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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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Wed, 06/04/2011 - 09:37 Children's poetry is among the biggest losers in the children's literature sector following the recent cuts in Arts Council funding, it has emerged. As well as the Poetry Book Society (PBS) which has seen 100% of its funding... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 09:04 Hodder thriller imprint Mulholland Books has acquired a fiction debut by "Saw" writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and author, screenwriter and illustrator Stephen Romano. Editor Ruth Tross bought British... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 15:47 Transworld/Bantam novelist Manda Scott has formed the Historical Writers Association as a forum for writers and to promote the genre. The internet-based group, which already boasts around 100 members including authors Simon... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 16:25 Writers ability to average out their earnings over a number of years could be abolished, according to new tax system proposals. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 09/03/2011 - 09:48 Ten times as many people shop at Amazon than online at Waterstone's, a survey has revealed, while more than half of respondents bought books online. The research, carried out by the Institute of Direct Marketing,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 03/03/2011 - 05:36 The administrators of British Bookshops and Stationers will begin an online auction of non-book stock, including forklift trucks and office equipment, on Tuesday (8th March). Interested parties will be invited to view the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 01/03/2011 - 15:50 The Orange New Writers Book of the Month promotion launches today [1st March] featuring Emma Henderson as the first writer to receive a month-long promotion in Waterstone's. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Online publishers like CBS and Forbes are selling the tiny ads on their Web sites, rather than letting a third-party network promote teeth whitening and herbal remedies. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 08:30 Usborne has acquired a new series about gymnastics from debut author Jane Lawes. Fiction director Rebecca Hill acquired world English Language rights to the Gym Stars series from Sarah Molloy at A M Heath. The first two books Summertime and Somersaults... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 16/02/2011 - 06:35 Independent publisher Myrmidon has bought world English language rights (excluding South Africa) to a novel shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize. Ed Handyside, publisher and founder, bought the rights to Trespass... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As Meghan O'Rourke reported here last week, VIDA, an organization for women writers, has released a tally of male and female bylines for the 2010 run of 14 high-end, literary-oriented magazines. Despite a couple of relatively bright spots (the New York Times Book Review surprisingly being one),... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2011-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Tim Conneally, Betanews Amazon on Monday pre-released a software update for Kindle e-readers running the 3.0 software which updates the interface for magazines and newspapers, adds a quick review section at the end of each book, and adds page numbers that match Kindle books with their print... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For many publishers, "e-commerce" means dabbling in sales of intellectual property, such as work plans (August Home Publishing, Hanley Wood). Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Amazon.co.uk has selected books published by Myriad Editions, Fig Tree, Atlantic Books and Simon & Schuster as its four Rising Stars for this quarter. Snowdrops by A D Miller (Atlantic Books) is currently the featured book, with a Q&A with Miller on the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams The Publishers Association [PA] has attacked the culture secretary's decision to allow communications watchdog Ofcom to "delay" the Digital Economy Act. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced yesterday [1st February] that Ofcom is to assess whether the Act's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams John Blake has acquired world rights in the "candid, harrowing and often hilarious" autobiography of "Benidorm" actress Crissy Rock. Editor-in-chief Michelle Signore bought the rights through Ken Douglas at MCLA, with John Blake to publish on 12th March. This... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sanchia Berg reports on the publishing company Pearson who have bought a majority stake in an Indian online tutoring company Tutorvista Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2011-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster requested that journalists and other writers not comment if asked whether they were responsible for the novel O, about a fictional 2012 presidential campaign. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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