The Guardian view on US book bans: time to fight back | Editorial

Censorship is surging thanks to an organised rightwing minority targeting books on LGBTQ and Black characters and issues“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door,” warns a character in Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s dystopian vision of an America where books are considered so dangerous they must be incinerated. The novel appeared 70 years ago, in the aftermath of Nazi book burnings and amid McCarthyism and Soviet ideological repression. But the urge to ban books has resurged with a vengeance, with the American Library Association (ALA) recording a doubling of censorship attempts in 2022, to 1,269 across 32 states: the highest rate for decades. Pen America, which champions freedom of expression, tallied more than 2,500 cases in the last school year.These attempts are not merely more numerous but are also broadening and deepening. The decisions of school boards and districts take place in the context of politicians grasping electoral advantage and punitive yet often vaguely worded state laws on education – such as the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis’s, Stop-Woke Act. At least 10 states have passed legislation increasing parental power over library stock, or limiting students’ access. In place of spontaneous challenges to single titles come challenges to multiple titles, organised by campaign groups such as Moms for Liberty. The ALA says that 40% of attempts last year targeted 100 books or more. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 17:21:33 UTC ]
News tagged with: #school year #school boards #ron desantis #multiple titles #library association

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Guardian view on US book bans: time to fight back | Editorial'


VIDEO: Kerouac's 'lost' book published

American author Jack Kerouac's first ever novel, which was thought to be lost, has been published 40 years after his death. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book published


Digital Book Census shows rates creep up

Digital royalty rates paid to authors by publishers are increasing, though there remains... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Penguin Pulls E-Books from Libraries, Including Kindle Versions

They publisher may want to make sure that library ebooks can't be easily stripped of DRM and kept by a borrower without penalty. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #library ebooks


The Guardian puts PaidContent up for sale for $20m

The Guardian has put its PaidContent website up for sale with a price tag of $20m (£12.7m), three years after it bought the New York-based digital publishing and events business. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #price tag #events business


Three Years Later, the Guardian Wants a Buyer for PaidContent

The British newspaper publisher says the pioneering Web site is "is a high-quality asset but our focus in the US is on building the Guardian." Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Mark Cuban Takes Shot at Writing an E-Book

Mark Cuban has 335,000 friends on Facebook and 760,000 followers on Twitter. Monday, the Internet billionaire and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team will test just how friendly those fans really are. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Financial Times Web App Gains One Million Registrants

Financial Times reaches yet another milestone, now boasting one million registrants for its native web app. Apps.FT.com launched in June, after FT decided to go without Apple for its subscription-based app offering. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Full Circle to publish UEA famous graduates book

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 17/11/2011 - 06:45 Full Circle Editions is to publish Body of Work, celebrating 40 years of the University of East Anglia writing course, associated with authors such as Rose Tremain and Ian McEwan, on 1st December. Edited by Giles Foden, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rose tremain #ian mcewan #1st december #kazuo ishiguro #andrew motion #tracy chevalier #john boyne


Time Inc. Magazines Make It to the Kindle Fire, After All

It took some haggling, but Time Warner's publishing unit joins Hearst, Conde Nast and other big publishers on Amazon's new tablet. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #time warner #kindle fire #conde nast #big publishers


Time-travel romance for Piccadilly

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 14/11/2011 - 15:07 Piccadilly Press has bought a time-travelling young adult romance story, which will be a lead title for autumn 2012. Managing director Brenda Gardner bought world rights to two books in the Timedance series from Bob Markel. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lead title #time traveller


Facebook 'Idiot's Guide' Inadvertently Makes Case for E-Books

Writing a how-to book in a static medium like paper about something as dynamic as Facebook is challenging at best and at worst...well...idiocy. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Random House of Canada Tests New Book Tour Model

Random House of Canada is experimenting with a different kind of book tour this fall--one that guarantees book sales from every person attending a launch. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #random house #book tour


Bodley Head buys book from Blair's ex-chief of staff

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 10/11/2011 - 15:52 Tony Blair's former chief of staff is writing a book for The Bodley Head about the intricacies of negotiations between governments and terrorist organisations. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bodley head #terrorist organisations


Japan's Rakuten to Acquire E-book Retailer Kobo

Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten said on Tuesday that it plans to acquire Canadian ebook and e-reader company Kobo in a bid to expand in the area of media... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Haynes tops Amazon's best books of 2011

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 09/11/2011 - 08:12 Amazon.co.uk has chosen Elizabeth Haynes' debut Into the Darkest Corner (Myriad Editions) as its best book of 2011, as part of a top 50 selection made "after thoughtful consideration and lengthy debate", and taking into... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #uk customers #darker side #domestic violence #huge hit #editors alike


Australian book industry moves to ease import restrictions

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 09/11/2011 - 09:15 Australia’s publishers have moved to compromise in the battle to protect their industry from parallel importing. According to a report from Inside Retail, the Book Industry Strategy Group (BISG) has made a recommendation to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


‘The Great Big Book of Horrible Things,’ by Matthew White

Matthew White, a self-described “atrocitologist,” at the African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #horrible things #lower manhattan


Startups Aim to Share Books Better

The idea of "social reading" has been around for years, but there's a cluster of new companies trying to make it actually work. Two of these startups, Subtext and Findings, launched Oct. 25. Another, Readmill, built around sharing clips/excerpts, is currently being tested. Subtext, for example,... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #share books #social reading #lets publishers #launch titles #reading experience


French VAT rise threat to books

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Tue, 08/11/2011 - 09:26 French prime minister François Fillon has announced that the reduced VAT rate applying to books would be raised from 5.5% to 7% from 1st January as part of a fresh economic austerity package to help rein in France’s massive... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #1st january