Category: words

“Forty years ago an editor decided to publish a book because it, or the author, captured their fancy. Marketing, accounting, and publicity mattered, but not nearly as much as editorial preference. This led to the discovery of some great writers who wouldn’t have stood a chance in a more dollar-conscious environment, but it also led, as you might expect, to a reasonable share of self-important blather. Over the last decade the ethos of narcissism once so common has been displaced by an equally dubious operating principle: The corporate mindset.” – Feed

After several down years, the Korean publishing industry had a great year in 2000 thanks in part to robust online sales. – Korea Herald

A comic book remake of Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” in Russia has critics upset. “Convertible cars, cocaine and sushi bars provide the backdrop for the comic-book reworking, set in the present day and casting its characters as fast-living members of Russia’s idle rich. The novel’s heroine is depicted as a femme fatale with a mobile phone, a taste for luxury lingerie and, by the end of the comic, a drug habit that drives her to suicide.” – National Post (Canada)

The average independent bookstore turns over its inventory about 3½ times in a year – a bit better than the chains do. What makes an independent successful? The formula’s not so difficult. – Washington Post

A high school kid who joined an English printing firm for a fortnight’s work study program came up with and implemented an idea that earned the company millions of pounds and saved it from bankruptcy. – The Telegraph (UK)

Critics decry the consolidation of the book business and the decline of independent book stores. But anyone who has walked into a Barnes and Noble or Borders can see that most Americans have more access to a wider range of books of all qualities and types than ever before. Is this a bad thing? – Reason

The Harry Potter books have been a sensation wherever they’ve been released so far. “The books have been published and released in nearly 40 countries and in nearly as many languages. But the mania seen elsewhere has not been attained in Russia. Most Russians have never heard of Harry, especially in hard-to-reach provinces. Even in Moscow, advertising and media coverage of the book release were minimal.” – The Age (Melbourne)

“Writers who escape or are exiled from their home countries for political reasons may find sanctuary in Las Vegas, as they also can in Barcelona, Frankfurt, Lausanne, Venice and 25 other cities around the world.” – New York Times

Canada considers naming a poet laureate. – CBC

“There seemed to be an expectation that as apartheid collapsed and its legacy faded a new generation of young black writers (let’s call them YBWs) would emerge in their full glory, spurred on by the new freedoms of a new democracy. It was thought that the combination of apartheid censorship and lack of educational advantage had held them back, but now their time had come. Yet they are scarcer than viable South African feature film projects.” – Daily Mail & Guardian (South Africa)