Turning literature into a numbers game makes some sense for the book trade, but none for readersWe may be halfway through January already, but the spirit of new year is still in full swing over in San Francisco, where the 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge goes from strength to strength to strength. More than 240,000 of Goodreads' 25 million members have already committed to reading more than 14m books this year, pledging to get through them at an average of more than a book a week. And many fans of books will say hurrah for that. I reckon I'm pretty much in favour of books and literature, too, but the Goodreads Reading Challenge just sets my teeth on edge.It starts right there in the name. Since when was reading any kind of challenge? Isn't it supposed to be fun? Maybe not for children still learning to differentiate their Perfect Peters from their Horrid Henrys, or for the one in six UK adults who still struggle with literacy, but Goodreads is a site for people who are already "readers" . I don't think they have schoolchildren in mind when they suggest you should "raise your reading ambitions" and it certainly doesn't look like a scheme designed to help adult learners "make it to the final chapter". All this talk of pledging, of targets, of tracking your progress, is just another step in the marketisation of the reading experience, another stage in the commodification of literary culture.We know that literacy correlates with better social outcomes, that literary fiction... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
There is something “seriously amiss with the way secondary schools encourage young people... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The panel centered on broadening audiences for independent literature while working under budgeting constraints in an oversaturated market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Will and Ann Eisner Foundation unveiled an international slate of events to mark Will Eisner Week 2014, held March 1-7, to celebrate the life, work and influence of Will Eisner, a pioneering golden age comic book artist and one of the most innovative creators in the history of comics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Haven't finished a book since college? Between work, family, and social lives, trying to find time to read can be more effort than relaxing hobby. Here's how to make more time for your favorite page-turners.Reading is one of the most pleasurable activities out there. On a scale of human... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rudi Lehnert asked if there’s a way to open and read .epub books in a browser. Most of the ebooks I read are in the .epub format, primarily because I’m allergic to Digital Rights Management. (An .epub can have DRM, but they usually don’t.) A handful of e-tailers sell unprotected .epub books,... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Earlier this month, there was yet another lengthy public debate about Upworthy, the two-year-old publisher that has become one of the most popular sites on Facebook due to its knack for overselling its bite-size content with "curiosity gap" h ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Technical books, with charts and graphs, have always been a challenge for e-readers like the Kindle. DCL, working with MIT Press, believes it has come up with a solution. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s 2014, and for North American manga publishers, the digital revolution is well underway. Where there once were only a handful of publishers offering their titles online or via ebook apps, now almost all of them are offering, or negotiating to offer at least some of their current and backlist... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Got a kid with an insatiable appetite for books? You may want to sign up for Oyster, then. The subscription ebook service has just launched a children's section, giving young readers all the titles they can handle. The deal also brings Disney... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Life before the Internet sucked. My life as a kid growing up in suburban Michigan consisted of urban sprawl, shopping malls, and bad television (except 30 minutes of Seinfeld every Thursday). Adults told you that educated people followed the news, but most small towns had one mediocre newspaper,... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2014-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little, Brown Book Group has acquired Unspeakable, a YA debut from author Abbie Rushton, for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Microsoft's getting ready to follow Amazon, Apple, and Google into the reading game with an app for Windows to peruse ebooks, magazines, and comics. The new app appears be part of Microsoft's cross-platform Xbox entertainment services, which currently include Xbox Music and Video. Microsoft... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Open Road Integrated Media has signed an agreement to acquire E-Reads, the digital publisher founded by Richard Curtis in 1999. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The U.S. Supreme Court has said it will weigh in on the constitutionality of a provision in the U.S. Affordable Care Act requiring most for-profit companies to offer insurance coverage for birth control to their employees. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After a woman recently turned herself in to American authorities and confessed to participating in setting several fires, a judge ordered she read both 'Goliath' and Mary C. Wood's 'Nature's Trust' in addition to serving a prison sentence and completing community service. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From biographies to technical studies and step-by-step guides, here are 10 books that you should look for in the next few months.Of course, we think you can learn a lot online. But, if you're looking to take a deeper dive, there is often no substitute for the kind of thoughtful analysis you can... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Pew survey found that e-reading increased as well but that more adults read a print book in 2013 than in the previous year. 'Print remains the foundation of Americans’ reading habits,' the report stated. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Internet has been disrupting the businesses of publishing and bookselling for the past two decades. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books are rising in popularity, but according to the Pew Research Center, print remains the foundation of Americans’ reading habits. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For the first time the Zee Jaipur Literary Festival (JLF) has introduced a professional program to discuss the ongoing challenges to book publishing in India. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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