The Irrational Allure of the Next Big Thing

Earlier this week, Random House shelled out more than $3.5 million for Lena Dunham’s first book, Not That Kind of Girl. She has an amazing résumé for anyone, let alone a 26-year-old, having directed two feature films and scored four Emmy nominations for her TV show, HBO’s Girls. But what makes the book advance so surprising is that Dunham doesn’t have a track record of selling a lot of books. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2012-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #big thing #lena dunham #emmy nominations #tv show #track record

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Irrational Allure of the Next Big Thing'


A ‘constant merry-go-round’: Nielsen and Comscore say the right things, but aren’t progressing fast enough for media buyers

The main measurement companies, Nielsen and Comscore, say they're trying to update and change metrics, but buyers remain frustrated by the lack of progress. The post A ‘constant merry-go-round’: Nielsen and Comscore say the right things, but aren’t progressing fast enough for media buyers... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2021-09-30 19:04:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #media buyers #nielsen


Pavilion to publish first cookbook by chef and YouTuber Big Has

Pavilion Books has acquired Home, the first cookbook from chef Hasan Semay, better known on social media as Big Has.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-28 05:07:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pavilion books #cookbook


Wyden, Eshoo Question Big Five Publishers Over Their Library E-book Practices

The lawmakers seek a wide range of information not only on the publishers’ digital library practices, but also on the economics of the market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #wide range #e-book


10 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Food

Matti Siegel, author of 'The Secret History of Food,' spills the beans on vanilla, beer, ice cream, Chilean sea bass, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #secret history #ice cream


An App Called Libby and the Surprisingly Big Business of Library E-Books

Increasingly, books are something that libraries do not own but borrow from the corporations that do. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2021-09-02 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #library e-books #libraries


Louise Penny’s latest mystery imagines a post-covid world. Things are still pretty complicated.

In ‘The Madness of Crowds,’ the sweet town of Three Pines struggles with the pandemic and its fallout. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-24 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #louise penny #post-covid world


OnlyFans’ policy switch is the latest victory in Big Banking’s war on sex

OnlyFans, the platform that allows creators to sell material directly to customers, will soon implement new restrictions on the publication of adult content. Starting in October, the company will ban the sale of sexually explicit content and depictions of sexual acts. The move does not cover all... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2021-08-20 17:40:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #$3 million #$3 billion #$1 billion


‘Mrs. March’ is a stylish suspense tale that’s both darkly alluring and just plain dark

Virginia Feito’s horror-tinged novel is already set for the big screen, with Elizabeth Moss in the starring role Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-20 10:57:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #virginia feito #big screen #starring role


Now that you’ve read ‘The Last Thing He Told Me,’ let’s talk about the ending

Laura Dave’s suspense novel is impossible to put down. But how satisfying is that conclusion? Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-12 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ve read


With Another Big Year, HarperCollins Sales Near $2 Billion

Sustained increases in book reading and book buying were the underlying factors in driving up sales by 19% and profits by 42% in HarperCollins's latest fiscal year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-08-06 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harpercollins sales #big year #$2 billion #book buying #book reading #harpercollins


Jackie Weaver's book 'on getting things done' goes to Constable

Internet sensation Jackie Weaver’s first book You Do Have the Authority Here! has gone to Constable, promising "plain old common sense".  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-07 23:20:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Kazuo Ishiguro: ‘Some awful things have happened in the last year . . . but these are not uninteresting times’

The Nobel Prize winner talks about the pandemic, his novel “Klara and the Sun,” fatherhood and more. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-06-22 14:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #kazuo ishiguro


Sinéad O’Connor was a star, then a pariah. She says she wouldn’t change a thing.

“Rememberings,” the musician’s memoir, is an attempt to piece together her fragmented history. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-06-02 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


In Blood and Ash, Blue Box Press Finds a Big Hit

The fledgling full-length fiction imprint of M.J. Rose and friends' Evil Eye Concepts is spreading its wings, with social media word-of-mouth driving remarkably strong sales for a new fantasy series by Jennifer L. Armenstrout. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big hit #fantasy series #fiction imprint


Adin Dobkin Admits He’s in the Pocket of Big Sandwich

In our series “Can Writing Be Taught?” we partner with Catapult to ask their course instructors all our burning questions about the process of teaching writing. This month we’re talking to Adin Dobkin, author of the forthcoming book Sprinting Through No-Man’s Land: Endurance, Tragedy, and... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-05-20 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #teaching writing #burning questions #electric literature


Harriet Evans | 'I want to write about things that interest me'

On the sunny spring morning that we speak, Harriet Evans has been going through the page proofs of her 12th novel, The Beloved Girls, with a forensic eye—long before she was a bestselling author, Evans was a highly regarded editor—and it has not met her exacting standards. “I’m actually... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-14 16:27:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harriet evans #bestselling author


‘Let’s Talk About Hard Things’ makes a compelling case that we should

Anna Sale’s book — an offshoot of her podcast — shows readers the value of opening up about death, sex, money and other subjects. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-05-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Big Trade Publishers Have a Good Start to 2021

First quarter financial reports from five major trade publishers showed the sales momentum that built up through 2020 has carried over into this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #good start #sales momentum


Platforming Big Liars four months on from the insurrection

Yesterday, the Washington Post hosted a live video chat with Josh Hawley, the Republican senator for Missouri. The interview was billed as being about Hawley’s new book on the “tyranny of big tech,” but before discussing that, Cat Zakrzewski, a tech-policy reporter, asked Hawley about tyranny of... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-05-05 12:12:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #zoom call #katharine viner


Tanya Byrne | 'It gives the reader hope that things will be OK'

Six years after the release of For Holly, and after a period where she swore she would never write again, Tanya Byrne is publishing a new YA novel about love, death and what makes life worth living. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-30 08:35:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tanya byrne #ya novel