Category: publishing

“For years, Ayn Rand’s message was attacked by intellectuals whom her circle labeled ‘do-gooders,’ who argued that individuals should also work in the service of others. Her book was dismissed as an homage to greed. Gore Vidal described its philosophy as ‘nearly perfect in its immorality.’ But the book attracted a coterie of fans, some of them top corporate executives, who dared not speak of its impact except in private.”

The shortlist for the Man Booker prize is one of the most closely watched rankings in the literary world. But how is the list arrived at, and what behind-the-scenes debates lead to a shortlist like this year’s, in which prominent names are ignored in favor of rising young authors? “When five people have to agree on 13 books from a 110-strong original entry, there are bound to be casualties.”

The judge of a national writing prize has ordered men to “wake up” after all of the £3,000 awards went this year to women. With eight of the nine contenders on the New Writing Ventures awards for emerging literary talent being women, the outcome was always unlikely to be otherwise.

“Roald Dahl remains the most popular children’s author among young adults, a survey has found. JK Rowling, whose first Harry Potter book sparked a publishing sensation when it hit the bookshelves 10 years ago, is only the fourth most popular author.”

Disgraced writer James Frey is writing a novel. “A HarperCollins publicist said there would be no comment from Frey, whose career was seemingly finished a year ago after allegations emerged that he had embellished, or entirely invented, substantial portions of ‘A Million Little Pieces’.”

“Author Joan Didion and NPR host Terry Gross will both be honored on Nov. 14 during the National Book Awards ceremony,” Didion receiving the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and Gross getting the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.

“Editors have decided to stop running book reviews. Their last, according to their Website, was printed in late July.”

“Like all the greatest masters of the short story–Chekhov, Hemingway, Sholom Aleichem, Raymond Carver, Amy Hempel–Paley had an uncanny genius for containing a world within a sentence. … Why did Paley never write a novel? At the beginning of her career, her first editor suggested it, and Paley later wrote, ‘I tried, for a couple of years. I failed.’ In a sense, the question is as absurd as asking why Chekhov never did, or Carver, or Borges.”

The Alfred A. Knopf Inc. archive at the University of Texas makes you wonder how Knopf ever published all those Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners. “The rejection files … include dismissive verdicts on the likes of Jorge Luis Borges (‘utterly untranslatable’), Isaac Bashevis Singer (‘It’s Poland and the rich Jews again’), Anaïs Nin (‘There is no commercial advantage in acquiring her, and, in my opinion, no artistic’)….”

“Jack Romanos, the president and chief executive of Simon & Schuster, the book publishing arm of CBS, yesterday said that he would retire at the end of this year and be succeeded by Carolyn Reidy, currently president of the company’s adult publishing group. Rumors of Mr. Romanos’s retirement had been circulating in publishing circles for several months.”