Book cover clichés: have you spotted recurrent designs?

Certain themes and stories seem to be packaged with a particular aesthetic. Have you spotted this trend? Share your examplesWhy is it that books about Africa always look the same? A recent article on the blog Africa is a Country demonstrated that "the covers of most novels 'about Africa' seem to have been designed by someone whose principal idea of the continent comes from The Lion King" - reducing it, no matter the subject, geographical area or writer, to an acacia tree and a sunset. This followed a Twitterstorm triggered by a tweet from SimonMStevens:Like so many (wildly varying) writers on Africa, Adichie gets the acacia tree sunset treatment... (@AfricasaCountry) pic.twitter.com/zMQtirfrQ9.@SimonMStevens @AfricasaCountry See also soulful-black-woman-with-colourful-smudges e.g. UK pb eds of Adichie's bks. pic.twitter.com/bt7kUcaP06There is a peculiar phenomenon in English-language publishing in Southeast Asia: a ubiquitous genre perhaps best thought of as Asian sleaze. It spans fiction and non-fiction, but the cover generally features a partially clothed woman with long black hair, either in silhouette, or viewed from behind. The title is usually something along the lines of Bangkok Velvet. The author is always a white man. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #english-language publishing #southeast asia #white man

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Sandra Boynton Demonstrates App, Signs Books--and a Few Nooks

Monday night’s Sandra Boynton book event at the Barnes & Noble on Manhattan’s Upper East Side looked like a pretty normal book signing--normal for Boynton, the bestselling children’s book author, anyway. Toddlers and slightly older kids, some dressed in pajamas, crammed into the event space,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-book sales at Hachette UK now 5% and catching US

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 03/05/2011 - 11:42 E-book sales at Hachette UK quadrupled in the first quarter of 2011 and are more than 5% of HUK’s trade sales, the company revealed today (3rd May), adding that it was beginning to catch up with the US, where ebooks now account... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #e-book sales #hachette uk


Argos takes on Amazon with book push

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 03/05/2011 - 08:30 High street retailer Argos intends to increase its online book range from 500 to 5,000 titles over the next month. The chain store, known for stocking a large range of non-food products, launched its books category on its... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #large range #books category #online store #previously sold


St. Martin's Prepares for Run on Book by Seals

Three weeks shy of a year ago, St. Martin's Press signed up a book by a Navy SEAL Team Six sniper, chronicling how he became an elite warrior and the battle that nearly cost him his life. Today, with news of Osama Bin Laden's death reverberating around the world, SMP is getting ready for a rush... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #seal team #weeks shy #press signed #elite warrior #death reverberating


St. Martin's Prepares for Run on Book by Bin Laden's Killer

Three weeks shy of a year ago, St. Martin's Press signed up a book by a Navy SEAL Team Six sniper, chronicling how he became an elite warrior and the battle that nearly cost him his life. Today, with news of Osama Bin Laden's death reverberating around the world, SMP is getting ready for a rush... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #seal team #bin laden #weeks shy #press signed #elite warrior #death reverberating


Al Gore Reinvents the Book

Push Pop Press, the brainchild of two former Apple engineers, just got a boost from an innovative former U.S. vice president. After having ‘invented the Internet,’ Al Gore is back to reinvent the book. Push Pop Press is a digital tool taking books to the next level, making them even more... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Al Gore's Next Invention: The Future of Books? (Cheap Shot, But Cool App) [NetworkEffect]

Push Pop Press, a digital book publishing platform, went live with its first title this week, Al Gore's "Our Choice," available as an iOS app for $4.99. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Our Choice for IOS Pushes Digital Book Boundaries

The first time former U.S. vice president Al Gore issued his warning about the dire state of our environment, he used the traditional format of bound paper. To... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Confusion Over a Book About Harper Lee

The author of a forthcoming book about the ever-private Harper Lee, author of "To Kill a Mockingbird," insisted on Friday that she had the cooperation of Ms. Lee, two days after Ms. Lee released a statement through her lawyer denying that she had cooperated. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iPad users may not become book readers, report finds

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 28/04/2011 - 08:00 A large proportion of iPad owners in the US have not used the device to read an ebook, a survey from media and publishing forecast firm Simba Information reveals. A report on the firm's "Trade E-Book Publishing 2011"... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Creating an E-book: Tips on Document Formatting

After years of marginal acceptance, ebooks have finally started to eclipse their printed-and-bound ancestors. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kallman Looks for the Sweet Spot

It's not unusual for bookstores to have cafés, so perhaps it's only to be expected that a book wholesaler might want to get into food service, or one of its partners would. That's the case for Bookazine COO Richard Kallman, who recently added a new title, CEO of CupcakeStop. Kallman, who had... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books among Amazon.co.uk's top sellers as its parent's profits tumble

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 27/04/2011 - 09:39 Amazon.com has reported a steep drop in profit despite boosting sales by over a third. Amazon.co.uk also revealed that one print book and four ebooks were among its top 10 bestselling items in the quarter, with the Kindle... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book sales bounce over spring break

Written By: Philip Jones and Jenny Roper Publication Date: Wed, 27/04/2011 - 16:00 Book sales dropped 9% last week as the Easter weekend cut into retail time, but the market was still up on the same week last year with sales up 2.1%, a second consecutive week of year-on-year growth after a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ABC News High On Enhanced E-books

In deciding to launch the ABC Video Bookstore, Andrew Morse said the giant media company was looking for a product that could reach viewers who are attached to a digital reading device, be it an iPad, Kindle, or cellphone, and decided that an enhanced ebook was the right one. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Mix That Includes Fewer Books

One of the industry's biggest issues in 2011 is the loss of retail shelf space for print titles. The trend of book retailers devoting less space—and generating lower sales—from new books is seen in the recently released 10-k filings from Books-A-Million and Hastings Entertainment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Children's Books of BEA

Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle and James Dashner's the Maze Runner trilogy are both drawing to a conclusion, while noteworthy collaborations from Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman, and Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, set sail. Also look for fresh ventures from William Joyce, Maggie... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Major Campaign for Special K Book

Special K is a $1 billion brand in the U.S., selling an estimated 168 million boxes of cereal a year. This spring, Kellogg's and Weldon Owen are hoping a massive marketing campaign can extend the brand's success into the book world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle Books to Be Loaned From Libraries Later This Year

Amazon said Wednesday that its popular Kindle e-reader will allow customers to borrow Kindle books from more than 11,000 U.S. libraries starting later this year. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cheapest E-Books Upend the Charts [Voices]

The nation's largest book publishers are facing increasing pricing pressure on the digital front as the number of cheap, self-published digital titles gain popularity with readers seeking budget-minded entertainment. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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