Category: publishing

Tim Waterstone “is also about to return to bookselling as non-executive chairman of a new venture called Read Petite. … An online outlet for short-form ebooks (fiction and non-fiction), its users will pay a monthly subscription – ‘a few pounds’ – and have unlimited access to texts of around 9,000 words or under.”

The New York Times has named Pamela Paul the new editor of the Book Review section, as current editor Sam Tanenhaus takes on a new assignment as writer-at-large, according to a staff memo.

A Q&A with founding editor Robert Silvers on the occasion of the magazine’s 50th anniversary.

“Combining the appeal of fantasy and historical fiction, Indian mythology now reaches from graphic novels to business books. And the genre’s growing popularity is yet another story of how tradition in India has adapted to development, with the attendant gains and losses.”

“This may sound like a minor problem; authors already contend with an enormous domestic market for secondhand books. But it is the latest example of how the global electronic marketplace is rapidly depleting authors’ income streams. It seems almost every player — publishers, search engines, libraries, pirates and even some scholars — is vying for position at authors’ expense.”

“For the first time multi-function tablets have surpassed dedicated e-readers as the device of choice among consumers who read e-books.”

“It seems that almost every book these days gets a new cover for the paperback. It’s almost as if they’re doing two different books for two different audiences, with the paperback becoming the ‘book club book.'”

Clive James recounts how his wife showed him what made Dante’s verse so great – the way it hurtles forward – and how he attempted to recreate the effect in English.

“This is great news for anyone who agrees that lending ebooks is a crucial part of a modern library service, especially as e-readers get more affordable.”