Penelope Lively's recent short ebook for Penguin drew criticism for its brevity – but readers should not be put off the genre as a whole"Overpriced", "ridiculous", I feel cheated". Amazon reviewers haven't been wholly positive about a digital short Penelope Lively has written for Penguin Specials. On the evidence of the story itself, it's not Lively's fault. Abroad is about a pair of art students who travel to 1950s Spain in search of picturesque peasants and are disappointed when they don't live up to expectations. It's funny and evocative of a time when rural Europe was still exotic.It also peters out after just 4,000 words, so I sympathise with anyone who felt ripped off by its £1.99 price tag. These days you can buy two whole novels for that. The sad fact is, publishers don't make any money if an ebook costs less than £1.99. Amazon does, because singles are the literary equivalent of a gateway drug.This was brought home to me on finishing Susan Hill's latest effort, Printer's Devil Court (99p), a haunting tale about pre-second world war medical students who experiment with resurrection. More substantial than Lively's, it's a great, old-fashioned ghost story, whose chilling impact was somewhat undermined by turning the final page to find Amazon ordering me to rate, review, tweet, Facebook and buy more books by Susan Hill. Was the ebook I'd enjoyed little more than a trailer?Singles are a clever marketing tool. But it would be a shame if readers short-changed by one... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
The British novelist's first book sold more than 15 million copies and was adapted into a hit movie starring Robert Redford. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-08-16 00:16:31 UTC ]
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New retailer partnerships, live events and book clubs are all planned to capitalise on the platform’s vibrant community of literature loversSocial media app TikTok is making increased efforts to tap into the power of its books content, with new retailer partnerships, live events and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-08-15 16:03:52 UTC ]
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Richard Charkin offers 'a heartfelt apology,' writing that he now finds literary agents 'trusted go-betweens and understanding partners.' The post Richard Charkin: Dear Literary Agent appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-08-10 17:00:17 UTC ]
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Fiction often deals with domestic matters, including family, and some of the finest short stories treat the important, though sometimes fraught, relationship between parents and their children. What makes a good parent? What if two parents disagree over what’s best for their children, or for the... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-08-08 14:00:43 UTC ]
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Her first short-story collection, "The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing," was translated into more than 30 languages and became a best-seller. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-08-05 16:41:12 UTC ]
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What are some of the best short stories about childhood, and the experiences of children? Although there are dozens of classic tales about those formative years, the following stories represent, for our money, some of the finest stories about children taking the rocky path of knowledge and... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-08-05 14:00:32 UTC ]
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One of the central questions I had when shaping my story collection, Proof of Me, was how to invite into it a unified feel, how to place each story to be in conversation—geographically, thematically, linearly—with what follows. I also sought for each story to stand on its own, offering a... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-08-05 11:00:00 UTC ]
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In 2008, after 13 years together, my literary agent and I parted ways. (To preserve her anonymity, let’s call her Michael Ovitz.) Between 1995 and 2002, Michael Ovitz sold two of my novels, including my debut, Hunger Point. By any measure, our partnership was a terrific success. Michael Ovitz... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-05 08:53:09 UTC ]
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Dhumketu (1892-1965), one of the towering figures of Gujarati literature, often described the short story form as an incomparable flower in the garden of literature, as delicate as the juhi, as exquisitely beautiful as a golden bird, as electrifying as a bolt of lightning. For him, the short... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-01 08:51:21 UTC ]
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Writers of short stories have said a great deal about relationships of various kinds, and although the novel may be the preferred form for teasing out the complexities and conflicts of a long-term relationship, the short-story form can also provide writers with enough space to pinpoint a... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-07-29 14:00:30 UTC ]
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Covid-19 deaths are a symptom of many other social ills, including inequality, federalism and factory farms, John Ehrenreich argues. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-07-29 12:00:40 UTC ]
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As sales continue to take a nosedive in the beginning of 2022, it raises a question on the state of ebooks: are they on the decline again? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-07-28 10:31:00 UTC ]
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A full cast of narrators brings an audiobook to life in totally new and unexpected ways. Here are some of the latest you can't miss. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-07-21 10:36:00 UTC ]
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Today in extremely niche literary world factoids: in case you didn’t know (I did not) Zadie Smith has a younger brother named Ben Bailey Smith, an actor and standup who goes by Doc Brown, admires Taylor Swift’s writing ability, and features in Netflix’s new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-20 16:07:31 UTC ]
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I remember the first time I met Courtney Maum. It was nearly ten years ago, a spring or maybe summer day in Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens. We were both in our twenties, no books published yet, just a few free essays here and there, just starting our writing careers with the fierce intensity of Jack... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-18 08:52:29 UTC ]
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The winners of the 2022 Whiting Literary Magazine Prize celebrating "excellence in publishing and advocacy for writers" have been announced. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-07-14 21:40:54 UTC ]
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We are thrilled to announce that Electric Literature has won the prestigious Whiting Literary Magazine Prize! This highly competitive award recognizes excellence in digital and print magazines, and supports winners with an outright grant in the first year, followed by two years of a matching... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-07-14 13:15:00 UTC ]
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Today, the Whiting Foundation announced the winners of its 2022 Literary Magazine Prizes, which honor “the most innovative and essential publications at the forefront of American literary culture.” The five winners were chosen—from an initial pool of more than eighty applicants —based on their... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-14 13:01:36 UTC ]
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The winners of the fifth annual Whiting Literary Magazine Prizes have been announced, with five publications, including 'Electric Literature' and 'Zyzzyva,' taking home a combined total of $144,000 in funding. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-07-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In “Circus of Dreams,” the literary editor John Walsh writes about the bookish life in London when Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Jeanette Winterson and their generation were in the increasingly bright limelight. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-07-12 02:13:37 UTC ]
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