Category: publishing

The Booker Prize hasn’t had a good week. “Now comes news that that a division of the prize sponsors, the Man Group, is under investigation in the US by the Securities and Exchange Commission. After the collapse of the Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management hedge fund, its receiver has alleged that a senior employee at the Man Financial brokerage business – with whom PAAM worked – helped to hide $175m. of losses from investors.”

The elusive author’s behavior makes many question who he is or if he really exists. “For all its abuse and kinky sex, the JT story is really just another heartwarming rags-to-riches tale for the punk generation. But what if America isn’t really the sort of place where a street urchin can charm his way to the top, through diligence and talent; what if instead it’s the sort of place where heartwarming stories of abused children who triumph through adversity are made up and marketed?”

Historical novels dominate this year’s nominees. “In contrast to last year, when unknown names dominated the list, several other recognized and respected authors were also included.”

Author Alan Bennett is urging readers to boycott major chain bookstores and buy at independent book shops. “I’m not trying to do Waterstone’s down, but all the big chains heavily discount the book, the worst being Amazon. This will drive independent booksellers out of business. In my local bookshop in Camden Town, that happened about three weeks ago. It makes the whole street much duller. So if you can afford it, go to an independent bookseller.”

“The Nobel academy said Pinter’s work ‘uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression’s closed rooms’. The playwright is known for speaking out on issues like the war on Iraq. He is the first British winner since VS Naipaul in 2001.”

Here’s the list

“J.K. Rowling, Jon Stewart, and Stephen King were among the winners last night of the first annual Quills Awards, people’s choice book prizes better known so far to the industry than to the public. Rowling, author of the multimillion-selling Harry Potter books, won for book of the year and best children’s chapter book for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince… But the Quills can hardly claim a broad mandate with readers. According to comScore Networks Inc., which tracks the Internet, the Quills site attracted so little Web traffic during the voting period, fewer than the threshold of 25,000 unique visits a week, that it can’t even offer an exact number.”

“DC Comics is in the midst of a major effort to revitalize the company’s fabled superheroes for the 21st century and better connect with today’s readers. The undertaking, which began in 2002, has involved a critical look at DC’s characters – from Aquaman and Batman to Zatanna – and developing story lines that sometimes have heroes engage in decidedly unheroic deeds… If fans embrace the new DC superhero universe, the gamble will be worth it. Last year, the comic book industry generated nearly $500 million in sales.”

A website that helps authors self-publish their books has created a new literary prize for the best book based on a blog or website. Finalists will be announced next March, and the winner will take home $2000, which, well a modest sum, is more money than most self-publishing authors ever make on their books.

“A member of the Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize for Literature, has resigned in protest at the choice of last year’s winner. Knut Ahnlund said he was stepping down because the 2004 award went to Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek. The Academy member called Jelinek’s work ‘a mass of text shovelled together without artistic structure’. His attack on Jelinek’s books and plays came days before the announcement of the 2005 winner, due on Thursday.”