Frank Herbert on his Boeing, Stephen King on his Wang, and Philip Roth worrying that writing would become too easy … Matthew Kirschenbaum’s account of literature in the digital ageIn a photograph taken in his high-tech home office at 29 Merrick Square, London, in 1968, thriller writer Len Deighton is hard at work on his next novel, Bomber. An electric typewriter is perched atop a desk, a huge telex machine extrudes paper coils on to the florid carpet, and a video camera on a tripod is pointed at the author’s face. In the foreground is another, bulkier, typewriter connected by a fat cable to a cabinet or console. The author of Billion Dollar Brain had lately taken delivery of a magnetic tape selectric typewriter (MT/ST) (marketed in Britain as the IBM 72 IV). It was first posited at IBM’s main offices in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1957; the finished product weighed 200lb and cost $10,000. And with it Deighton was about to compose the first novel ever written on a word processor.In fact, as Matthew Kirschenbaum points out in his unexpectedly engaging history of word processing, it was Deighton’s sedulous assistant Ellenor Handley who did most of the typing (until 1968 she’d had to redraft each novel dozens of times). As she typed, her keystrokes were saved to tape, and corrections could be made before a final printout. It was a vexing process in which writing happened both on paper and in the typist’s harried imagination; IBM’s literature commanded the user to “visualise... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ad blocking technology presents a growing threat to digital publishers and ad-tech companies -- and they're starting to pay close attention.Ad blocking technology removes ads from the internet via a browser extension. There are a number of such extensions -- the two most notable being Adblock... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Founded in 2013, Peru's Animal de Invierno is drawing attention for its bold new fiction titles and literary translations. The post Peru’s Literary Publisher Animal de Invierno Strides Ahead appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book is an effort to 'tell the story of a life of a governor' through 'the use of [Bush's] emails.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The BBC has changed the “bleak” ending of J K Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy for its TV adaptation, due to be screened this month. Screenwriter Sarah Phelps told the Telegraph that she had had to come up with a redemptive ending for the story, set in the fictional village of Pagford. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Late last week, the United States Copyright Office released a report recommending sweeping reforms to the existing music licensing system, which is a labyrinthine mess of outdated regulations (because most of them were established before the Internet age).Titled “Copyright and the Music... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Robert Alter's acclaimed Bible translation has a new volume; Lauren Winner insightfully examines obscure metaphors for God. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Robert Alter's acclaimed Bible translation has a new volume; Lauren Winner insightfully examines obscure metaphors for God. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new programme to encourage young people into becoming librarians has been launched today by the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL). The scheme is modelled on TeachFirst, which attracts people into teaching, and comes in the wake of the Sieghart report in the public library service, which urged... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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European executives from Mashable, Quartz, Dennis, RTE and Sanoma share their tech priorities for the coming year. The post How European publishers set their tech priorities for the year appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2015-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Go Set a Watchman,' to be released by HarperCollins this July, claimed the #1 spot on Amazon's chart, with 'Mockingbird,' written 50 years prior, jumping #7,564 to the #2 spot. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, will publish a sequel called Go Set a Watchman. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dave Epstein has been promoted to v-p of retail sales, and will oversee sales of both adult and children's books to all traditional retail accounts. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Northern California Independent Booksellers Association president Calvin Crosby has resigned his position, now that he has joined McSweeney's as marketing director. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Drawing on her panoramic reading and her experiences of the authorly life cycle, Atwood surveys her trade with a mix of seriousness and gentle fun“You may find the subject a little peculiar,” warns Margaret Atwood, before she discusses the writer’s relationship with mortality. “It is a little... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A starred review for the powerful story of forgiving a murderer; eminent historian Garry Wills looks at the Catholic Church under Pope Francis. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The robust children’s market in 2014 has been the main theme of The Bookseller’s Review of the Year features, and it is driven home in our look at last year’s bestselling authors. The top 50 writers are once again eclipsed by the shadow of the Gruffalo, with the mighty Julia Donaldson taking... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the latest salvo from an increasingly confident conservative regime in Tokyo bent on revisionism, officials have requested that a US author and his publisher remove historic references to Japan's war time sex slaves from a history textbook. The publisher of Traditions & Encounters: A... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Francesca Simon, Malorie Blackman (pictured), Charlie Higson and Frank Cottrell Boyce are among the judges of this year’s 500 Words children’s short story writing competition. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Want to know when your favourite author has a new book out? What festivals are lighting up your holidays? When the awards are being dished out? Check out our literary calendar for 2015, the year the new Children’s Laureate is announced…Have we missed anything? Email us at... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A good book is all you ever used to need on the beach but data-use figures show we're still reaching for our cellphones even when we're on holiday. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2015-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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