Category: publishing

“On Tuesday, scanned pages of what may be the entire text of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” were circulating among Web users. A separate link displayed what the site claimed to be a seven-page epilogue and the table of contents from ‘Deathly Hallows,’ coming out July 21 under ultra-tight security.”

All appearances to the contrary, “sales of comic books have been increasing steadily for the last five years. And that doesn’t just include graphic novels–the perfect-bound trade paperbacks that have become the default format for the medium. Diamond Comic Distributors Inc., the company that has a practical monopoly on comics distribution, has seen improving figures in almost all formats. What’s strange about this grim reprieve for the industry is that it is so hard to see in the popular culture.”

A long-running lawsuit, now returning to trial, pits “Stuart Y. Silverstein, a Los Angeles lawyer who researched and assembled 122 previously uncollected poems and verses in the book ‘Not Much Fun: The Lost Poems of Dorothy Parker,’ against Penguin Putnam, which published ‘Dorothy Parker, Complete Poems,’ and used Mr. Silverstein’s book as a source for the last chapter without giving him any credit or paying him any royalties.”

“Britain’s richest poetry awards today choose by far the youngest poet in their history as a finalist for their most sought-after prize. He is Luke Kennard, 26, whose book of verse The Harbour Beyond the Movie is shortlisted for the £10,000 Forward prize for the year’s best collection.”

“When it comes to the arena in which novelists can have the most impact – their art – this generation (with the notable exception of Gary Shteyngart and his Absurdistan) has been rather silent about the Bush years. What a difference 100 years makes. In one century, it’s a novelist calling a president to account; in the next, Americans have to turn to a former sportscaster to get a spoonful of hard wisdom. Granted, the US will never have the respect France has for its intellectuals. But it’s not as if American novelists have steered clear of the op-ed pages.”

Editors at the Raleigh News & Observer have revamped their books section, and so far, the paper’s editors report, the response from readers has been positive. There are “plans to broaden the books pages to appeal to a larger range of readers by reviewing more kinds of books. To that end, [editor Marcy Smith] has lined up a dozen writers to do regular columns on ‘niche’ genres: among others, children’s and young adult books, food, poetry, race, women’s issues, science fiction and mysteries. Previously, Smith said, the books pages were more of a ‘books-based approach. This is more of a reader-based approach. It will be the big important books, but a wider range, all of the books people are reading’.”

“No one questions the popularity of J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ series — 350 million copies now in print worldwide, with the seventh and final book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” going on sale Saturday with the largest first press run, 12 million, in the history of American publishing. But that enormous popularity has overshadowed consideration of the series’ literary merits.”

“Can a company revered in the industry for its fleet, efficient distribution (Raincoast does fulfilment for more than 45 U.S., British and Canadian imprints), and that is known to the public, if it’s known at all, as the publisher of JK Rowling, celebrity foodie Anthony Bourdain and Griffin & Sabine creator Nick Bantock, find new sources of magic in a post-Hogwarts universe? It’s a question with a lot at stake.”

“We seem to be doing a better job than ever at teaching younger kids to read, but when kids enter adolescence, their reading — and reading ability — falls off. The power of the electronic, commercial entertainment media seems to be taking teenagers away from reading.”

Borders has begun carrying a line of Polish books in the UK, a reflection of the growing influence of Polish culture in the country. Polish immigrants abound in Britain, and “it seems culture has joined food, banking and aviation as the latest sector of the economy to catch on to the power of the ‘Polish Pound.'”