Category: publishing

“The project, based at Carnegie Mellon University and working with partners in China, India and Egypt, has now scanned 1.5 million books, which can be viewed for free at the project’s Web site, ulib.org.”

“At a time when books appear to be waging a Sisyphean battle against the forces of MySpace, YouTube and ‘American Idol,’ the notion that someone could move so quickly from literary indifference to devouring passion seems, sadly, far-fetched.”

“Included here are 2,500 new entries that treat language more as living menagerie than as natural history museum. Along with restless leg syndrome and flatline come more questionable entries, where use becomes the main criterion for inclusion.”

The UK is building a huge repository designed to store the seemingly endless collection of printed words published there. But “with the British Library’s UK collection growing at a rate of 12.5km of shelf space a year, is the notion of the copyright library really sustainable?”

National Novel Writing Month is a cute concept, a way for a lot of people to challenge their creative spirit, even if it rarely produces great literature. But for a group of American soldiers serving overseas, NaNoWriMo has become a lifeline, a creative escape from the horrors of war.

“Books by Stephen Hawking, Umberto Eco, Haruki Murakami and other star writers past and present have been chosen as the first works to be translated into Arabic, in a major initiative to widen access to foreign literature.”

“While it may seem that certain genre writers produce their annual blockbuster using autopilot, Novel Writer takes the process one step further. If you still need help with a title here’s one for free: There’s One Born Every Minute.”

Catherine O’Flynn, 37, whose novel, What Was Lost, was turned down repeatedly before it secured a publishing deal, began writing while working long hours at a shopping centre.

“Critics of Gioia’s report noted that the definition of reading was limited to print, mostly books, and for pleasure, and largely ignored the increasing use of Internet sites as sources of information and entertainment. There was no attempt to gauge the amount of time young people spend reading online because ‘there’s a lack of specific data’ on it, the NEA admitted.”

“The reader’s report is the most silent of literary genres, its existence publicly acknowledged only in attacks or parodies… We never get to read them, but reader’s reports for publishers can make or break books – particularly so for translations.”