From cancelled books to ‘review bombing’, it might seem as though the website can make or break a career. But how influential is it really?Something dramatic happens on a social media platform every day. On Goodreads, the anachronistically designed website for logging, rating (out of five) and reviewing books, the dramas are more amusing, and they occasionally even draw attention from areas beyond the site’s supposedly book-loving users. The most recent featured Cait Corrain, the fantasy author who set up an elaborate network of fake accounts to post positive reviews of her own forthcoming book as well as negative reviews of authors she felt were her competitors. When citizen journalists uncovered her plot in December 2023, her book was cancelled, and she lost her agent and a future book deal.A juicy, postmodern story of self-sabotage, or a sad one about the intersection of the internet and mental health. Regardless, its stakes are relatively low: publicly harassing one’s colleagues is a sackable offence anyway, and it’s hard to find someone who really cares about the vicissitudes of the young adult literature world who isn’t part of the subculture. I’m not; I’m a professional critic, and an author of a literary novel. I’m a snob. I care about my book, and the authors I feel are my competitors. And while Goodreads has been around since 2007, its significance to the broader literary world remains steadfastly confusing. Does it sell books? Does it make and break careers?... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-17 09:00:10 UTC ]
Most publishers and authors used their booth presence at the North American International Toy Fair to sell books and sidelines, though a growing number were also on the hunt for new licensing deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Host of the Project says outrage at ‘neo-masculinist’ Daryush Valizadeh should be channelled into something positive, rather than fuelling his public profileWaleed Aly has called for a social media blackout on Daryush Valizadeh, the leader of “neo-masculinist” group Return of the Kings who... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Perspectives' Erin L. Cox looks back at 2015 in publishing and highlights three significant moments that sparked conversation in the literary world. The post 3 Key Publishing Moments of 2015, the Year of Provocative Thinking appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stephen Fry will voice two classic detective stories exclusively for Audible. Fry, who voiced all seven of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, will voice The Coin of Dionysius and The Game Played in the Dark by Ernest Bramah, which features the blind detective Max Carrados who was first... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has acquired A Beginner’s Guide to Losing Your Mind by Emily Reynolds, to be published under the Yelllow Kite imprint in 2017. Assistant editor Maddy Price acquired UK and commonwealth rights in a pre-emptive deal from Robyn Drury at Diane Banks Associates. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Elena Ferrante—the mysterious Italian writer whose Neapolitan novels have captivated the literary world with their portrait of a lifelong female friendship—has been asked many times why she keeps her identity private. She has responded with many variations on the answer that she gave Vanity Fair... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2015-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book blurb is one of the longest-running conventions in publishing and is largely a favor passed among writers and friends. But do they sell books? The post Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover, Judge it By Its Blurbs appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Johannesburg's Philani Dladli was homeless when he decided to sell books he found and read, offering them on a sliding price scale based on his own review. The post Homeless South African Sells Books and Reviews In Lieu of Begging appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This weekend's damning 'New York Times' article painting Amazon as a "bruising workplace" continues to draw attention, this time from the government. According to the AP, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has assured the public that the company will be complying with various labor standards. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When Tramp Press asked authors submitting manuscripts to name the writers who inspire them, only 22% were female - pointing again to ‘the larger issue in the industry: our habitual dismissal of women’An Irish publisher has stoked the flames of the gender debate currently running in the literary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing sector has the lowest level of illegal downloads in the entertainment industry, with book piracy at half the rate of copyright theft in film and musicFor publishers, fresh from winning a landmark ruling forcing internet service providers to block illegal ebook download sites in Russia... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Racing ain't cheap, and teams are seldom in a position to turn down money. This leads to some off-the-wall sponsorship deals. Crypto-currencies. Taylor Swift. Jesus. And, for a few glorious years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, "Dianetics," in a campaign bankrolled by the Church of... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee’s unexpected companion novel to To Kill a Mockingbird has bookshops readying for huge salesRead the first chapterListen to an extract read by Reese WitherspoonFirst chapter review: A beguiling journey into the pastSix months ago, it was a book the literary world would have laughed off... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London's Pushkin Press has become one of the founding partners of Picturehouse Central cinema and will have a pop-up shop in the theater to sell books. The post Pushkin Press Opens Pop-up Shop in New Cinema appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cairo's Kotob Khan Bookstore does far more than merely sell books: it serves as a community center, a gathering place — and now it's a publisher as well. The post Cairo’s Kotob Khan Bookstore: A Literary Safe Place appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Small press And Other Stories will produce no books by men in 2018 in answer to Kamila Shamsie’s call for direct action to beat gender bias in publishingSmall press And Other Stories has answered author Kamila Shamsie’s provocative call for a year of publishing women to redress “gender bias” in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Kamila Shamsie is “right to draw attention” to gender inequality in publishing, but her suggestion of a year in which only books by women are published has been greeted with mixed views by the trade. Writing in the latest issue of The Bookseller, Shamsie [pictured] said 2018 – the 100th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The sudden death of Oscar Hijuelos at age 62 in October 2013 was a shock to the literary world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Summersdale's recently-launched health imprint Vie will publish a memoir by British psychiatrist Linda Gask this September. The Other Side of Silence: A Psychiatrist's Memoir of Depression chronicles Gask's own experiences of depression. Despite spending her career helping other people's mental... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers should help authors to identify their digital skills, but social media is “not the most important thing”, writers and industry insiders have told The Bookseller. Authors should feel comfortable with any digital activity they are asked to undertake, using tweeting, blogging and other... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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