Last week, Ruth Rendell claimed that reading novels is a dying art. Sadly, she might have a pointNo one can say precisely why John Williams's novel Stoner has become a bestseller almost 50 years after its first publication. After all, plenty of books, "forgotten" or otherwise, are recommended by word of mouth and yet most will not go on to sell more than a few hundred copies. And it's hard to know in what ways, if any, its story – a young man falls in love with literature and thus a new world is revealed to him – might have touched people. Many of those who rushed to buy it will not yet have got around to opening it and some will never read it. Stoner will languish on their shelves, its spine unbroken, just like Jung Chang's Wild Swans, the non-fiction hit of 1992.But still, it has given us something to think about, this dusting down of so plangent and substantial a novel. On Radio 4 last week, Ruth Rendell, the novelist and Labour peer, suggested that Stoner is a book for our times, her argument being that we live in an age when reading is for most an alien pastime, just as it is to William Stoner until he has an epiphany. (Asked to elucidate a poem by a professor, he is unable to say anything except: "It means... it means..." and yet, in this moment, everything changes; the verse, whether he understands it or not, has touched him on some powerfully deep level.) "We are told that it isn't happening," said Rendell. "But it is. Reading is no longer something that everybody... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
When the team behind the popular blog Three Many Cooks submitted their cookbook proposal to Ballantine, executive editor Pamela Cannon had a different vision for the project, and a collaborative food memoir was born. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Writing translated from other languages makes you see things differently,' says UK translator Daniel Hahn who will mine the Bologna Book Fair for gems. The post Why Reading Translated Kids’ Books Makes a Difference appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Argentinian artist Raul Lemesoff has created a tank of books, which he is driving around Argentina to bring attention to education and reading. Lemesoff says he hopes it encourages youth to choose education over violence. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Killer Reads, HarperFiction’s new digital-first crime and thriller list, has made its first acquisitions through an open submission process it held last summer. Sarah Hodgson, deputy publishing director and Kate Stephenson, editor, have acquired three new titles from the hundreds of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trends, milestones, roundups, and recipes—here are PW's top 10 cookbook stories of 2014. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Terms of Service ingeniously harnesses the power of comics to keep readers engaged.Terms of Service is a newly published digital graphic novel from Al Jazeera that explores the turbulent relationship technology users today have with services provided by big data companies.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The music, film and TV industries have all undergone radical transformations over the last fifteen years. In contrast, the publishing industry is only now feeling the full force of technological change. Ebooks and ereaders are changing consumers' reading habits and throwing up serious questions... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2014-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vance Publishing is consolidating its woodworking portfolio into a single title, Woodworking Network, in a move it hopes will save money and strengthen its growing core. Formerly three separate magazines—Custom Woodworking Business, Closets and Wood Products—the new entity officially merges... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2014-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The "proposal" by the Norwich-based newspaper publisher, Archant, to move production of its London, Kent and Hertfordshire titles to headquarters is unsurprising.We were informed on Tuesday morning that the production teams - 15 in Archant London, and others in Herts and Cambs and Kent - will... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Colombia's High-Tech... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hackers at the first ever FutureBook Hack need to come up with ideas that will work in the real... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day titles dominated the top of last week's UK Official Top 50, nabbing the first... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new technology that is set to make its debut in April could one day make it possible for users to read Harry Potter books in just a few hours. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2014-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Haven't finished a book since college? Between work, family, and social lives, trying to find time to read can be more effort than relaxing hobby. Here's how to make more time for your favorite page-turners.Reading is one of the most pleasurable activities out there. On a scale of human... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pocklington - nicknamed Pock - is a small market town in the Yorkshire Wolds, about 13 miles (or 21 kms) from the city of York.Its population of 8,337 is served by a weekly newspaper, the Pocklington Post, which was chosen by its owner, Johnston Press, to pioneer the publishing of user generated... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The World Book Night project is to be run by The Reading Agency (TRA), with WBN chief executive... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new study finds that reading literary fiction “leads people to perform better on tests that measure empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence." Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seth Godin traces the ups and downs of the independent bookstore since WWII, while proclaiming that today is "a golden age for books," crediting Amazon. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Have a well-defined set of expectations for customers based on platform and device. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For all the activity around “marketing services,” publishers in general still have a lot to learn when setting up a sales operation around this kind of service strategy. The lessons typically center on three core buckets: Culture, market approach and data. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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