Category: publishing

“Even more than anticipated, the June release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix gave business at the nation’s largest book chains a much needed jump start, revving up quarterly sales and igniting optimism that the momentum will carry over into the rest of the year.”

Why do critics disparage “chick lit”? “A whole generation of writing about young women’s lives is being trashed by commentators who took one look at a ‘fluffy pink cover’ and got out their knives. Chick-lit is a deliberately condescending term they use to rubbish us all. If they called it slut-lit it couldn’t be any more insulting.”

Fans of JK Rowling have started a campaign to get her nominated for a Nobel Prize for Literature. They “yesterday launched a global internet campaign to have the Scottish writer nominated for the prestigious award founded 103 years ago by Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite.” Spporters of the idea believe that “in creating Harry Potter, one of the most popular characters in the history of fiction, Ms Rowling has done enough to become a Nobel laureate.”

Ten years ago mystery writer Martha Grimes was dumped by Knopf, her publisher at the time. “Knopf dropped her, she said, probably because at that time she wasn’t earning back her advances.” Now – after a string of successful books, Grimes has written a story about the publishing industry that “may” bear a resemblance to real people in publishing.

What’s the big deal about a longlist for the Booker Prize? Isn’t it the shortlist that really matters? “Once upon a time, it was the announcement of the short list that could be relied upon to encourage literary commentators to break cover. Not any more. Faced with stiff competition, and some serious headline-hogging, from Orange and Whitbread, Britain’s premier literary prize now resorts to the black arts of spin, announcing its long list a full two months before the ultimate showdown in the Guildhall. Betting on such a list is as much of a mug’s game as taking a punt on a National Hunt steeplechase.”

An “action figure” company has come out with its latest doll – an action figure librarian based on Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl. “The company, which has produced a successful series of historical action figures that include Jesus, Moses and Benjamin Franklin, jumped at the idea. Nancy Pearl became the second installment in their newest line of action figures based on everyday people in everyday jobs.”

Martin Amis and Margaret Atwood lead the nominations for this year’s Booker Prize. Amis has been nominated “for his novel Yellow Dog – not published for three weeks – while Atwood is recognised for her Orwellian tale Oryx and Crake. Big-name authors such as JM Coetzee and Graham Swift have also been selected, despite speculation that top literary stars would miss out.”

Judy Moir, editorial director of the small but innovative Edinburgh publisher Canongate, has decided to leave. She says “that she was ‘exhausted’ after a decade and a half of working miracles on a shoestring. She also admitted having difficulties with Canongate’s Byronic owner, Jamie Byng, who brought his unique style and taste to the company after bailing it out with a £100,000 loan.”

“Today’s students are struggling with writing. The rise of the Internet is often blamed for this deficiency. Parents worry that children are cutting and pasting paragraphs from Web sites rather than writing their own. But in patches around the country, teachers say that online technology is now becoming a powerful tool for improving, rather than undermining, students’ writing skills.”

For two years Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and his pals have been off the comic book shelves. Now a comics enthusiast is bringing them back. “It’s always been a bit of a mystery why the Disney Comics are huge in Europe and Latin America but have languished in the North American market. Mickey Mouse, after all, is the ultimate American icon. Disney comics have had such a huge influence outside North America that they have been the subject of political rants arguing that they were thinly veiled American propaganda designed to spread capitalism and counter the spread of communism.”