Offensive opinions. Bullying. Sexual misconduct. As the literary world is rocked by scandal US publishers are asking authors to sign contracts with ‘morality clauses’. Are they really the answer?When the American Libraries Association awards its Andrew Carnegie medals in New Orleans later this month, there will be no winner for excellence in non-fiction. Sherman Alexie, the poet and novelist who was due to receive it for a memoir, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, has declined the award following allegations of sexual harassment.Last month, the novelist Junot Díaz withdrew from the Sydney writers’ festival and from chairing the Pulitzer prize board after being confronted by his own accusers. As the allegations swept through social media, another writer, Mary Karr, joined the fray, tweeting of her distress that her testimony to DT Max, the biographer of her one-time partner David Foster Wallace, about Foster Wallace’s abusive behaviour had been marginalised. “Deeply saddened by the allegations against #JunotDiaz & I support every woman brave enough to speak. The violence #DavidFosterWallace inflicted on me as a single mom was ignored by his biographer & @NewYorker as ‘alleged’ despite my having letters in his hand,” she wrote.Marina Warner warned that 'being good' should not be conflated with 'good writing'. But where is that line drawn?One UK literary agent says: 'Are [morality clauses] here? Probably not. Are they coming? Most definitely.'Will wonderful writers... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2018-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#abusive behaviour
#deeply saddened
#single mom
In December 2010 I asked: "Is someone fixing ebook prices?" Google's digital bookstore opened for business, and I started comparing prices only to find them fairly consistent across all retailers. I expected to see huge variances, not pricing consistency, which shouldn't be in a competitive... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
The Justice Department has formally decided to sue Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillian, Penguin and Simon & Schuster over alleged ebook price-rigging. Apple and Macmillian have already denied any wrongdoing, saying that the agreements were enhancing competition in an industry... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sell books
#previously believed
#favored nation
#fascinating reading
Figment is a website that gives teenagers and young adults a forum for posting their work and giving advice to others. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#young adults
#giving advice
YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen have a new project up their sleeves under their parent company, AVOS. Within the last 24 hours, the duo launched a landing page for their latest project, Zeen. AVOS is responsible for acquiring Delicious ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#latest project
#landing page
Publishing companies typically incorporate publishing and marketing departments into their business models. February Partners, however, is doing things a little differently: the Manhattan boutique book publicity and marketing firm founded in the fall of 2010 by two industry veterans has just... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publishing division
#marketing departments
#business models
#industry veterans
A New York court recently sided with the Wall Street Journal’s decision to change its terms of service for subscribers, a surprising decision indicating that digital publishers may have more legal leeway than previously imagined. WSJ decide ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#digital publishers
#previously imagined
The Justice Department is nearing a settlement with publishers over allegations of ebook pricing, but finalizing the deal is proving problematic as Apple and two publishers are balking at the terms of the deal. Amazon will be permitted to once again discount ebooks to its customers as a result.... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#joined apple
#justice department
#ebook pricing
#penguin group
With the amount of digital content expected to overtake the written editorial work carried out by customer publishers, plus a move towards redefining the sector as content marketing, Mike Fletcher investigates a sector that's keeping up with modern media times. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2012-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sector analysis
#content marketing
The Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green, London, is to have its own "writer in residence... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#wood green
More tablet experimentation from publishers, this time via reading apps Pulse and Zite. Zite, which already offered readers excerpts from Bonnier's Popular Science magazine, will now be doing that with 20 other Bonnier titles. And Pulse will be bring content from 8 publishers, including Venture... Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#huffington post
Last April Fools' Day, publishers from Time Inc. to the Washington Post Company sent fast-growing startup Zite an aggressive cease-and-desist letter. The publishers weren't joking, accusing Zite's app, a personalized news reader for the iPad and iPhone, of copyright infringement and calling it... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2012-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#huffington post
#$200 million
While 2011 saw fewer announcements of layoffs and buyouts in the newspaper industry than previous years, attrition continued quietly and relentlessly, with the nation’s biggest newspaper publishers trimming their combined work forces by 7.2 ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#newspaper industry
#previous years
#combined work
Publishers have made a flurry of "major" acquisitions and additions to their schedules... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Google has announced a new way for online news publishers to gate access to their premium content, by requiring would-be readers to fill in a survey first. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#monetize content
#premium content
John Locke found fame as the first self-published author to sell one million Kindle ebooks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#self-published author
Hachette Group company Octopus Publishing has acquired children's non-fiction publisher... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#acquired children
#non-fiction publisher
Two thirds of UK online publishers are planning to increase the number of digital roles "on the back of product growth expectations", the Association of Online Publishers reported today, compared to 55 per cent which saw growth in 2011. Acco ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Publishers have called on retailers to come up with creative new paperback promotions in stores... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publishers call
Bringing to the marketplace has always been a struggle for emerging writers, but the evolution of digital publishing formats is seeing a new wave of authors skipping the print medium entirely. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#emerging writers
Best known for The Song of Bernadette (1941), which was turned into an Oscar-winning movie, Jewish writer Franz Werfel (1890–1945) was also the author of one of the most popular Book-of-the-Month Club titles ever, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. First released in 1933, the work is a historical... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#musa dagh