Category: publishing

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library “announced this week that Cuba has shared copies of 3,000 letters and documents from the Hemingway archives at the country’s Ministry of Culture. The material fills a hole in the library’s collection, which purports to have the most comprehensive body of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s writings.”

“Narrative isn’t merely a technique for communicating; it’s how we make sense of the world. The storytellers know this. They know that the story is the original killer app.” So, all threats to its existence notwithstanding, the long-form story is not going to go away.

“The founders of Electric Literature, a new quarterly literary magazine, … allow readers to enjoy the magazine any way they like: on paper, Kindle, e-book, iPhone and, starting next month, as an audiobook.” What’s more, “next month, Rick Moody will tweet a story over three days.”

“The ABA does its members no favors by painting them as helpless victims, undone because Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Target are discounting some popular books. Perhaps the ABA should remind itself that the best neighborhood booksellers inspire affection and allegiance from customers that no online superstore can match.”

“The government Tuesday detailed plans of a project called ‘My Free Newspaper,’ under which 18- to 24-year-olds will be offered a free, yearlong subscription to a newspaper of their choice.” About 60 titles are taking part in the three-year, €15 million project, including Le Monde, Le Figaro, and the International Herald Tribune.

“Only a handful of libraries have started to offer the service, but many in the library world are hopeful that the revolution in digital reading can help transform libraries’ fortunes, and that the majority of libraries will soon offer downloads as a matter of course, alongside the latest Dan Brown paperback.”

“Since 2000, library usage in the city has soared; from 4.5 million in-person and virtual visitors to 13.2 million in 2008,” but with city departments ordered “to cut budgets in response to a $72 million revenue shortfall, the library is proposing a 23 percent reduction in library hours.”

The Frankfurt Book Fair dismissed “Peter Ripken, 67, who was the project manager for the trade show’s international center, blaming him for ‘persistent coordination problems in connection with this year’s guest of honor, China.'”

Last week the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary was published. “This two-volume work is a monumental feat of scholarship, the fruit of more than 40 years’ labour. In a world infatuated with speed, it is a testament to the value of patiently accumulated learning.”

“Andrew Pelletier, vice president of corporate affairs for Wal-Mart Canada, told the Star Friday morning that the company takes “a Canadian approach” to retailing based on “what is good for the Canadian market” that often differs from how Wal-Mart operates in the United States.”