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 ]
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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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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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The new Adweek debuts this week with a letter from editorial director Michael Wolff promising that this "is not your father's trade magazine." The brand--which merges sister titles Brandweek and Mediaweek--boasts a new look in print (with a redesign from storied magazine designers Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Here's a clever idea from Chris Dixon: The investor and entrepreneur has turned his well-read blog into an ebook. Dixon, who runs Hunch and helps steer Founder Collective's bets when he's not blogging, has taken a couple years' worth of posts and compiled them into "Startups; Dixon's proceeds... Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the first step of a two-phase launch, the long-awaited Los Angeles Review of Books has debuted its preview site at lareviewofbooks.org with essays and reviews by Ben Ehrenreich, Geoff Nicholson, Jane Smiley, Jefferson Hunter, and Richard Prince. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 18/04/2011 - 09:19 Authors including Iain M Banks and Michael Moorcock have written to the BBC's director general Mark Thompson, attacking the treatment of genre fiction in its recent World Book Night coverage. In total 85 authors, across the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced on Monday that on May 24, it would publish "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin," an account of Ms. Palin's time as governor and as a vice-presidential candidate, written by Frank Bailey, one of her former aides. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The two reports measure different aspects of the book market and one is far more comprehensive than the other, but figures released last week by Nielsen BookScan and the Association of American Publishers showed a trade market where ebooks are thriving and print books are struggling. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Fri, 15/04/2011 - 09:05 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 16:09 A libraries boss has admitted cutting spending on books is "the easiest" way to achieve savings, as wholesaler Bertrams reports its library sales have slumped by a quarter. Results put out by parent Smiths... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 09:57 Like for like book sales at W H Smith have fallen by 3% in a "soft" market as the retailer reported a 3% increase in profits to £64m. In its interim management statement, for the six months to 28th February, the group's sales... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page, Philip Jones and Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 09:28 Bricks and mortar bookshops in the United States face a grim future, with the heaviest book buyers choosing to buy digitally, delegates at London Book Fair were told. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 08:00 Beautiful Books has signed exclusive world rights at London Book Fair with The Real Man Pizza Company to produce a series of cookbooks. The deal was signed between managing director Simon Petherick and Real Man m.d. Tom... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading reader Greg Jacobs is interested in putting books other than those available from the iBookstore on his iPad. He writes: Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#putting books
Written By: Benedicte Page and Philip Stone Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 09:40 Book sales have slumped on both sides of the Atlantic as the British and American markets experienced year-on-year declines in the first quarter of 2011. Book sales in the UK were down 3.1% to £324m, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 2001, 81% of publishers were already preparing for the coming ebook (BML research March 2001). Indeed they thought it would come quickly, with half predicting ebooks would deliver more than 10% of total book income by 2006. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#open mind
E-books, mobile apps and e-learning modules are hot. That's the conclusion from a quick survey of 18 content services vendors operating in India. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It doesn't seem so long ago that we used to gawp at the occasional postage stamps that would appear on a letter from the USSR: oversized, bright images extolling the successes of Communist endeavour. Soviet books in contrast were distinctly drab affairs whose covers would have appealed to few in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#long ago
In 2009, the number of self-published books released in the US exceeded the number of new titles from conventional publishers for the first time in history. Now, a similar pattern is emerging overseas. Until recently, costly transatlantic shipping, different trim sizes and business models, and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Until recently, reading a book had resisted technological advances, but like everything else, this has started to evolve and now we are embracing technology. Books are now more easily available in electronic format and sharing your opinion about a title print or ebook is more popular. So... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#book lovers
#social networking
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