The big question: are books getting longer?

A new survey of bestsellers and critics’ picks has concluded that the average book is now 25% bigger than 15 years ago. But not everyone reads things this wayBooks are steadily increasing in size, according to a survey that has found the average number of pages has grown by 25% over the last 15 years.A study of more than 2,500 books appearing on New York Times bestseller and notable books lists and Google’s annual survey of the most discussed books reveals that the average length has increased from 320 pages in 1999 to 400 pages in 2014.Novels now relish being big and long, demanding that you sit in a chair, turn off your phone and devote some time to itAs an agent, the most difficult area now appears to be the middle. Mid-list, mid-career, middle-sized Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #annual survey #big question #average book #average number

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The big question: are books getting longer?'


Apple Wants to Move E-book Damages Trial

Apple is looking to escape from New York. In a filing this week, Apple attorneys argue that Judge Denise Cote does not have jurisdiction to oversee its upcoming damages trial. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Read EPUB books in your browser

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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #epub format #public domain #project gutenberg


PW Picks: Books of the Week, February 24, 2014

This week, Lorrie Moore's first collection in 15 years, the award-winning novel that was rejected by over 60 publishers, and what neuroscience can tell us about joy and anger. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lorrie moore


The Wonderful World of Book Titles

Publishers put out some very curious books on strange topics, as exhibited by this year's shortlist for the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #wonderful world #book titles #publishers put #diagram prize


Anne Frank books vandalised in Japan

More than 100 copies of Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl have been vandalised in public libraries in Japan's capital Tokyo, library officials say. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2014-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #anne frank #young girl #public libraries


WhatsApp is the first of several big acquisitions for Facebook

If the announcement of Facebook paying $19 billion in cash and stock for WhatsApp surprised you then maybe you’d forgotten this prediction I published on January 8th: #6 -- Facebook transforms itself (or tries to) with a huge acquisition. I wrote long ago that we’d never see Facebook in the Dow... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2014-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big acquisitions


Poo books make odd title shortlist

How To Poo On A Date and The Origin of Faeces make the Diagram Prize shortlist for the oddest book title of the year. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2014-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Five Graphic Novels Nominated for L.A. Times Book Prize

Nominees for the 34th annual L.A. Times Book Prizes have been announced and include five finalists for the graphic novel prize. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Steam's Linux game count explodes in one year, big publishers still absent

Since Valve released the first stable version of Steam for Linux a year ago, the number of Linux-supported games has grown more than fivefold.Valve's digital game distribution service now hosts 333 games for Linux, compared to 60 games last February. (Strangely, Steam's store page claims that... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2014-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big publishers #entire catalog


The Borribles, once infamous children's books, reissued for 21st-century readers

Considered too inflammatory to publish in the wake of 1980s UK riots, these tales of anarchic runaways are to be re-released as ebooksMichael de Larrabeiti's classic stories of anarchic, pointy-eared street children the Borribles, which were judged to be so lawless in the 1980s that their... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big city #making good


Heron Books signs TV scientist

Heron Books, an imprint of Quercus Books, has bought a new title about evolution by Professor... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #quercus books


Fallout Continues from Penguin Books India Debacle

One week after news broke that Penguin Books India had recalled and destroyed Wendy Doniger’s "The Hindus" the negative fall out continues. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fallout continues #news broke


Graphic Arts Books Buys Companion Press

In a deal that adds 27 titles to its backlist, Graphic Arts Books has acquired the trade books and publishing rights of Companion Press. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trade books #publishing rights


2013 L.A. Times Book Prize Finalists Announced

Fifty titles in 10 categories are in contention for the awards, which will be revealed in April. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Byliner Publishes Enhanced 'American Icons' E-books

The first three titles to be released will be I Love Lucy, The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, and The Disney Parks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Iain Banks's final book – of poetry – to be published in 2015

Collection will include work by Banks's friend Ken MacLeod and will come out on the anniversary of his death in FebruaryThe final work by Iain Banks – a collection of poetry by the late author – will be released next February, his publisher has announced.Banks died last June, two months after... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #desperately sad


Savannah Book Festival Thrives Despite Inclement Weather

Savannah's 7th annual Book Festival drew a crowd and charmed its authors amid threatening winter storms. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


PLA Preview 2014: What’s the Big Idea?

Public Library Association President Carolyn Anthony faces a dilemma. “There’s so much I’m looking forward to that it’s hard to know where to start,” she says, when asked for her perspective on the division’s upcoming biennial conference, set for March 11–15 in Indianapolis, Ind. “I look forward... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big idea #jane pauley #ann patchett #richard ford #david sedaris


Read Complex STM Books on the Kindle? Not Possible? Not So

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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #technical books #mit press


PW Picks: Books of the Week, February 17, 2014

This week, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, true crime that calls to mind "In Cold Blood," and a massive engineering mistake. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #true crime