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 ]
First US Anthology Celebrates Literary Translators’ Work from Nineteen Languages, by The Editors of WLT News and Events [email protected] Mon, 04/08/2024 - 14:33 The first US anthology celebrating the breadth of literary translators’ work debuts... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-04-08 19:33:31 UTC ]
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Disney just pulled a fast one. Star Wars movies and shows are typically announced years before being released, but the company just revealed a new TV program that premieres next month. Tales of the Empire is an animated show produced by Dave Filoni, the man who cut his teeth on cartoons like... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-04-04 19:00:07 UTC ]
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Ebook and digital audiobook use by kindergarten through 12th grade students has exploded in popularity, up 20% since 2022, 286% since 2019. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-04-03 14:54:32 UTC ]
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During the summer of 1896, a poster of a redheaded woman riding a bicycle appeared in bookshop windows and newsstands in cities across the United States. Sporting a fashionable outfit, the cyclist gazes blankly beyond the viewer, seeming to exert little effort. Though her body occupies most of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-03 08:55:47 UTC ]
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The best of LGBTQ+ books, from mystery to children's titles, comics to romance, are all in this year's Lambda Literary Award shortlists. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-03-28 13:29:04 UTC ]
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Short stories can do things novels cannot because they’re short. They’re limber and can dart in and out of close-fitting places. They can be weird and daring in ways that novels cannot always sustain. Joy Williams writes in, “8 Essential Attributes of the Short Story (and one way it differs from... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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This essay is based on a Master’s lecture delivered at the Conrad Award Gala, Conrad Festival, October 29, 2023. Gloria Anzaldúa, a queer Mexican American author with indigenous heritage, tells us about why she writes: “I write to record what others erase when I speak, to rewrite the stories... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-25 08:55:52 UTC ]
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Who among us hasn’t wished that they could get paid to just sit and read for a little while? No strings, no work-related tasks involved—just good old fashioned American currency in exchange for reading a book of your choosing, for pleasure. Well, fellow dreamers, I have good news! Perelandra... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-06 17:56:29 UTC ]
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Singh, an agent at Ayesha Pande Literary and the former editorial director at Other Press, has worn many hats in her 30-year career in publishing. Now, at the helm of the Anjali Singh Agency, she's starting yet another professional chapter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Rebecca Rego Barry, author of 'The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells,' on researching the prolific mystery author—whose name, which once regularly graced the pages of the 'New York Times' and this very magazine, has been all but forgotten. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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From one girl’s aspiration to Olympic gymnastics glory, to a boy’s stint living in the Idaho wilderness in hopes of fixing his unruly behavior, something that remains a guiding principle in Black storytelling is the breadth of our lives. These stories, a collection of some of EL’s most-loved... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-02-22 12:00:00 UTC ]
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From cancelled books to ‘review bombing’, it might seem as though the website can make or break a career. But how influential is it really?Something dramatic happens on a social media platform every day. On Goodreads, the anachronistically designed website for logging, rating (out of five) and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-17 09:00:10 UTC ]
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Novelist Jacinda Townsend and writer James Bernard Short join co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about the movie American Fiction, which is based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett. Townsend and Short discuss how the film addresses race in the publishing industry via... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-08 09:08:33 UTC ]
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The market for bédé visual storytelling almost doubled over the course of the pandemic, but can the birthplace of Asterix continue to nurture creators?Like thousands of French people, Sylvie Pinault discovered comic books during the pandemic. Though bandes dessinées – literally meaning “drawn... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-06 14:00:36 UTC ]
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An inside look at the publication process for the latest installment in the bestselling author’s the Hazel Wood series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-01-22 16:42:56 UTC ]
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Canadian author Margaret Atwood has received a high honour from France's ministry of culture for her contributions to literature. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2024-01-18 18:47:25 UTC ]
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Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency has acquired cookbook-focused literary agency the Ekus Group, which will operate as a boutique culinary division. Owner Sally Ekus will head up representation of cookbook and lifestyle titles as senior literary agent. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Peregrine spacecraft has experienced an ‘anomaly’ that could endanger its planned moon landing, as reported by the BBC. Astrobotic, the private company behind the project, says this anomaly prevents the spacecraft from pointing its solar panels at the sun. In other words, the vehicle can’t... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-01-08 19:12:21 UTC ]
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The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-01-08 14:54:33 UTC ]
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