Think You Have A Book In You Yearning To Be Free? Naaah.

“A story may be things that happened, embellished for interest, but that’s not a book. Many stories don’t get good until the end. Some stories — true ones even — are hard to believe. Other stories are just too short, don’t have enough tension, or frankly aren’t that interesting. The stories we tell that enrapture our friends and families may be extraordinarily boring to those who don’t know us. Those stories are not a book.”

What’s Being Lost As English Conquers The World

“Because English is increasingly the currency of the universal, it is difficult to express any opposition to its hegemony that doesn’t appear to be tainted by either nationalism or snobbery. … [Yet English] draws the same circle Humboldt described around its speakers as each of the other 6,000 human languages. The difference is that we have mistaken that circle for the world.”

Translation Matters

History is littered with more consequential mistranslations — erroneous, intentional or simply misunderstood. For a job that often involves endless hours poring over books or laptop screens, translation can prove surprisingly hazardous.

Publishing Sales Up 5.5 Percent In 2018

The strongest performing trade format was downloadable audio, where sales jumped 36.1%. Sales of physical audio, however, continued to struggle; they were down 11.4% in the four month period. Hardcover sales rose 11.8% in the period, and trade paperback and mass market paperback sales inched ahead 1.4%. In a bit of a surprise, sales of board books, which had been growing quickly, fell 5.5%.

A Literary Agent Wants You To Know That You Really Do Not ‘Have A Book In You’

Ouch, but also, too real: “Every story is not a book. A story may be things that happened, embellished for interest, but that’s not a book. Many stories don’t get good until the end. Some stories — true ones even — are hard to believe. Other stories are just too short, don’t have enough tension, or frankly aren’t that interesting. The stories we tell that enrapture our friends and families may be extraordinarily boring to those who don’t know us. Those stories are not a book.”