A non-profit had been doing so, in part because the state’s library is under-resourced. But the state says it doesn’t have the ability to check all the books that come in. Now Books to Prisoners has mounted a campaign… – Seattle Times
Category: words
Women’s Prize For Fiction Trying To Figure Out Gender Criteria After Controversy Over Trans-Non-Binary Semifinalist
“The Women’s Prize for Fiction has said it is working on a policy around gender fluid, transgender and transgender non-binary writers after featuring non-binary author Akwaeke Emezi on its latest longlist. … Emezi became the first non-binary trans person to be nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction last month, for debut novel Freshwater. – The Bookseller (UK)
For Its National Book Week, The Netherlands Makes Trains Free If You Showed A Book Instead Of A Ticket
Not just any book, mind you. “Traditionally, a well-known Dutch author writes a special novel – the book week gift or Boekenweekgeschenk – which is given out for free to people who buy books during the festivities or sign up to a library. But the special book … can also be presented instead of a rail ticket on every train in the country on the Sunday of book week.” – The Independent (UK)
The Comma Queen Reports From The Big Copy Editors’ Convention
The New Yorker‘s Mary Norris on the American Copy Editors Society annual conference: “But the centerpiece of the weekend is the session at which the A.P. announces changes to its annual style guide. It was standing room only in Narragansett A as Paula Froke, the lead editor of the A.P. Stylebook, ran through her slides. … You could feel the excitement in the room when a slide appeared with the heading ‘HYPHENS!'” – The New Yorker
‘Netflix Of E-Books’ Begins Offering Original Content
Scribd, a subscription service for e-books and audiobooks with over 1 million paying subscribers, is launching Scribd Originals, which will “focus on ‘the space between a magazine article and a book’ — namely, pieces up to 50,000 words in length that are too long to run in a magazine but aren’t long enough to be published as a standalone book.” – TechCrunch
Marjorie Perloff: It’s Not A Great Time For Poetry Right Now
Why? “I’m not eager to write poetry criticism right now because the current scene strikes me as pretty unchallenging vis-a-vis, say, fiction or documentary. It’s just not a great moment for poetry.” – Tablet
Do We Need To Rewrite Fairy Tales To Protect Girls From Pernicious Stereotypes? Actually, No
The key is that you don’t read them to young kids: wait until they’re at least 10, then give them a good edition of Grimm to read for themselves. Why? Because, as we tend to forget, these weren’t originally children’s stories. – BBC
Could Michelle Obama’s Book Become The Bestselling Memoir Of All Time?
“According to publisher Penguin Random House, [Becoming] has sold more than 10 million copies — including hardcover, audiobooks and e-books — since its November release. That puts it near the top, if not the pinnacle, of all-time memoir sales.” It’s already the top-selling hardcover of last year, and it has outsold both of her husband’s books put together. – The Washington Post
Clickbait Scammers Are Ruining Self-Publishing
And some of them are earning $100,000 a month. In the Amazon self-publishing universe where authors earn a share of revenue based on how many people are reading, scammers have so gamed the system that quality legitimate books are being edged out, and money is going to clickbait. – The Guardian
Polish Priests Burning Harry Potter, Twilight Books
If only this were an April Fools joke. As part of “spring cleaning,” the clergy of a parish in Gdańsk asked their faithful to bring objects “linked to the occult and magic” to a bonfire after Mass on Sunday. They brought books from the popular children’s series about student magicians and the young adult romance series about a chaste vampire — as well as (among other items) a Hindu figurine and a Hello Kitty umbrella. – Yahoo! (AFP)