns out to be a former alcoholic who impregnates a prostitute.”

“With Canadian publishers weakening even as Canadian literature flowers, many observers – along with Canadian publishers of every stripe – are calling for major reforms of the old protectionist policies. Rather than strengthening Canadian publishers, they argue, the foreign ownership ban stifles them.”

“Online advertising revenue in the United States is projected to overtake print newspaper ad revenue in 2010, according to the latest report, the State of the News Media, from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.”

“In the brave new era of digital self-publishing, an unknown mystery writer in New York is managing to make headlines for him or herself by using a form of technology in use since Martin Luther’s 95 Theses were posted on the door of a Wittenberg church in 1517. Pages of a novel entitled Holy Crap are being plastered on lampposts up and down Manhattan’s East Village – helpfully numbered, and with directions as to where to find the next instalment.”