Category: publishing

“A memoir by George W Bush’s former speechwriter claims that Bush administration officials objected to giving JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books ‘encouraged witchcraft’.”

“At Beast Books, writers would be expected to spend one to three months writing a book, and the publisher would take another month to produce an e-book edition,” followed by a paperback.

“More than 4,000 libraries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland” have banded together to allow people to borrow from them, no matter where they live. “Existing membership cards or a proof of address will allow people to use any library in the scheme, although books have to be returned to the same area.”

“I was at a festival recently at Yosemite, and I was standing in line to use the bathroom. This was up in the Tuolumne Meadows, and the people said, You go first! And I said, Oh I couldn’t possibly. They said, You must!”

“It’s hard to imagine that at current scale the nonprofit upstarts will completely patch over all the news holes that have been left behind by traditional news operations that have hemorrhaged advertising dollars and top-flight reporters. But readers can expect to see more stories from the philanthropic news teams picked up by for-profit media outlets.”

“Federal district court judge Denny Chin canceled the so-called fairness hearing on October 7, since Google is currently re-negotiating the agreement with the plaintiffs. Those negotiations over Google Book Search re-opened” after the U.S. Justice Department raised antitrust concerns.

“French publishers and authors took Google to court Thursday, demanding compensation from the US Internet giant they accuse of counterfeiting their books by digitizing them and posting them online.”

“In some ways, marketing Mr. Brown is as much about saying no as it is about saying yes. The author is catnip for TV news producers, who know viewers are so hungry for information that sharing a mere tidbit will drive up ratings. But the publisher also recognized that overexposure of the author could have killed off that interest.”

“Gabriel García Márquez’s seminal novel … is the piece of writing that has most shaped world literature over the past 25 years, according to a survey of international writers.” Salman Rushdie made the list for two different titles; one panelist chose Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father.

“Israeli readers are spoilt for choice when it comes to tracking down international literature in Hebrew translation.” Great novels are available from across the world – except the Arab world. A new publisher in Tel Aviv called Andalus Books is working to change that.