Mike Stoner couldn’t find a publisher for his story of an expat’s dark days in Indonesia – until he looked eastAs soon as I read Mike Stoner’s self-published novel, Jalan Jalan, I had a feeling that it ought to be able to find a commercial publisher. The book was the last winner of the Guardian’s self-published book of the month, which picked seven books from open submissions between June and December 2014 and reviewed them on the site. I followed the series from the start, but Jalan Jalan was the first entry to really catch my attention. The tale follows a heartbroken young Brit through Indonesia, where he finds himself embroiled in a murky world at the bottom of the expat barrel after accepting a teaching job at a dodgy language school after a five-minute telephone interview.Josh Lacey called it an “involving tale of self-transformation, and a welcome blast of heat and spice”. It’s all that and more; a curious blend of Alex Garland and Nick Hornby with a ghost thrown in for good measure. It has some memorable drug- and alcohol-fuelled set pieces, lots of very funny dialogue, and lashings of tropical atmosphere. But it also has a more complex, moving and rather magical core. The protagonist – whose name is not revealed until the final chapter – is haunted by memories of his dead girlfriend, and as the book progresses it becomes clear that there is more going on here than mere misadventure in a foreign land. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For the first time the Zee Jaipur Literary Festival (JLF) has introduced a professional program to discuss the ongoing challenges to book publishing in India. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers and startup entrepreneurs came together on two separate panels at Digital Book World to discuss forging relationships. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new report by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has shown that the publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Following yesterday's look at trade publishing, George Lossius, CEO of Publishing Technology, predicts five trends for the academic publishing sector in 2014. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George Lossius, CEO at Publishing Technology, predicts 5 trends for trade publishing for the year, including a boost for big data and a focus on formats. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new senior role is rapidly emerging at the top of digital publishers’ sales organizations: the programmatic czar. Publishers initially approached programmatic advertising warily, concerned it would do little more than drive down their ad prices and further commoditize their inventory. That... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Increasingly fixated on the stars of today, such as Hilary Mantel and JK Rowling, publishers are neglecting the experimenters who could save their industry tomorrow: the mid-list writersThe tickets sold out months ago. Long before the admiring reviews of the stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel's... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Numerous experts from the UK publishing scene spoke with The Guardian about what evolution they anticipate for digital publishing in 2014. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-publishing sees traditional publishing as in denial about what readers want. But the problem isn't self-abnegation, it's capacity and mission. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Emotional women's fiction, yet more psychological crime, talking-point business books and a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Industry luminaries scry the spins ahead in the helter skelter revolution at the centre of their businessAnna Rafferty, Penguin digital managing director"I predict more digital for publishers in 2014. I'm not being (completely) facetious, I mean more digitalness in all parts of the industry,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s not news that hard-pressed editors are being stretched in many different directions these days, but no challenges seem as complex and vexing at times as how to divvy up the resources to devout to social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instag ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The last time The New York Times embarked on a wholesale redesign of its Web site, in 2006, the iPhone wasn't on the market. Tablets like the iPad were still years away. So the new design that The Times is unveiling Wednesday is generating mu ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publisher Consortium Books posts its own video of hot water being tossed in the air in frigid weather, while a library recommends keeping a book at hand when it's cold outside. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bricks-and-mortar bookstores are missing a huge opportunity by failing to take advantage of the self-publishing revolution, argues Tanja Tuma. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Should Australian newspapers, like Fairfax, publish opinion pieces that deny or seek to cast doubt on man-made global warming?Should Fairfax — or other media publishers — give a platform for climate change denialist opinion pieces?The most recent example is Fairfax publishing a piece by John... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In late December, an eMarketer report confirmed that the long awaited mobile ad spend boom had finally arrived. Mobile, the report said, drove nearly all digital advertising growth in 2013. And the mobile pie is expected to grow by another $5 billion in 2014.For publishers looking to capitalize... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This month’s starred reviews of self-published books includes a pair of notable new novels, one about dysfunctional childhood in Western and another about a busy single mother. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The two stories were written in 1958 while the late writer was working at a Detroit-based advertising agency. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New 'intellectually credible' self-improvement books set to outsell celebrity biographies in 2014Sir Alex Ferguson may have the coveted Christmas number one spot with the record-breaking sales of his memoir, My Autobiography. But not even celebrity memoirs are likely to match the publishing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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