The truth about book prizes, why Amazon is like an old-fashioned library and how much famous writers really earned from their journalism …Periodically, signs go up saying that Grub Street is closed to through traffic. Observers speculate that the street is being redeveloped as gentrification forces the former inhabitants to move out, or else that the closure may be due to the expansion of the neighbouring university’s English department. Older heads are shaken in what had been the local pub but is now a coffee’n’crafts shop: there used to be more life in the place, they mourn, when bohemian writers could dash off a review against the clock to pay for their round. Even if Grub Street is eventually reopened, it will never be the same again, and anyway it will probably have been renamed “Creatives Crescent”.Such cliches and exaggerations are characteristic of this genre of lament. Like most keening for the good old days, these threnodies are not pieces of dispassionate historical analysis: they are attempts to compensate for so much that is disagreeable about one’s own time by inventing a more or less idealised version of the past. Still, it is worth wondering why “Grub Street” should be the form taken by paradise lost in this case. After all, the street originally so named in London (it was real before it was metaphorical) came to be the home of that kind of “grub” defined by the OED as “a person of mean abilities; a dull industrious drudge; a literary hack”. Even allowing... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
Sarah Knight was sick of commuting, P&L statements and eating salad at her desk at Simon & Schuster, so she quit to freelance and seek happiness. The post Sick of P&L Statements, Literary Editor Quits, Gets Web Kudos appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twenty-five years after its birth as the publisher of a modest comics anthology, Montreal-based Drawn & Quarterly has become one of North America’s most acclaimed literary graphic novel publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cairo's Kotob Khan Bookstore does far more than merely sell books: it serves as a community center, a gathering place — and now it's a publisher as well. The post Cairo’s Kotob Khan Bookstore: A Literary Safe Place appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#sell books
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The 27th annual Lambda Literary Awards, held June 1, drew a record 550-plus attendees to the Great Hall at Cooper Union, in New York City. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Libraries minister Ed Vaizey will review the decision to close four libraries in Harrow, after being challenged on the subject in the Houses of Parliament. Vaizey has said he would review the council's plans, "as I do with every authority that seeks to close libraries". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#close libraries
One of the few literary agents focusing on Arabic, Yasmina Jraissati, discusses the non-existent role of the literary agent in the Middle East. The post Why Are There No Literary Agents in the Middle East? appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After 750 fans gave Judy Blume a standing ovation before she even said a word on stage, Jennifer Weiner kicked off an hour-long Q&A with Blume during BookCon. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookCon 2015, held at Javits this weekend, drew mostly positive comments from both attendees and publishers who exhibited there. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kardashian will be signing bookplates for fans today, 11 a.m.–noon, at the Regan Arts booth (2644), as well as being available for a photo-op with fans. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new literary-themed East London club night, called Late Night Library Club, is being launched, with the first event celebrating Sarah Waters’ Tipping the Velvet (Virago). Late Night Library Club has been set up by the team behind The Amy Grimehouse cinema and arts club night that celebrates... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While all of the four speakers at Friday's Children's Book and Author Breakfast emphasized the importance of storytelling to their lives, James Patterson went even further, insisting that books save lives. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Police perjury, political manipulation and judicial failings … Thomas Grant’s pungent, amusing study details the heroic achievements of a supreme criminal barristerThe doyen of the English criminal bar, Jeremy Hutchinson, turned 100 on 28 March. Still a spry and self-sufficient figure, his... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Yesterday afternoon at the Center for Fiction in midtown, NBCC board member Walton Muyumba led a conversation about racial and gender representation in book reviewing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Some books come to us when they're needed most. The post Self-Published E-Book Review: Frolic in Conservative Utopia appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2015-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has acquired three new young adult novels by Laini Taylor, author of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy. Kate Howard, associate publisher at Hodder, acquired British Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Jane Putch of Eyebait Management. The first book, The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Biblical Archaeology Review' has spent four decades covering a contentious field, standing for authenticity amid controversial claims. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tom Chalmers of IPR License notes activity at the recent London Book Fair proved the literary translation market is diversifying into smaller languages. The post LBF Proves Literary Translation Market is Diversifying appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hatched over coffee 20 years ago, the Hub City Writers Project has grown into an indie press, a nonprofit bookstore and driving force behind the literary arts in Spartanburg, SC. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book by the 'Water for Elephants' writer has held steady on bestseller lists, though some critics gave the book negative reviews. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-05-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For our second review of a rather absurd Kindle ebook, our intrepid reviewer chose Tender Kiss of a Russian Werewolf. The post We Review a Self-Published E-Book About a Russian Werewolf appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2015-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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