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 small press industry works on a shoestring. Departments of marketing, PR, editorial and design often do not exist and instead become merged into one, with a couple of freelancers. Small presses exist for the same reason that large publishing houses do - for the love of books and in the name... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-24 19:57:10 UTC ]
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In the mood for a little holiday shopping? You know what they say: November is the new December! Who says that? Independent bookstores that need your support now! So here are a dozen new books hitting shelves today. Go forth! * Ernest Cline, Ready Player Two (Ballantine) “This sequel, nine years... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-24 12:39:52 UTC ]
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A round up of independent bookstore subscription services and care packages created to help these indies survive the pandemic. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-11-23 11:39:00 UTC ]
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As this week’s FutureBook20 conference has shown, this is a year where change is at the top of the agenda for the publishing industry. And when it comes to changing the sort of books that get published and the sort of authors whose voices are heard, broadening the acquisition process is crucial. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-20 22:39:15 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon has praised the resilience of the book trade in an interview at FutureBook 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-19 21:20:38 UTC ]
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Musing on books' resilience in the pandemic, Tom Weldon talks with Philip Jones; and Penguin Random House India partners with Pippa Rann. The post Industry Notes: Tom Weldon at FutureBook; Penguin Random House UK and India appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-11-19 18:15:54 UTC ]
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Robert Thomson, CEO of HarperCollins parent company News Corp, said during the company's annual meeting that a purchase of Simon & Schuster by Penguin Random House "will clearly be a serious antitrust issue." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The book critic and Fake Accounts author says that smart readers are not being served by the publishing industry. The post Lauren Oyler on America’s Alienating Literary Culture appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2020-11-18 21:30:25 UTC ]
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Orion is offering webinars "to demystify the publishing industry", starting this month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-18 12:50:52 UTC ]
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The publishing industry should trust and listen to its communications teams to see greater change and audience growth, PR professionals said at The Bookseller's FutureBook conference on Tuesday (17th November). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-18 06:55:46 UTC ]
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We’ve got a star-studded stack of new books today, folks! To name a few: President Barack Obama’s memoir, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator and star Rachel Bloom’s musings, Julia Child’s culinary wisdom, and Steve Martin’s cartoon pigeons (???). You can get them all at your local bookstore today! *... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-17 15:30:14 UTC ]
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Saying that private equity firms had dropped out of the bidding, the 'New York Times' reported this morning that the country's first and second largest trade publishers—Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, respectively—were now the favorites to acquire Simon & Schuster, the country's... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Oprah Winfrey's interview with Barack Obama premieres on Apple TV+ on Tuesday morning, just as copies of the hotly anticipated former president's memoir lands on bookstore shelves around the world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-16 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Publishers Association’s Work in Publishing campaign, aimed at encouraging young people between the ages of 14 and 24 to pursue a career in publishing, takes place this week (16th–20th November), involving publishers including HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and Hachette UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-15 21:16:00 UTC ]
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While books about the outgoing US president have been bestsellers for the last four years, Trump might be a step too far for some publishersFact-checkers are quaking in their boots amid reports that Donald Trump could be being “courted for a new tome on his time in the White House”. The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-11 14:24:45 UTC ]
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Yesterday, as senior Republican officials continued to indulge President-unelect Trump’s election fantasies, his claims of widespread voter fraud continued to be baseless, and reporters continued to point that out. Republicans in various states have made mountains out of procedural molehills and... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-11-11 13:19:27 UTC ]
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Pantomime misanthropy is tempered with bursts of sweetness in the secondhand bookseller’s latest dispatches from WigtownThere’s a moment in the first season of the short-lived but influential sitcom Black Books in which an elderly customer appears with a box of attractive old editions of... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-11 09:00:33 UTC ]
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PW speaks with evangelical publishing houses about the representation of people of color among both their staff and authors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-11 05:00:00 UTC ]
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You know what they say: November is the new December! When’s the best time to support your local bookstore and get holiday gifts? Well, there’s no time like the present. (Get it?) (I’m sorry.) (But seriously, support your favorite indie and check out these new books!) * Jonathan Lethem, The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-10 19:44:02 UTC ]
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As COVID cases surge to record numbers and Republicans flirt with a paper coup the future of the nation’s bookstores remains perilous. Yes, we all have a lot to worry about—but if you care about that unwieldy, amorphous thing called literary culture, please spare a moment (or a dollar) to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-10 16:14:32 UTC ]
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