The Prose Factory by DJ Taylor review – beware the suggestion that literary life isn’t what it used to be

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 ]

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E-book trial: judge has suggestions for enforcing the guilty verdict against Apple

A DOJ lawyer shot down the objections of publishers over suggested measures for Apple, while the judge involved in the ebook price fixing case offered a modified version of the DOJ proposal. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Samsung Ativ Book 7 review: The look is fine; the feel is not

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[ PC World | 2013-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Study Suggests Fake Web Traffic Is Worse Than You Thought

Fake web traffic has long plagued the online publishing world, but Dr. Paul Barford, computer science professor at the University of Wisconsin, is claiming the problem might be worse than suspected. And it's costing some of the top online adverti ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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25 Crowdsourced Covers For Literary Classics

Frankenstein’s monster never looked so good. A few months back, we wrote about a project called Recovering the Classics, which planned to crowdsource enticing new covers for 50 literary classics--great books like A Tale of Two Cities, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Frankenstein, and Pride and... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Game|Life Podcast: A More Developer-Friendly Xbox One?

On this week's podcast: Xbox One self-publishing, EarthBound on Virtual Console, Shadow of the Eternals and changes at Electronic Arts.     Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2013-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Looking for literary love in London?

Book review website the Omnivore has created a dating feature that matches participants based on answers to questions like 'What are you currently reading?' and 'What author do you have a crush on?' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George Zimmerman juror dropped by literary agent, won't write book

On Monday it was announced that one juror who had found George Zimmerman not guilty had landed literary agent, Sharlene Martin. By 10 p.m., Martin announced she was dropping Juror B37 as a client.Maybe a book by a juror in the Trayvon Martin murder trial isn't such a good idea after all. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What Is a “Literary Change Agent”? And What’s Ethical?

Literary agent April Eberhardt describes her two-tiered offer to author-clients: one contract is a traditional deal, the other is a publishing consultancy. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Regional Mag Maryland Life Closes Down

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[ Folio Magazine | 2013-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Galbraith reviewed

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[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Life for Colombian Comics Artists Improves, But Challenges Remain

After years of struggle, Colombia's independent comics and graphic novel scene is starting to flourish, with new publishers and a traveling comics festival. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Agent Nicole Aragi on the Future of Literary Fiction, Translation

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Spending Review cuts 'mean more library closures'

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[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Review: Free and portable Briss cuts PDFs down to size

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[ PC World | 2013-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Layoffs Hit BSA’s Boy’s Life, Scouting

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[ Folio Magazine | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Paris Literary Prize Celebrates Unique Art of the Novella

Shakespeare & Co.'s Paris Literary Prize honors novellas written in English by an unpublished author. Judge Rebecca Carter reports on this year's festivities. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fostering Literary Respect for Underrepresented Regions, Authors

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Daily Mail: digital-only book reviews will be 'customary'

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[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Too cute: Kids reviewing books

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[ Stuff | 2013-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Stuff | 2013-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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