Category: publishing

There was a time when scientific journals reveled in an “all substance, no style” approach, sure that their readers were too high-minded to be sucked in by a glossy look anyway. But no more: “The realities of competing for limited readership have caused editors to employ a little pizazz to stand out on the shelf. That means paintings, photos and, most popular, microscopic illustrations (if medical journals were tabloids, the DNA double helix would be J.Lo). Inside, poems and first-person essays often break up the pages of dauntingly technical and data-laden articles.”

Richard Powers, Ken Kalfus and Jess Walter are among the nominees for best fiction book of the year, while a chronicle of the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King, Jr. will compete with a much-praised review of the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks in the non-fiction category. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Louise Gluck is among those nominated in the poetry category.

“Newspapers and magazines do not have the right to republish articles written by freelancers in electronic databases without the consent of the authors, according to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling released Thursday.”

The Counts of Baden in Germany “are broke and need 70 million euros to fix up their castle.” So they propose a “selloff of 3500 of the 4200 medieval manuscripts – many of them of the highest importance -” from the collection in the Badische Landesbibliothek of Karlsruhe.

The first days after winning the Man Booker Prize are a whirlwind of media engagements and adjusting to newfound celebrity. For this year’s winner, Kiran Desai, who wasn’t even on the radar screen of the oddsmakers that handicap the Booker, “the impact of the win and attendant publicity is likely to be colossal.”

The two Australian women shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize not only aren’t upset that they didn’t win, they’re professing relief. Kate Grenville and MJ Hyland were the first Australian women ever to make the shortlist, and they say that the whole experience was overwhelming. “In sales terms, the shortlist is certainly enough, with Grenville saying sales of her novel have increased tenfold since it was nominated for the last six.”

Back in 1940, a ponderous, 400-page tome called How To Read A Book was all the rage. But such a volume would be of little use to the average reader these days, says Alex Beam. Why, what with the inescapable wave of excerpts, previews, press releases and half-assed analysis of every important new book that comes out, what we really need is an expert guide to how not to read a book.

“Novelist Sarah Waters is the favourite to win the Man Booker Prize, which is being announced in London on Tuesday. Waters, who was nominated for the award in 2002, faces competition from five other authors for the honour, which carries a prize of £50,000. The author of ‘Night Watch’ was 5/4 favourite with bookmakers Ladbrokes before betting closed.”

Kiran Desai wins for her novel “The Inheritance of Loss.” “Desai beat favourite Sarah Waters – shortlisted for The Night Watch – and fellow nominees Kate Greenville, Hisham Matar, M J Hyland and Edward St Aubyn.”

“Most literary mags have the life span of fruit flies, perhaps because most literary magazines are about as interesting as fruit flies. But the Paris Review endured, partly because (founding editor George) Plimpton was great at raising money from his rich friends but mostly because his magazine was actually worth reading. … When Plimpton died, the literary world wondered: What will happen to the Paris Review? Now we know the answer. It has gotten even better.” New editor Philip Gourevitch has made some changes, but cautiously and well.