The Guardian newspaper is planning an American edition. “Its tentative form is as a weekly magazine, quite unlike any other weekly magazine that has been started in the U.S. in the past generation. Not only is it about politics, but the magazine—meant to be 60 percent derived from the Guardian itself, with the rest to … Continue reading “The Guardian: Coming To America”
Now that choreographer Twyla Tharp has a Broadway hit, is she selling out? “Sellin’ out might seem a more appropriate label for a career that has advanced so publicly from avant-garde to Broadway. Tharp is even publishing a self-help book on the art of creative thinking this autumn. Yet she hasn’t abandoned her pure-dance audience … Continue reading “Movin’ On, Not Sellin’ Out”
Why do so many interviews with authors seem so stupid? “Part of the problem,” writes Gene Weingarten, “is caused by the publishing industry itself, which caters to the laziness of the media. Here at The Washington Post, we constantly get promotional packets for new books in which the publicity departments declare that their authors are … Continue reading “Ask Me If I’m An Idiot”
“The ‘New Yorker short story’ is no longer the hegemon it may once have been. In fact, this collection of ‘thrilling tales’ actually serves as a more effective counterbalance to an entirely new phenomenon. Call it the ‘McSweeney’s short story’ — younger and hipper and more experimental, but no less influential. In some ways, McSweeney’s … Continue reading “The Danger That Is McSweeney’s”
Salon.com is one of the original online publishing success stories. It has high-profile writers, scads of devoted readers, and a surfeit of great story ideas. So why is it constantly on the verge of going out of business? “The company ended its first quarter of 2003 with only $169,000 in cash. It stopped paying rent … Continue reading “Everybody Loves Salon. So Why Is It Broke?”
Books like the upcoming Harry Potter become bestsellers long before they even hit stores. “The growth of pre-sales is an interesting development in publishing. Of course in the eighteenth century an author could pre-sell his book by subscription as a way of supporting himself, but this is a different kettle of fish. Publishers love it … Continue reading “Bestsellers Before The First Page Is Published”
Zines are a publishing phenomenon. They’re self-published little magazines usually “written and self-published by one or two obsessed souls in places like Hoboken and Topeka, then sent out into an unsuspecting world bearing such wonderfully loopy titles as Brain Thong, and Murder Can Be Fun, and The World Would Be a Much Better Place if … Continue reading “Zine Dreams”
Thursday October 31 HOW TO WRITE BOOKS AND INFLUENCE GOVERNMENTS: Greek author Vassilis Vassilikos may be the embodiment of the old literary cliche about the pen and the sword. He may just be the only author on earth who can claim that one of his books helped to bring down a military dictatorship. And yet, … Continue reading “People: October 2002”
Thursday October 31 DOING THINGS THE CALGARY WAY: To most Canadians, Calgary, Alberta, is the Cowboy City, a remote Western outpost boasting plenty of corporate bigwigs and independent-minded entrepreneurs, but little in the way of such traditional urban accessories as culture, art, or music. That view of the city appeared to be supported by last … Continue reading “Music: October 2002”
Friday August 30 RIGHT TO EDIT: A video store chain that edits profanity, violence and sex from films asked a judge Thursday to rule the practice is legal, despite protests by such directors as Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg. Nando Times (AP) 08/30/02 Previously: WE WANT OUR SEX AND VIOLENCE! Hollywood directors are looking into … Continue reading “Media: August 2002”
