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 ]
Ed Nawotka examines the publishing industry's changing relationship with data and how that might or might not impact the way publishers acquire and sell books. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Warehouse clubs, mass merchandisers, and other big-box retailers remain important to publishers because they not only sell books, they are places where books can be discovered. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Baking may fight depression. So one pastry chef is raising awareness for mental health through a worldwide bake sale frosted in grey icing. Maybe it’s the sugar. Maybe it’s the chocolate. Maybe it’s the satisfaction that’s inherent to working with your hands. But baking seems to keep many of... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After winning the highest honor in the literary world, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winners have seen sales increases – but so far the numbers are pretty tiny. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reader's Digest UK will no longer produce or sell books, following a restructuring of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Weekly faces controversy after naming 'Fifty Shades of Grey' author E L James 'Publishing Person of the Year' for 2012. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The postcards started coming last month. “Stanley,” “Marge,” and “Toby” wrote to booksellers from “Pine Haven” to draw attention to Jill McCorkle’s first novel in 17 years, Life After Life, coming from Algonquin in March. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Can fraudulent writers, aka Johah Lehrer, ever be forgiven? Or should they simply be cast into permanent exile from the literary world? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Rosalind Prize for Fiction – named for Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' heroine – follows awards like Australia's women-only Stella Prize and the U.K.'s Orange Prize. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Justice Department has formally decided to sue Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillian, Penguin and Simon & Schuster over alleged ebook price-rigging. Apple and Macmillian have already denied any wrongdoing, saying that the agreements were enhancing competition in an industry... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jeremy Lin has inspired a lot of rabid fans, magazine features, and six-figure book deal offers. But he's also fueled a new breed of lightning-fast ebook authors. Alan Goldsher, author of "Linsanity: The Improbable Rise of Jeremy Lin," is one of the fastest (and slickest). In the days before... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2012-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The word synergy, in the world of book publishing, feels like a term that died in the ’90s. Back then, almost every publisher housed within a media conglomerate was touting the ways it would use its TV-making or movie-making sister companies to sell books. Fox would boost HarperCollins.... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 26/08/2011 - 07:13 A coalition of "left-leaning political bookshops" is to launch in October, creating a support network for independent booksellers. The Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) will officially begin on 6th October and so far has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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