Category: publishing

“Poems are often brief and ambiguous. Exam boards might more easily tolerate a novel about an adolescent who considers stabbing someone, because 200 or so pages would probably encompass debate, payoff and a clear message distancing the author from their character.”

“With pre-orders of ‘several thousand’ units, according to Waterstone’s, the launch marks a real change for ebooks: the country’s largest bookseller is putting its money behind what it believes is the best device out there. Publishers have committed to it as well, digitising thousands of books in readiness for its launch. But we’re not at the ebook tipping point quite yet.”

“A romantic novel about the prophet Muhammad that was canceled by Random House after critics said it could provoke Muslim anger has found an English-language publisher in Britain.”

“Hundreds of small, independent publishers will have easier access to digital book technology under a new service offered by Perseus Books Group… The new service, called Constellation, will allow independent publishers to make use of electronic readers, digital book search, print-on-demand and other digital formats.”

“Literary critics feared that after the Soviet collapse, the easy availability of popular romance novels and thrillers would seduce Russian readers away from deeper works. Now they attribute a literary revival to the country’s new authoritarianism.”

Aside from the Top 10, the list throws up some fascinating facts: for example, there were 10 copies of the Kama Sutra abandoned in the Peterborough Travelodge, which is the basis for a short story all in itself.

“On Tuesday, the U.S. publisher of Harry Potter will premiere a highly ambitious series with a mystery ending for readers and a couple of puzzlers for the industry: How big is the market for a multimedia story – and can a phenomenon be conceived by a publisher rather than created by the public?”

“Former U.S. poet laureate Louise Glueck has been awarded the Wallace Stevens Award, a $100,000 prize for “outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry,” the Academy of American Poets announced Tuesday.”

“Those who sign up to the dating system will be asked in their profile to list the book they have read most recently. They will also be able to search potential suitors’ profiles for mentions of their favourite book.”

“I have often read that poetry is untranslatable, that ‘nothing is lost in translation except the poetry.’ Yet, if this were true, we would hardly be able to read, let alone appreciate, poets writing in other languages than our own. In fact, great poetry really is translatable.”