Cultural Cross Sections Elena Poniatowska In this column that originally appeared in La Jornada, Elena Poniatowska considers the role of editors and talks with Diego Rabasa, founder of publisher Sexto Piso. Already precarious, the pandemic lockdown has made the plight of independent publishers and bookstores in Mexico in light of Covid-19 even more acute. To be an editor is to answer the call of the gods. It’s a vocation, a ministry, an immense privilege, to enter the Olympus of literature. To be an editor is to pick those who have talent and launch them. To be a publisher is to foretell: this one will make it. It’s also to disappoint and reject. I recall the Dutch printer Alexander Stolz in Mexico holding out to me his exquisite edition of Benjamin Constant’s Adolphe, as if it were a diamond, at the Fondo de Cultura Económica, and the paternal care that Arnaldo Orfila Reynal took with the anguished palavering of Fernando del Paso. To be an editor is to be a psychologist and to be bewildered as to how to treat each creature-author. Vicente Rojo was my editor, and we have loved each other deeply since, but I never gave him trouble. What must that genius from Pachuca named Yuri Herrera be like? What’s his soft spot? I have to handle Carlos Montemayor with kid gloves because he’s unpredictable. Federico Alvarez, director of the FCE in Spain, told me that seeing Elena Garro and Helena Paz enter the FCE in Madrid was like falling into... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
By Marcelle Soviero The publishing industry is busting out of business models as quickly as we can devise new ones. I think in 2015 we will see more product differentiation and more product offerings. These... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2014-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Along with Brian Murray, PW's Publishing Person of the Year, we honor these notable people who changed the publishing world in 2014. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Backlist is more important than ever for the publishing industry and the opportunity to use backlist titles to drive the sale of frontlist titles is, according to publishers, “one of the true excitements” of the new era of digital publishing. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In a rare move for the publishing world, Land Rover has sponsored "An Ice Cream War" novelist William Boyd's new short fiction and turned it in into a gorgeous interactive campaign. The post Land Rover commissions novelist William Boyd’s latest appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Bertelmann is to spend "in the mid-hundreds of millions" in US dollars on American e-learning provider Relias Learning, describing it as the company's "biggest purchase in the US since it took over Random House in 1998". The buy, which will have to be approved by antitrust authorities, is... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Xerox invented Laser printing and copying less than 50 years ago and as a result revolutionized the publishing industry. This innovation was so significant during its time that the outcome was that almost every Japanese electronics product manufacturer, the likes of Canon, Konica, Ricoh and... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Let's say you can't get enough of it'sGrace (above) on YouTube but you're taking a week-long no-tech camping trip soon and aren't excited about missing her wit and charm. Well, host Grace Helbig's book Grace's Guide: The Art of Pretending to Be a... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The literary body, representing 9,000 authors, is calling on the US government to launch a competition investigation into Amazon, following the long-running dispute between the internet retailer and publisher HachetteAmericas Authors Guild has met with the US department of justice to call for an... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In another step in the integration of Penguin and Random House, the company has completed the buyout process of eligible members within the PRH sales group. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
For the third year in a row, Random House (but not its Penguin side, because the warehouses aren't integrated yet) will provide express shipping, starting November 1. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Amazon Kindle is now a 'proud sponsor' of Downton Abbey. And it suits, as the show's story arc reflects the current dynamic in the publishing business. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The merger of Penguin and Random House in Canada is beginning to taking shape in two new, concrete ways. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
PW's annual salary survey reveals an eye-opening lack of diversity in the publishing industry, an enduring pay gap between men and women, and an increasingly optimistic workforce. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Publisher Johnny Temple might be Brooklyn's biggest cheerleader. In addition to overseeing one of Brooklyn's best known publishing houses, Temple is also the host of the borough's flourishing book festival. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
More than 700 authors and 75 agencies have registered for Random House’s Author Portal... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Fourteen months after the completion of the Random House–Penguin Group merger, PRH CEO Markus Dohle has created the Penguin Publishing Group, which puts all Penguin adult imprints under Madeline McIntosh, who was named president of the new unit. The move is Dohle’s most aggressive yet in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Bonnier Publishing is on the scout to acquire other publishing companies as it seeks to double... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Apparently all customers believe the book they're looking for has a blue cover and some will tell you that if you haven't read every book in the store, 'you're not very good at your job.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Stuart Applebaum, who rose from a publicist at Bantam Books to become the dean of corporate communications directors in the publishing industry, has been named emeritus executive v-p, corporate communications at Penguin Random House. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Random House has pulled the best selling anti-corruption expose He Who Must Be Obeid from bookstores after instance of mistaken identity Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2014-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this