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 ]
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 celebrity memoir is rebounding in 2012 after sales within the much-pilloried genre fell 45%... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Plympton—a startup publisher of serialized digital fiction—was created as 'a nimble alternative to the major publishers and online markets,' as the founders explain. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mobile reading may revive entire genres of literature, such as mid-length novels and poems, which have fallen out of favor. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2012-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Founded by a writer and mother, Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day is set for Dec. 1 this year. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The new app 'Put Me in the Story,' released by publisher Sourcebooks, will allow older readers to add the name of a younger one to Sourcebook titles. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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CourseSmart has introduced an analytics program that allows professors to monitor how pages read, notations and more for their student's e-textbooks. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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O'Reilly Media has become an online distributor for technology ebooks offered by John Wiley & Sons, which includes brands such as For Dummies and Sybex. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sony is to develop a range of augmented reality titles on its Wonderbook platform as part of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After reading celebration World Book Night debuted in America for the first time last year, it will be held again this April. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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App developer TradeMobile is to rebrand as Beyond the Story as it prepares to launch one of its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is there an argument to be made in favor of state intervention in the book trade? If the growth of the book trade in Sharjah is any evidence, the answer is yes. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The rise of easy-to-use ebook publishing platforms that distribute globally, the inherent speed of digital publishing, and the low cost and ever-rising demand for ebooks in both the developing world, as well as from developed but remote economies like Australia, offer the potential of vibrant... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Seven Stories museum in Newcastle upon Tyne has changed its name to the National Centre for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At the end of June, Amazon’s Kindle family of reading devices was used to read ebooks by 55% of ebook buyers, according to figures compiled by Bowker Market Research. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Books is great at helping you find interesting reads, and makes it easy to view them online from just about any device. The service isn’t quite as versatile when it comes to letting you download local copies in a format of your choice, unfortunately, but that’s where FSS Google Books... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Though relatively small, the book business in New Zealand has proven resilient despite global economic tremors. E-books have had little impact as yet. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gannett Publishing Services has entered an agreement with The World Co. to produce print and digital ads for the family-owned Kansas media company through the Gannett Imaging and Ad Design Center, the company announced this week. The Des Moines, Iow ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More Info Hands-on with Kobo's Glo and Mini e-readers (video) Kobo Glo review: another illuminated e-reader lights up the market Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review While tablet and smartphone manufacturers battled it out over screen sizes, e-reader makers seem to have settled on an... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The trick to making the Random House/Penguin Group merger work will be to create a publisher that can take advantage of the resources and economies of scale a company with revenue of $4 billion brings and combine that with an editorial approach that emphasizes close cooperation with authors,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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