Drawing on her panoramic reading and her experiences of the authorly life cycle, Atwood surveys her trade with a mix of seriousness and gentle fun“You may find the subject a little peculiar,” warns Margaret Atwood, before she discusses the writer’s relationship with mortality. “It is a little peculiar. Writing itself is a little peculiar.” Atwood’s survey of her profession makes this seem like an understatement: after all, she argues, writers have been placed in close company with the devil and the dead; they have secret identities and hidden doubles; they are death-defying magicians, self-erasing nobodies, even – if you want to get “murky and pretentious” – shamanistic travellers. This book prefers to stay on the side of clarity and self-deprecation, combining evidence drawn from her panoramic reading – one chapter deals with The Tempest, The Wizard of Oz and Klaus Mann’s Mephisto – with her own experiences of the life cycle of an author. She tempers the seriousness of her questions – What is a writer? For whom do writers write? – by poking gentle fun at her trade, describing the machine-like publishing industry as “cog eat cog”, and quietly mocking endless discussion panels. Yet Atwood sees her kind reflected everywhere – from Gilgamesh to The Beast With Five Fingers – and works hard on their behalf: advocate, analyst and always, writer.•To order On Writers and Writing for £7.99 (RRP £9.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought huge swaths of the publishing industry to a halt, but one channel remains open and thriving: mobile webcomics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Many months ago, when we all sat in our meeting rooms, sipping coffee and bouncing campaign ideas around, I don’t think any one of us marketing folk could have predicted just how much our plans would be forced to change. The effects of the national lockdown on marketing campaigns and the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-20 21:41:29 UTC ]
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Interviews Veronica Esposito Emma Ramadan is a literary translator based in Providence, Rhode Island, where she is the co-owner of Riffraff, a bookstore and bar. She is the recipient of an NEA Translation Fellowship, a PEN/Heim grant, and a Fulbright... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-05-18 18:20:27 UTC ]
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Offering what they call their ‘360-degree view of the potential as well as the shortcomings of the publishing industry,’ Italy’s literary agents are organizing during the ‘critical situation’ imposed by COVID-19. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson ‘For a New Start After the... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-05-11 03:29:40 UTC ]
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April 2020 found the publishing industry entering a period of unexpected change as bookshops closed and the focus turned to digital sales. The COVID-19 lockdown has forced writers to re-evaluate the future in this difficult time. As a narrative psychologist and fiction writer, I am interested... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-05 04:49:45 UTC ]
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Publishing industry sales rose 3.5% in the first two months of 2020 over the same period in 2019, according to data supplied to the AAP by 1,361 publishers for the organization’s StatShot report. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Could the coronavirus crisis and the UK lockdown be offering the publishing industry a glimpse into a world without bookshops? Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-30 02:18:22 UTC ]
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Publishing industry sales had a nice start to 2020, rising 3.5% through February, according to AAP's StatShot program. Sales of adult books were up 2.9%, and sales in the children/young adult rose 6.3%. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In a joint statement released to mark World Book Day, leaders of three organizations serving the publishing industry issued a cry to support the country’s booksellers as they struggle to survive the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Bluemoose Books founder Kevin Duffy has called on the publishing industry to rally behind its smaller presses at this time of crisis and to establish a fund to help independent publishers survive what Duffy said had been a 90% reduction in revenue as a result of the lockdown. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-14 17:49:26 UTC ]
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For the first time, a spate of new and forthcoming titles written by people with disabilities across the United States suggests that the publishing industry may finally be amplifying their voices and stories. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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There’s been a rapid rise in submissions from would-be authors since the coronavirus outbreak. If you’re dusting off your manuscript, here are some things to keep in mindIf you’re one of those people who always said they would write a novel if only they had the time: this is your moment. As more... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-03-26 16:00:31 UTC ]
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A lot has happened since I wrote to you last week about the rapid spread of COVID-19, its impact on all of us in publishing and our continued commitment to serve you. As I stated then, Folio: will keep our promise to seek out positive stories on how our community can get through this... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-03-26 13:00:37 UTC ]
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The Publishers Association has unveiled a brand and website redesign, including a new logo, icon and colour scheme that have been chosen "to reflect the creativity and dynamism of the publishing industry". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-25 01:18:09 UTC ]
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The publishing industry looks for the way forward–in a world in which what's truly essential simply may not include physical bookselling for a time. The post Weekend Reality Check: Our Bookstores and What’s ‘Essential’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-03-23 14:30:16 UTC ]
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Mlawer, one of the most recognized and respected people in the Hispanic publishing industry in the U.S., died on March 21; 'PW' Spanish-language editor Leyhla Aquile, who worked with Mlawer, offers a tribute. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A reader explains why working in the publishing industry made him appreciate the value of a book more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-03-17 10:35:25 UTC ]
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The growing impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the publishing industry came into view this week as some independent bookstores reported slowing sales and the number of book festival and author tour cancellations rose. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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[caption id="attachment_162389" align="alignright" width="270"] John Yedinak[/caption] John Yedinak, CEO of Aging Media Network, jokingly refers to himself as a college dropout who went to work with his “really smart brother,” George, to try and make his own business work. Yet the company the... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-03-10 15:10:55 UTC ]
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There’s no bigger global news story right now than the slow but intractable spread of coronavirus, which has been hobbling the normal ebb and flow of everything from the stock market to cruises, theme parks and tourism. The virus has affected the publishing industry as well, and there’s perhaps... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-26 17:39:37 UTC ]
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