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 ]
Five prominent figures from the literary world discuss the vexed debates surrounding cultural appropriation, authenticity and the growing trend for sensitivity readers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-15 06:28:34 UTC ]
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Ryan Chapman (erstwhile host of Nerd Jeopardy, back episodes of which you can enjoy here) is launching the paperback edition of his novel, Riots I Have Known, tonight, and as a veteran showman of the literary world, Chapman has decided to put together something a little different. Tonight’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-09 20:04:37 UTC ]
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Welbeck Publishing Group has become the majority owner of the mental health and wellbeing publisher, Trigger Publishing. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-08 22:23:34 UTC ]
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HarperNorth has bagged an audiobook about personal development and men's mental health from Paul Mort, UK Mastercoach of the Year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-30 10:00:16 UTC ]
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This year has been a dumpster fire and we mean that literally. But the shining bright spot in the literary world is an abundance of great new books by Indigenous writers being published in 2020. Since it’s National Native American Heritage Month, we’re focusing on books coming out of the U.S.... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-11-27 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Specialist mental health publisher Trigger Publishing is launching a new book series next year, focusing on "empowering people to help others with their mental health". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-09 07:44:22 UTC ]
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“We have taken a path of improvisation and experimentation.” How the literary world reinvented the book festival in real time. | Lit Hub “To be forever alone in your own kingdom seems a unique kind of heartbreak.” LA’s resident mountain lion is a lonely hunter. | Lit Hub Nature The age of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-03 11:30:17 UTC ]
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As the literary world moved online in 2020, a central question for many organizations was how to manage the annual festivals that gather thousands of readers from around the world. Here, the directors of five festivals—Sara Ortiz of the Believer Festival, Lissette Mendez of the Miami Book Fair,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-03 09:57:24 UTC ]
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Religion publishers are addressing the modern needs of parents and couples in new books on mental health, LQBTQ issues, addiction, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Viewers of Netflix’s recent documentary "The Social Dilemma" will now know, more acutely than ever, the impact that platforms like Twitter and Instagram are having on our lives, including unprecedented rises in pre-teen suicides and self-harm admissions to hospital. Hearing about addictive,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-15 16:27:55 UTC ]
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Between 1,500 and 2,000 members of the North American literary world signed an open letter offering support to trans and nonbinary communities. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-10-09 21:31:58 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton will publish broadcaster Nicky Campbell's memoir One of the Family, which will focus on family, adoption, mental health and Campbell's "miracle dog" Maxwell. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-29 15:35:17 UTC ]
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Are you happy in your current book world job? Do you arise each morning with a sense of purpose? Does social isolation, political turmoil, and inclement fall weather agree with you? Can you turn up to work barefoot and go snorkeling on your lunch break? If you answered “no” to any of the above... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-24 16:47:43 UTC ]
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Illustrations by Charlie Mackesy are to appear in a Public Health England video, as part of a campaign encouraging better mental health in young people, children and their parents. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-14 20:59:22 UTC ]
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YouTube star Daniel Howell is releasing a guide to mental health, You Will Get Through This Night, with HarperCollins imprint HQ. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-13 20:48:44 UTC ]
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Alka Joshi’s debut novel, The Henna Artist, is taking the literary world by storm. On The Literary Life, she talks with Mitchell Kaplan about the small leap from writing ad copy to writing a novel, how both her mother and mother-in-law informed her protagonist, and the joy she’s deriving from... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-11 08:47:09 UTC ]
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Hachette Children's Group will publish The Sad Ghost Club, a graphic novel tackling mental health by author and illustrator Lize Meddings. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-04 20:11:34 UTC ]
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Congratulations to Ethan Hawke, star of my favorite film (Gattaca) and arguably the most bookish man in Hollywood, who has, with today’s inclusion in the (web) pages of the New York Times Book Review, completed his Literary World Bingo Card! What is the Literary World Bingo Card you ask? Well,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-01 18:45:05 UTC ]
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Though you’ve probably only learned Mieko Kawakami’s name recently, with the release of Breasts and Eggs from renowned indie press Europa Editions, she’s been a well-known figure in the Japanese literary world for several years. Haruki Murakami called her his favorite young novelist, and the... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Harnessing the power of extremely famous people to sell books is nothing new, but what about combining the influence of multiple famous people—from billionaire “philanthropist” Richard Branson to beloved journalist/Twitter lush Susan Orlean—to sell books combined with the vaporous concept of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-19 14:44:04 UTC ]
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