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 ]
The most popular bookstore in the world, an aspirational lifetime reading plan, and more of the day's top book news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-03-18 18:30:00 UTC ]
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Two Dollar Radio has been quietly rocking the publishing world since its inception in 2005. The Ohio-based indie publisher and “family outfit” turns twenty this year, and we at Lit Hub want to extend a hearty happy birthday. In a literary landscape that’s often knocked for a fear of risk-taking,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-03-14 18:01:37 UTC ]
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Union employees at Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn have ratified a new contract that guarantees annual pay raises and provides more benefits that are designed to reduce turnover and reward skills developed on the job. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-03-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Southern California Independent Bookstore Bestsellers list for Sunday, March 16, 2025, including hardcover and paperback fiction and nonfiction. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-03-12 13:00:10 UTC ]
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Revenue rose 2.1% in the third quarter at B&NE, with the college bookstore turning a net loss last year into a profit in the most recent period. Still, long term profitability remains elusive. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-03-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Facing publishing industry backlash, Slovakia's government reversed its 23-percent book VAT hike, instead slashing it to 5 percent. The post Slovakia’s Publishers Surprised by a VAT Reduction on Books appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-03-11 19:42:53 UTC ]
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Publishers and analysts say popularity of genres like manga and superhero comics is a gateway into readingThe best route to learning to love words in print could well be pictures. This, at least, is the hope of the publishing industry this spring, as it welcomes news that sales of children’s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-03-09 14:00:11 UTC ]
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A beloved romance novelist and master supernatural thriller filmmaker team up on a new novel at Random House, a Nobel laureate readies his latest at Transit, a PW Star Watch Superstar inks her first two deals at Putnam, and more in this week’s book deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-03-07 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Southern California Independent Bookstore Bestsellers list for Sunday, March 9, 2025, including hardcover and paperback fiction and nonfiction. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-03-05 14:00:46 UTC ]
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The young woman—young, though nearly forty—stood with her head bent slightly toward the window of McNally Jackson bookstore on Prince Street. She had stopped mid-stride, was on her way somewhere—was, in fact, late—and to see her father’s image in a bookstore window was not anymore such a new... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-03-03 09:18:50 UTC ]
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The Southern California Independent Bookstore Bestsellers list for Sunday, March 2, 2025, including hardcover and paperback fiction and nonfiction. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-02-26 14:00:34 UTC ]
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On July 30th, 2024, East Bay Booksellers in Oakland, California was completely destroyed by a fire. The bookstore (previously DIESEL, a Bookstore) had been in that location for thirty years. In the months that followed, its owner, Brad Johnson, began keeping a journal of thoughts. What follows... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-26 13:46:45 UTC ]
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Andrea Barrett on why writing fresh historical fiction means more than cosplaying the past. | Lit Hub Craft Bookstore owner Brad Johnson reflects on the total destruction, by fire, of East Bay Booksellers (and its rebirth!). | Lit Hub Bookstores Michael Hiltzik on how California made Ronald... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-26 11:30:54 UTC ]
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This week on The Lit Hub Podcast: How the publishing world can respond to Trump, and “What energizes you?” | Lit Hub Radio “When in doubt, leave the reaction out.” Eric Puchner on how to be funny when writing a novel. | Lit Hub Craft Ted Hamm on how Jimmy Breslin and Langston Hughes each […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-21 11:30:16 UTC ]
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Matthew Teller, whose books include Nine Quarters of Jerusalem, said the society’s response to the event which saw two leading booksellers detained was ‘an abject failure’A writer has left the Society of Authors (SoA) in protest after the UK’s largest writers’ body made a statement on a recent... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-02-20 17:34:09 UTC ]
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The Southern California Independent Bookstore Bestsellers list for Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, including hardcover and paperback fiction and nonfiction. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-02-19 14:00:11 UTC ]
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Edward Underhill didn’t plan on having his debut adult fiction book, The In-Between Bookstore, featuring a trans main character, come out six days before the Trump inauguration, but it’s kind of perfect timing. Especially since the book features a time slip, where Darby Madden meets his younger... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2025-02-17 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The Southern California Independent Bookstore Bestsellers list for Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, including hardcover and paperback fiction and nonfiction. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-02-12 14:00:58 UTC ]
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An industry analyst on book sales trends to watch this year, plus Barbara Kingsolver builds a rehab center, bookstore weddings, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-02-10 16:40:00 UTC ]
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