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 ]
For publishers today, data has become the key to competitive advantage. But executing against data has traditionally been a challenge. Only in recent years has the publishing industry invested in the technology required to make sense of data's complexity and volume. It speaks to a culture shift,... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obama angered some in the independent book world after he praised Amazon's business practices in 2013 and skipped his usual visit to a Martha's Vineyard indie bookstore later that year. Will he pick up some books during his Vineyard visit this year? Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Robert M. Sacks There is an odd form of delusion in the publishing world, characterized by a resistance to reason in the face of actual facts. This inability to recognize modern business trends is easy for most... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2014-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's leaked 'Netflix for books' plan will alarm publishers and doom old-fashioned anonymous readingOnce upon a time, 12 years ago to be precise, David Bowie said something very perceptive. "Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity," he told a New York Times... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The first half of 2014 was one of the publishing industry’s busiest six-month periods for mergers and acquisitions since the start of the Great Recession. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As things stand, Hachette is making ebook discounts impossible, and almost everybody else stands to lose, writes Hugh HoweyNews: New Amazon terms amount to 'assisted suicide' for book industry, experts claimHow much should an ebook cost? And how should that money be split? These two questions... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Welcome to a special educational series about digital printing solutions and technology. Here, we look at the value proposition of digital printing, and take stock of the current thoughts and practices in the publishing industry in implementing a hybrid printing program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Childrens Laureate enthusiastic about children reading digitally but thinks publishers should proceed with cautionAuthor and Childrens Laureate Malorie Blackman is enthusiastic about the potential for children to read books digitally, but thinks the publishing industry should proceed with... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing industry's packaging of women's literary fiction in stereotypically girly covers makes great books seem trashy.If you take a look at the cover of Alice Munro's latest Nobel Prize-winning short fiction collection, The View From Castle Rock, you probably wouldn't guess it includes... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Predictions that the e-reader is done seem to be everywhere. What do those forecasts really mean for the publishing industry? Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House’s international sales director Simon Littlewood is to leave the company... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books do furnish a room, but according to many in the publishing industry, the fear is that emails, online video texts and tweets will prevent them being read. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Six publishers have volunteered for a night in the cells, fundraising for campaign against limits on prisoners' entitlement to booksThere's more than one sort of porridge, as any lag would tell you. Profile Books publisher Andrew Franklin opted for the lumpier kind when he volunteered to spend... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alan Mirken, who arranged the sale of the Crown Publishing Group to Random House in 1988 when he served as president of the company, died June 12 from heart problems. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Science takes on one of the most important questions of the ages.A Kindle and iPad are great for conveniently porting your entire bookshelf in your purse. But for the majority of Americans who view the independent bookstore as a haven and who get grumpy at the idea of not feeling the physical... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Amazon-Hachette dispute is a lot more nuanced than has been portrayed in much of the coverage. The retailing giant has its (sometimes anonymous) defenders in the publishing industry, and Hachette has its critics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Roger Tagholm bids a poetic adieu to Random House's iconic colophon, which has been replaced by a new text-based 'global identity.' Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After finishing his first novel, The Expats, Chris Pavone decided he wanted to place his next thriller, The Accident (Crown, Mar.), in the publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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You couldn’t find a more optimistic person than David Caron, owner and co-publisher of ECW Press, when it comes to the future of the publishing industry, and he is very proud of the company he’s been with for 10 years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The author and activist Maya Angelou, who died at her home in North Carolina, is best known for her 1969 autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (Random House). Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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