Category: publishing

An NEA study on how much Americans read “confirms the predilection for fiction but doesn’t explain it. We say that, even though media coverage is not the only factor, it’s a big one. That which receives media attention is more likely to be read. Any book publicist will tell you that it’s easier to get press or broadcast coverage for non-fiction books because they come with pictures and flesh-and-blood characters. Even C-SPAN’s “Book TV” steers clear of fiction. Which leaves us with the question: Do the media have some responsibility to help keep fiction and poetry alive?”

JK Rowling has sold a lot of books. But that’s not her only accomplishment. “The catalyst of a fantasy renaissance, she’s the unmistakable force behind a boomlet in precociously youthful (and successful) writers.”

A professor discovers that a colleague at another university has plagiarized her dissertation. “Is cheating so pervasive that even someone who seeks a career in academe will violate the fundamental principle of giving other scholars credit for their work? If so, what hope do I have of inculcating that principle in students eager to escape quickly with their B.A. in hand?”

“Every black writer has a piece about the special challenges of being black. Every Latino writer has a piece on growing up Latino or speaking Spanglish. Native American writers lament their treatment at the hands of Caucasian police or describe journeys they made to rekindle their lost heritage. Chinese American and Korean American writers have pieces about the difficulties their Asian-born parents have living in America. And so on. Please don’t misunderstand me. I rejoice at these honest and exciting essays, and I teach some of them in my classes every semester. But it seems that writers who happen to be members of minority groups are getting pigeonholed.”

It’s been a year since “Blaenavon, the small coal and iron town in South Wales, launched an audacious experiment – to build a new prosperity based on second-hand books in a post-industrial graveyard of dead jobs. The town’s steep main street is a hill of dreams. The new booksellers have put behind them stalled lives, broken marriages, stifling jobs, and invested not just money but passionate hope.” So how’s it going?

Why was a book about composer Rebecca Clarke sent to reviewers last month, then quickly withdrawn? “A tangle of alleged copyright infringement and mutual recrimination — hitched to rising scholarly interest in the late Anglo-American composer Rebecca Clarke — lurks behind the dueling letters and the book’s withdrawal from circulation last month.”

“Publishers, particularly textbook publishers, have long countered used-book sales by churning out new editions every couple of years. But the Web, particularly sites like Amazon and eBay, have given millions of consumers an easy way to find cheap books – often for under $1 – without paying royalty fees to publishers or authors. Mass-market publishers are not certain the used-book phenomenon is a problem worth addressing, but others in the industry have already made up their minds.”

A Chinese author has written a novel for text-messaging phone. “Qian Fuchang has reduced his novel Outside the Fortress Besieged into 60 chapters of 70 characters each, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. Described as a steamy tale of illicit love among already married people, the novel will be available exclusively to mobile phone users.”

This summer the New York Times is serializing fiction – starting with The Great Gatsby. “Unlike the way newspapers usually dabble with literature, the Times’ plan originated in the paper’s marketing sector, not among its editors. Each 16-page installment – sandwiched between the book’s cover art and a full-page ad for the series’ sponsor – comes as a tabloid-sized pullout.”

“The number of illustrated books for older children and adults seems mysteriously to have dwindled in recent years. Publishers argue, very reasonably, that it makes books more expensive. Readers of fantasy fiction have their imagery packaged for them in the all-powerful special effects of the big screen. But there are signs now that the illustrated novel, which aims to elicit a more leisurely, intimate response, is due for a comeback.”