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 ]
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Is something rotten in the world of academic publishing? Yes, if you read a blockbuster piece in the latest issue of Science magazine showing how many open–access journals have little or no quality control, and apparently put hard cash (in the shape of author contributor fees) before... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thriller writer David Baldacci is to publish fantasy novel The Finisher with Pan Macmillan... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#write children
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The Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) has invited library services to compete for a part in the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Depending on whom you talk to, the foreign rights markets are rebounding, or are still in decline. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The new Kindle Paperwhite is like the old one, but with a better backlight and upgraded software. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#ebook reader
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The San Diego Reader is mining gold from its rich archives and releasing the treasures as a collection of six eBooks, the first installment of a series that will showcase the literary quality and historic value of a collection spanning more than 40 y ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Irish writer William Trevor has been named winner of the inaugural Charleston & Chichester... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Roberta Pereira and Brisa Trinchero love working as Broadway producers and relaxing with a good book. But one night over drinks at Sardi's, the duo wondered why there weren't any good Broadway reads. A few cocktails later, they decided to start a Broadway-themed publishing firm, and Dress Circle... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The tech community seems especially impressed by a feature called Mayday, which calls up an Amazon tech support employee via video chat to help with tablet issues. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's 1969 and James Bond wakes up in The Dorchester in London. It’s his 45th birthday.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poet Alice Oswald has won the third £25,000 Warwick Prize for Writing. It is the first time... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Word-of-mouth has long been a driver of small business success (and failure), and these days it takes the form of online customer reviews. But the relative anonymity provided by the Web has added a new wrinkle: review fraud. In fact, fake reviews have been a real problem on Yelp. Last fall the... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It may be astonishing that a print publication devoted to book reviews still exists, but it does — and Kirkus Reviews wants to give you a free literary trip to NYC. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J.K. Rowling will write the screenplay for a film adaptation of the Potter book 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' and the movie will center on the adventures of textbook author Newt Scamander. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J.K. Rowling will write the screenplay for a film adaptation of the Potter book 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' and the movie will center on the adventures of textbook author Newt Scamander. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J K Rowling will write a new film based on Beasts and Where to Find Them, one of her Comic Relief... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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InboundWriter wants to help big publishers and niche bloggers figure out how much demand there is for their idea in the Web ecosystem before they type a word or hit "publish." At least that's the idea behind the newest version of the startup's software, which the company said will be used by... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novelists Margaret Atwood and Howard Jacobson are the latest recruits to the Hogarth Shakespeare... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a promotional event timed to coincide with the global release of Margaret Atwood’s new novel MaddAdam, her publisher, Doubleday, is teaming with Wattpad to release an exclusive essay about the book as well as excerpts from the other novels in the dystopian trilogy of which it is a part. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Crime author Sophie Hannah is to write a new Agatha Christie novel, featuring the author's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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