Seeing stars: writers should not fear online reviews

Will social media and aggregated preferences sweep away book reviewing and literary culture? There’s nothing new about the death of literatureThe writer Caleb Crain is unhappy about “the intrusion of counting into the life of literature”. He believes that big data and predictive-taste algorithms are cutting humans “out of the loop”, and that social media are undermining our faith in “the mental states of other people” when those inner states aren’t acknowledged in tweets and likes. It seems we are mired in “a new kind of disenchantment”, he says, which is devolving our sense of literary merit. As big data blurs personal opinion into preference aggregates, and as Twitter-propelled article-surfing destroys reviewing communities and the authority of critics alike, Crain contends, we have no choice but to “declare war on counting”. So that, you know, “literature will survive”. Related: Computer says no: Amazon uses AI to combat fake reviews Bad criticism in public is a nuisance. Does it spell the end of days? Hardly [S]uddenly the cosmos seems like one vast plan after all, patterned in such a way that the novel you’re reading at bedtime connects to your astronomy lecture, connects to what you heard on NPR, connects to what your friend discusses in the cafeteria at lunch – and then briefly it’s as if the lid has come off the world, as if the world were a dollhouse, and you can glimpse what it would be like to see it whole, from above – a vertiginous magnificence. Continue... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Other Publishing stories related to: 'Seeing stars: writers should not fear online reviews'


Commonwealth Writers Prizes relaunch

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 16:37 The Commonwealth Writers prizes have relaunched today (19th October) with a new community website aimed at “connecting and inspiring new authors”. The new site is a free-to-join forum for aspiring writers to get advice from... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Godfray asks BL to "review" Amazon link

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 15:01 Tim Godfray, chief executive of The Booksellers Association, has asked British Library c.e.o. Dame Lynne Brindley to review the Library’s relationship with Amazon “as a matter of urgency”, following the furore over links to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Cuts Publishers Out of the Mix, Makes Deals With Writers

Releasing a book on one of the world’s largest publishing marketplaces could help your company. Here's a quick guide to the basics of self-publishing. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Camden campaigners to try for library judicial review

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 10:14 Camden library campaigners have become the latest group to apply for judicial review over library closures. The Camden Public Library User Group has instructed solicitors Bindmans to lodge an application for judicial review,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latest group #judicial review #library closures #law firm


Financial Times To Fold Paid Online News Service Tilt

The Financial Times will close FT Tilt, a premium online financial news and analysis service for finance professionals in emerging markets, at the end of October. "We propose to close FT Tilt at the end of October," an FT spokesperson told FOLIO:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst Magazines partners Race Online 2012

Hearst Magazines UK has signed up as media partner for Race Online 2012's latest initiative to encourage everyone in the UK to get online by the end of next year. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Librarians fear over digital stalemate

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 30/09/2011 - 08:15 Librarians have warned that the year-long stalemate with the major publishers over the terms of ebook lending could damage the already beleaguered service. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French online-only publishers join forces

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Fri, 02/09/2011 - 07:50 Twenty French online-only book publishers and other digital providers have joined forces for the first time to launch the new literary season. The site larentreelitteraire.org was unveiled this week and will stay live until... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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MotorBoating Magazine Shutters Print Editon, Goes Online-Only

Bonnier’s MotorBoating magazine, a part of the Marine Group Network that includes Yachting and SaltWater Sportsman, is folding its print issue. The July/August 2011 installment will be its last. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S to publish ebook star John Locke

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 15:00 Simon & Schuster US has signed a deal to publish the physical editions of John Locke's Donovan Creed novels in North America. In June, Locke became the first self-published author to sell more than one million ebooks... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WaPo Reorgs Book Reviews...Again

Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of the Washington Post, sent a memo to his staff announcing, among other changes, that the book reviewers will now be report to the editors of the their respective sections. Brauchli told PW that these moves will not affect the paper's coverage of books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ALCS welcomes support for Hargreaves Review

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 04/08/2011 - 09:12 The Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society has welcomed the government support for the Hargreaves Review into intellectual property and growth, though it expressed concern over the proposals to extend copyright... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Isle of Wight denied library closures review

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 26/07/2011 - 16:29 The High Court has rejected an application by an Isle of Wight resident to bring a judicial review claim over the island's library closures. At a hearing in London today [26th July], His Honour Judge Pearl said the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Telegraph ordered to pay damages over book review

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 26/07/2011 - 17:11 Telegraph Media Group has been ordered to pay £65,000 in damages after losing a high court case for libel and malicious falsehood over a Lynn Barber book review published in the Telegraph. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brent libraries judicial review: day two

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 09:18 Brent council's plan to close six of its 12 libraries was made "with great care and expressed attention to the 1964 Act" and other relevant legislation, the High Court heard yesterday (20th July). The council had faced... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three Golden Rules for book reviewing: What are they?

Possibly the most famous book review, ever, was written by the young Irish wit and polemicist John Wilson Croker. Croker is still remembered, though obscurely, as a founder of modern political conservatism. What's more, according to some sources, John Wilson Croker invented the very term... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brent libraries judicial review: day one

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 20/07/2011 - 09:10 Brent council failed to comply with its legal obligations under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act when planning the closure of six of its libraries, the High Court was told on the first day of the judicial review... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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F + W Media Acquires The Writers Store

Adding to their rapidly expanding portfolio of e-commerce storefronts, F + W Media acquired The Writers Store. Becoming the 26th store under the F + W umbrella, The Writers Store sells third-party writing and filmmaking tools globally. The Writers Store offers tools, services and exclusive... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AOL's HuffPost Enters Crowded Online Arena With HuffPost Celebrity Site

The Huffington Post Media Group, AOL's fast-moving content unit, is launching a celebrity site called HuffPost Celebrity today, as well as another called HuffPost Culture. HuffPost Celebrity, which ate AOL's former celeb-focused site Popeater, is in a very crowded arena online, with competitors... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Library campaigners win right to judicial review over closures

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 07/07/2011 - 15:47 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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