Category: publishing

The Canadian Heritage Minister has announced a shift in the way that the nation subsidizes its periodical industry, and the fallout from the decision will cost large magazines CAN$16.7 million in public funding. The intention is to increase the ministry’s support for small, independent, and aboriginal magazines which have received little public money in the past.

In an average year, John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” sells 40,000 to 50,000 copies. This isn’t an average year. Thanks to Oprah’s Book Club, ‘East of Eden’ is currently No. 2 on the Bestseller list, behind Harry Potter and ahead of Hillary Clinton’s book. “Set in California’s Salinas Valley before World War I, Steinbeck’s tale of two brothers, an unfaithful wife, death and despair has 1.2 million books in print.” Not bad for a book that first came out in 1952. “Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men sells 400,000 copies and The Grapes of Wrath sells 150,000.”

“New York is currently witnessing a mirror version of the birth of feminist publishing with a surge in neo-conservative (neo-con) imprints. Both Penguin Putnam and Crown have recently announced plans to launch lists specifically devoted to Rightwing material. Bookspan, which runs Book of the Month Club, has declared the formation of an as yet unnamed new club devoted to conservatism. The Right wing, which controls the presidency and both houses of Congress, is experiencing a delicious rush of popularity, and publishing – an opportunist business if ever there were one – is responding to this powerful trend.”

“Berlin’s poetry fest, put on by the city’s venerable literaturWERKstatt (literary workshop), is one of the world’s most innovative literary festivals and it focused this year on Australia. The 10-day program comprised text-based works by Australian artists and writers, including collaborations with leading German writers.”

University presses gather in St. Louis to talk about the “both public and private anxiety about the presses’ position, at a time of diminished sales, rising returns and much disagreement as to whether publishing books with a stronger trade flavor is the best way to mend their fortunes or whether it simply leads to higher returns.”

Knockoff editions of the new Harry Potter are outselling the authentic version in Pakistan. “One bookseller said at least five different versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were on the market. Priced at between 295-495 rupees (£3-5, $5-8.50), they are proving hugely popular in competition with the $29.99 (£18) official version. Pakistan is ranked as one of the world’s largest producers of pirated goods, including CDs, films and computer software.”

Scientists suggest that technology used to scan and map planets could be used to decipher a unique library of medieval manuscripts mostly destroyed in allied bombing during World War II. “The collection, then housed in an annexe of Chartres town hall, comprised around 2,000 medieval books and parchments, many of which dated to the 12th Century. The library was considered a national treasure and a good proportion of the works were unpublished.”

Is there any way to figure out what books will live for posterity? “The idea that, although you will be dust, your words will outlive you is a potent one. Potent, but vain. The fate of most books, even successful ones, is a fairly swift rendezvous with Lethe.
Realistically calculating the odds in the posterity stakes: ‘A writer’s ambition should be to trade 100 contemporary readers for 10 readers in 10 years’ time and for one in 100 years’.”

The New Jersey State Legislature has passed a bill abolishing the position of state poet laureate. The move is the culmination over unhappiness over poet laureate Amiri Baraka, who wrote a poem last year suggesting Israel had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “The Assembly approved a bill Tuesday that passed the Senate in January. Gov. James E. McGreevey, who cut off the $10,000 annual stipend that goes to the poet laureate after Baraka refused to resign, intends to sign the bill, according to a spokesman.”

It almost went unnoticed, what with Harry Potter and Hillary Clinton grabbing all the book-based headlines over the past month, but John Steinbeck’s classic version of the Cain and Abel story, East of Eden recently sold 750,000 copies inside of a week. Why the rush on a 50-year-old novel? Oprah made it a selection of her newly-revived book club. “Organized book groups, which make reading a social experience, are springing up like weeds, especially in bookstores and libraries – providing a critical marketing opportunity for a publishing industry desperate to reverse sluggish sales numbers.”