Category: words

E-publisher MightyWords sent notices to the 5000 authors whose work it carries. Half of them are to be kicked off the site and the other half will have their royalties reduced. “MightyWords’ decision fits neatly in the trend of downsizing dot-coms. In other words, e-business stinks as usual. But it’s significant in the world of bookselling, where self-published authors are getting a wake-up call. If they didn’t realize it already, they’re largely out there on their own.” – Wired

“You know when you get to a certain age and stage, you do feel you go through a period where you’re unawardable, just as politicians go through a period when they’re unelectable,” Atwood said in an interview yesterday, the day after being awarded the Booker Prize for her 10th novel, The Blind Assassin. “I think they’re relieved they did this before I toppled into the grave.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

— for her tenth novel, “The Blind Assassin.” Toronto’s Atwood had been shortlisted for the award three times previously. – BBC

• CHOOSING THE WINNER: The decision was not unanimous, but was a ‘consensus’ among the judges. – New York Times
  
  
• ATWOOD ON THE BETTING THAT SURROUNDS THE BOOKER: This is a betting country and this prize really took off when some genius put together the three words: Booker, book and bookie. I think there’s something deeply whimsical and appealing about the fact that the bookies get together and read all of the books; I mean, I love to think of them reading away, and then I love to think of them making the odds.” – National Post (Canada)
  
  
• NY TIMES REVIEW OF “BLIND ASSASSIN”

Tonight the Booker Prize for literature is announced. “Baffled by such a mixed bag, Britain has shown less Booker spirit than usual this year. The shortlisted novels have failed to take over the nation’s bookshops, and sales are modest. “The list is slightly odd, and people aren’t quite sure what to make of it.” – National Post (Canada)

Everyone agrees that e-books are the road to the future. But “the industry is nowhere near establishing a common e-book format that will permit consumers to read any e-book on whatever device they happen to own.” Until that happens, it’s likely to be rocky time for e-publishing. – Publishers Weekly

Dave Eggers has become a hero of the New Media, he and his friends publishing books and the literary magazine McSweeney’s pretty much on their own terms. Is this how the New Media world was supposed to happen or is Eggers a passing flash? – New York Magazine

Novellas are this fall’s literary sensation, with one after another short work of fiction hitting the bookshelves. An easy way out for stymied writers? A concession to readers’ dwindling attention spans? “When push comes to shove, perhaps the word represents a state of mind rather than a specific number of pages. There is something dangerous about the narrative choices the writer takes. If Steve Martin’s novella had been a page longer, it would have been mawkish; a page shorter, dismissible.” – Village Voice

A Ph.D student from the UK goes to Yale for courses in literary criticism and reports from the front lines: “I am struck by the thought that literary criticism – at least as it is practised here – is a hoax. And the universities that offer it, and the professors who in America earn large salaries teaching it, are fraudulent, wittingly or not.” – New Statesman

Last week’s Giller Prize in Canada ended up in a tie between “Mercy Among the Children” by David Adams Richards and “Anil’s Ghost” by Michael Ondaatje. “Nobody likes a tie, except the co-winners; half a prize has got to be better than no prize at all. For the rest of us though, a tie is unsettling. Why can’t the judges make up their minds? Are they cowards, in thrall to their friends, or just plain lazy?” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

The Booker Prize for literature is to be announced Tuesday night. “London bookmaker Ladbroke’s gives the shortest odds (11 to 8) on Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Blind Assassin’ getting the £21,000 prize.” – Toronto Star