The man who ushered classics like Catch-22 into the world, Gottlieb has reason to brag. But in his new memoir Avid Reader he prefers to downplay the editor’s role Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, once gave an interview where he credited his editor with kicking his work into shape. After the interview ran, Heller got an irritated phone call. The caller was his editor, Robert Gottlieb. Gottlieb told Heller to knock it off. “I felt then, and still do, that readers shouldn’t be made aware of editorial interventions,” Gottlieb writes in his new memoir, Avid Reader: A Life. “They have a right to feel that what they’re reading comes direct from the author to them.”Gottlieb’s book is full of stories like that one. He is a very unassuming person, for an alleged legend – a characterization he laughs at to me, saying his daughter pokes fun at him for so often being called it. Yet beginning at Simon & Schuster in the 1950s and 1960s, flourishing at Knopf in the 1970s and 1980s, and with a brief but memorable detour to the New Yorker (as an editor), Gottlieb’s editing pen has touched the manuscripts of most of the important American writers of the 20th century – and several of the British ones, too. He did it, though, as much from behind the scenes as he possibly could. “I’ve given very few interviews,” he told me when I met him at his book-lined townhouse on New York’s East Side. He is only giving this one now, he says, because he needs to help the publisher sell his book. ... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After a two-decade-long relationship between the magazine giant Time Inc. and American Express, Time Inc. plans to close quickly on its purchase of American Express’s publishing division. “This 20-year courtship is finally bei ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In each issue of Distro, Executive Editor Marc Perton publishes a wrap-up of the week in news. In the US, Labor Day traditionally marks the end of the lazy days of summer, and the beginning of the busy fall season. While this summer was hardly quiet -- it included, you might recall, major... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#major event
#amazon announced
#upgraded version
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Ever since the Penguin–Random House merger was announced, Markus Dohle, CEO of the new company, has promised that the integration of the two publishers would be handled carefully and deliberately. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#coming slowly
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The late New York Times Reporter Anthony Shadid, who died in Syria last year, is among the winners of the 2013 Arab American Book Awards. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When the U.K. newspaper the Sunday Times outed J.K. Rowling as the author of detective novel The Cuckoo's Calling earlier this year, computer scientists were among the first people called in. Although the novel was published under the pen name Robert Galbraith, two computational... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#casual vacancy
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In each issue of Distro, Executive Editor Marc Perton publishes a wrap-up of the week in news. There's a very good chance you're reading this on a tablet. Distro is, after all, first and foremost, a tablet magazine. There's also a reasonable chance you're reading this on a computer. Distro... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The rapid pace of change with publishing technology, and consumer technology for that matter, has opened up a host of new opportunities for publishers. “Prevailing wisdom” has been turned on its head. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With the likes of Flipboard, Google Currents, Pulse and other magazine-style newsreaders competing for your attention, the folks at Inq Mobile are aiming to delight audiences by delivering personalized content from unexpected sources. As creators of one of the first Facebook phones, they're now... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With the rapid increase in self-published books around the world, major publishing houses are having to find new ways to maintain their market share. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2013-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Remember when the iPad was supposed to save publishing? For all the hype of the tablet revolution and its impact on the industry, most digital magazines are still growing into the form factor. Far too often, tablet mags are simply regurgitated copies of the print edition served up as clunky,... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Following up on a story on ESPN's global dominance, The Atlantic has published a series of charts that show why the sports network remains so expensive––and why men continue to pay for its premium. The network's internal research, which polls its subscribers (take from that what you will), finds... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The ABA's CEO sent an open letter to independent booksellers encouraging them to publicize Amazon as a company "detrimental" to the book business and buyers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The music industry’s lawsuit against a popular YouTube channel this week could indicate that publishers are looking for savvier ways to attack piracy besides going after YouTube itself, a legal expert said. The National Music Publishers Association Tuesday filed a copyright infringement suit... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#broader scope
So this is the Bloomberg Way! Bloomberg LP fired an editor yesterday after he published an incorrect headline on the company’s terminals worldwide — saying a jury had found ex-Goldman Sachs banker Fabrice Tourre not liable for ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chad W. Post offers an overview of some classic Brazilian texts (available in English) and some of what’s planned for the Frankfurt Book Fair, where Brazil is guest of honor. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“Always be closing,” the oft-quoted line from David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play Glengarry Glen Ross, could serve as the mantra at today’s big houses. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After it was revealed that JK Rowling wrote the crime novel, The Cuckoo's Calling, under pseudonym Robert Galbraith, book sales on Amazon have spiked by 507,000 percent. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The shortlist nominees for the 2013 PEN Literary Awards have been announced. Categories include debut works, nonfiction, picture books and translation. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#picture books
Literary agent April Eberhardt describes her two-tiered offer to author-clients: one contract is a traditional deal, the other is a publishing consultancy. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J K Rowling has been revealed as the author of The Cuckoo's Calling, a crime novel published... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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