A charming French novel about an old-school publisher trying to get to grips with the digital ageAt more than one point in this novel I found myself asking: could this be any more French? Early on we meet a character described thus: “She used to be incredibly good-looking and now at thirtysomething she is creditably handsome.” Sorry? What the narrator, an ageing male publisher, looks like, or how creditably or uncreditably good-looking he is, we don’t find out. Another woman leaves the room “in a wiggle of buttock” – I dropped my annotating pencil when I read that line. “Artichokes require a degree of elegance” – there’s another drop of essence of Gallic for you.But there is more to Dear Reader, and what kept me going was that one of the subjects exercising our narrator is the issue of electronic readers – Kindles or, as our hero Robert Dubois has it, the “dear reader” of the title. This book is an elegy for a dying world: that of the printed book and, that death’s darker corollary, the reader who is still interested in, or has the attention span for, the long-form narrative. (I always thought these things were arranged better in France, with no Net Book Agreement and tax breaks for bookshops, but apparently not.) In the world of Dear Reader, there has been a general collapse of cultural understanding: the interns point out to Dubois the remarkable coincidence that the publishing house they have landed in has the same name as him. Meanwhile, Dubois cannot quite get to... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Wed, 09/02/2011 - 20:05 Debut author Sita Brahmachari has won the Waterstones Childrens Book Prize for her coming-of-age novel about life, death, friendship and love. She was awarded the £5,000 prize this evening [9th February] for Artichoke Hearts, published by Macmillan... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 09/02/2011 - 14:28 The e-reader market doubled over Christmas, according to statistics given out by the Publishers Association at its annual digital seminar. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Tim Conneally, Betanews Amazon on Monday pre-released a software update for Kindle e-readers running the 3.0 software which updates the interface for magazines and newspapers, adds a quick review section at the end of each book, and adds page numbers that match Kindle books with their print... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 07/02/2011 - 09:20 Tim Waterstone is reportedly pondering a bid to buy the bookstore he founded in 1982 with HMV billionaire investor Alexander Mamut. In the recent past, Waterstone has distanced himself from a bid saying while he would be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Mon, 07/02/2011 - 08:53 Sales of books in France fell by 1.5% in 2010 or 0.5% without taking account of book price inflation, according to French weekly Livres Hebdos indicators. After three years of increase, the decline came as retailing in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 07/02/2011 - 16:12 ASDA has launched the UKs cheapest e-reader at £52. The View Quest Mediabox 5in Media Tablet went on sale today through its Asda Direct website. The Asda site does not sell ebooks with the supermarket chain instead... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Analysis: Apple is modifying its licensing policy, raising doubts that ebooks bought elsewhere will be readable on Apple devices. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 04/02/2011 - 09:01 Publishers are being warned to check their Google Books data online as thousands of titles have been mistakenly attributed to publisher BPR. Independent UK publisher Childrens Story Publishers spotted the mistake after its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 04/02/2011 - 16:42 Emma Hopkin, managing director of Macmillan children's books, is to leave the company on 21st April to "pursue an exciting new challenge elsewhere in children's publishing". Hopkin said: "It's been fantastic and I've... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 04/02/2011 - 08:57 HarperSport has bought a book by former Arsenal footballer Paul Merson. The publisher bought world rights directly from the author to How Not to be a Professional Footballer. The title will be published on 31st March. Merson... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page A new Media and Entertainment group has been created within Penguin Childrens Books under newly promoted publishing director Eric Huang. The group combines the BBC Children's, Sunbird and Ladybird licensing teams. Penguin Children's Books m.d. Francesca Dow said... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Central London independent Goldsboro Books is expanding to a new premises more than double its size. The retailer, is currently based in Cecil Court in a 40 square metre premises. However, at the end of March the store is moving to a new site in the same street that is... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams The Publishers Association [PA] has attacked the culture secretary's decision to allow communications watchdog Ofcom to "delay" the Digital Economy Act. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced yesterday [1st February] that Ofcom is to assess whether the Act's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell A complaint against a W H Smith advert for the Richard and Judy Book Club has not been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority. The television broadcast, promoting the husband-and wife teams exclusive deal with W H Smith to run Richard and Judys Book Club,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On February 15, Open Road Integrated Media will publish the first childrens titles in its author branded program: seven ebooks by Newbery Medal and National Book Award winner Virginia Hamilton, who died in 2002. Among the ebooks on the list are Newbery and NBA winner M.C. Higgins, the Great. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Juliet Rogers, chief executive of food and illustrated publisher Murdoch Books, is stepping down from the publisher with immediate effect after 10 years in charge. She will be replaced by Bruce Haslett, who ran the Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated businesses of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One month before controversial portions of the USA Patriot Act are set to expire, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) last week reintroduced a reauthorization bill that would restore protections for reader privacy that were eliminated by the Act in 2001. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple has reportedly rejected Sony's reader app from the App store for selling content within the app and letting customers make purchases outside the App store (such as within the Sony Reader Store, according to The New York Times. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Random House Books has acquired one of the first books on the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, Spills and Spin: The Inside Story of BP by Reuters oil-industry reporter Tom Bergin. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff The 43rd Cairo Book Fair, due to have been held this week, has been cancelled. The Guardian reports that "many foreign exhibitors" have been left stranded after failing to secure flights home, while others have had to abandon stands and books after the fair was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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