Category: publishing

“One man said that he was a prison librarian while serving time in Walpole and that closing any library branches would be far worse than any of his crimes. ‘I may have robbed a bank, but I have never burned a book,’ said the man, John McGrath. ‘And that’s what you do when you close a library branch, because they are never going to reopen.'”

Among other criteria, “administrators will rank the 26 neighborhood branches by foot traffic, computer use, and how many Web surfers use laptops to log on to Wi-Fi networks. They will count how many programs are offered at each location and tally the number of people who attend storytime and English classes.”

“[I]ncreasingly, adults are reading YA books with no ulterior motives. Attracted by well-written, fast-paced and engaging stories that span the gamut of genres and subjects, such readers have mainstreamed a niche long derided as just for kids.” The trend means that young-adult lit “is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak publishing market.”

“Here’s how it’s supposed to work: T.C. Boyle has published more than 20 books since 1979. For his new story collection, ‘Wild Child,’ his publisher set up a classic book tour; he traveled to a dozen cities, staying in hotels and reading to audiences of 50 to 1,000 people.” By now, that kind of tour is largely for literary stars. “[H]ow will their lesser-known counterparts connect?”

“Publishers say that responsibility for errors and fabrications ultimately must lie with the author. ‘It would not be humanly possible to fact-check books the way magazine articles can be fact-checked,’ ” editor Robert A. Gottlieb said. “But in many recent cases publishers did not seem to ask basic questions of authors, accepting their versions on almost blind faith.”

The New York Times plans to “introduce a separate version of its Book Review for three e-reader platforms, beginning with the Sony e-reader in the next couple of weeks. Versions for Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook will follow.”

“Adding to its collection of archives by literary heavy-hitters such as Norman Mailer and Don DeLillo, the University of Texas’ Ransom Center has acquired the papers of the late David Foster Wallace, author of the massive 1996 novel Infinite Jest, several collections of short stories and powerful literary journalism.”

Robert McCrum: “Just at the moment there’s a constant background murmur of complaint from what one might call the New Elitists that the pure well of our literature is being polluted by  for example – celebrity novels and ghosted memoirs. … But how new or different is this, actually?”

“Under the plan, B&N will offer customers who buy a print edition at one of their stores the opportunity to buy the e-book at a discount. Prices will be worked out in discussions with publishers.”

“What, really, is the point of a public library in the 21st century? How should libraries respond to today’s 24/7 culture and the greater availability of cheap books? Why can’t that beardy librarian double as a barista?”