An important riposte to digital culture, these essays by the Italian publisher and author argue that a publisher’s list is a literary work in its own rightThis collection of essays by the Italian author and publisher Roberto Calasso, translated by Richard Dixon, is a paean to publishing. Calasso argues that the art of the publisher lies in nurturing a distinctive literary vision. Publishers like Kurt Wolff, who published authors such as Kafka and Robert Walser, understood that being a publisher was not just about marketing books but creating a “form”: all the books produced by a publisher are part of a “self-sufficient composition”. Blurbs, covers, layout, paper, typeface: all serve “to give form to a plurality of books as though they were the chapters of a single book”. In effect, the list of a publisher becomes a literary work in itself. But in an age of corporate mergers and digitisation, this is an endangered ideal.In part, these essays are memoirs of Calasso’s own experience creating the Biblioteca Adelphi and of the authors and publishers he has known. But what makes this slim text memorable is his sheer passion for books – not digital texts but physical objects, in which every part is designed to enhance the experience of reading. An important and timely book. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 12:00 Random House Children's Books has acquired a "YA novel in the spirit of The Time Traveller's Wife" by Tamara Ireland Stone. Editorial director Kelly Hurst and commissioning editor Lauren Buckland bought UK and Commonwealth... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Felicity Wood Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 14:00 Sonny Mehta, editor-in-chief of Alfred A Knopf, has said publishing's editorial, marketing and publicity standards would guarantee the sector's relevance, as he was awarded the eighth LBF Lifetime Achievement Award in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 11:06 Library campaigner Tim Coates called on publishers to get involved in the fight to save public libraries, warning that the 500 currently threatened with closure will be followed by many more without action to protect the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A San Francisco-based company called Tynt is determined to allow publishers the opportunity to take full advantage of copy and paste user action. Already used by 600,000 publishers, the company released the Tynts Publisher Tools set in early February. The currently free suite of four tools... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 09:29 Profile m.d. Andrew Franklin has dismissed self-publishing as irrelevant in a heated debate on the relevance of publishers. The discussion, held at yesterday's London Book Fair, was between Franklin, Bloomsbury's executive... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones and Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 09:15 Publishers are having to spend more money to keep up with the pace of piracy, the chief executive of the PA has said, as robust debates over piracy affecting royalty rates dominated the first day of London Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 09:28 Controlling world English-language rights is key to taking advantage of the global book economy for UK publishers, delegates have been told. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ad network Specific Media has appointed Fox Networks Group's Graeme Lynch as its new UK publisher services director. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As the London Book Fair goes through its annual run this week, American agents are trying to figure out the best way to sell digital rights to foreign publishers in markets that are far behind the U.S. in ebook sales. Even though many international publishers are just starting to dabble in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 15:34 Penguin, Hachette Livre and Random House have all joined with PEN International for the launch of the literature-championing organisations latest initiative, the PEN International Publishers Circle. The scheme will see... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Sun, 10/04/2011 - 16:03 Enhanced ebooks are dead, discoverability is the most important issue facing ebook vendors, while pricing strategies should be measured against other digital content, not physical books. These were the key themes that emerged... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In an attempt to get readers behind their newly formed paywall, The New York Times has launched a deep discount offer to subscribers, which will run for a 26 week period. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 09:05 US publishers have dismissed Borders' recovery plan, which includes revamped stores and increased online sales, as unrealistic and are increasingly gloomy about its future. The New York Times reports Borders senior... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 15:58 A husband-and-wife team has launched an e-publishing company for new authors. Cornwall-based lawyers Nigel and Abbie Flanagan are calling on unpublished writers to submit the first 50 pages of their work to Wink Publishing.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 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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Advantage Business Media, a b-to-b publisher targeting the communications, manufacturing, design and science markets, has purchased the assets of Continuity Insights from Gardner Publications. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 05/04/2011 - 16:11 Coronet will publish "Strictly Come Dancing" presenter Tess Daly's first sashay into fiction, having acquired The Camera Never Lies by the TV host. Editor Charlotte Haycock acquired British Commonwealth rights to the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 13:02 Cornerstone and Vintage are planning to release historian Alison Weir's backlist in ebook format for the first time. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The current crop of Russian publishers is collectively on the young side, many of them born shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Then, teething problems were many and the growth path rocky at times. But today these publishers produce nearly 120,000 new titles per year,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 15:24 Little, Brown has made two "significant" promotions, with deputy publisher David Shelley becoming publisher of the group and commercial director Ben Groves-Raines moving up to chief operating officer. All of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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