Category: publishing

Leonard’s “fiction — with swift prose and slick characters — is often tapped for screen adaptation, notably with ‘Out of Sight,’ ‘Get Shorty’ and ‘Jackie Brown.'”

“[T]he notion of the book is becoming increasingly elastic as publishers mash together text, video and Web features in a scramble to keep readers interested in an archaic form of entertainment. … But reading experts question whether fiddling with the parameters of books ultimately degrades the act of reading.”

“Twelve years after Hong Kong passed from British to Chinese rule, … political writings censored in the mainland circulate widely here, and they are hot souvenirs among the nearly 17 million mainland tourists who visit here every year.”

“In what it bills as an industry-defining moment — though rivals are sure to be skeptical about that — Disney Publishing plans to introduce a new subscription-based Web site. For $79.95 a year, families can access electronic replicas of hundreds of Disney books, from ‘Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too’ to ‘Hannah Montana: Crush-tastic!'”

“The students who have long cherished the small library inside Dunster House, Harvard’s oldest dormitory, discovered a new feature there this week: two brass bars stretching across nearly every shelf, making the books impossible to peruse,” and “in effect making the library into a kind of museum of hardbacks.”

“A new wave of posthumous books by iconic authors is stirring debate over how publishers should handle fragmentary literary remains. … Many are incomplete or appear in multiple drafts, raising thorny questions about author intent,” and about why clear intent sometimes has been ignored.

“Author E.L. Doctorow — who is doing a reading later in the evening — will be on hand to celebrate the machine’s debut, and to give it a new name. Sadly, he won’t be cracking a bottle of Champagne over the Espresso’s bow….”

Tim Wu: “[The complainants’] premise is that the monopoly that the settlement creates is invaluable – and that without the settlement, we can create a competitive market for putting out-of-print books online. But I fear that’s a fantasy … there is a reason that libraries aren’t generally run for profit.”

“[S]peaking takes place in real time and depends in part on the person or persons we’re speaking to. Wonderful writers might therefore turn out to be only so-so conversationalists, and people capable of telling great stories waddle like ducks out of water when they attempt to write.”

“[L]ess than two weeks after 50 students received the free Kindle DX e-readers, many of them said they were dissatisfied and uncomfortable with the devices. … ‘I hate to sound like a Luddite, but this technology is a poor excuse of an academic tool,'” one student said.