Category: publishing

Writers On Writing, For Writers

There has never been any shortage of writers willing to hold forth about what good writing is, and how one might go about it. Two new installments in the writers-on-writing genre have recently appeared, penned by Norman Mailer and Pierre Berton. The advice they give, and the style in which it is presented, has Philip Marchand wondering why it is that so many writers seem to disagree on nearly every facet of the subject. Is writing a science or an art? Is it work or play? And do we write for ourselves, or for our readers? Great minds think nothing alike.

A Call For Self-Review

The case of the New York Times Book Review running a review of a book by a reviewer who doesn’t appear to have read the book prompts Alex Good to propose a solution. Since the regular reader of book review sections can be reasonably sure that some of the reviews are written without reading the books, “have authors write their own reviews. Sir Walter Scott did it. Poe and Whitman did it. And Anthony Burgess did it, prompting Gore Vidal to remark approvingly ‘shouldn’t there be at least one book review in all of England written by someone who had actually read the book’?”

Where’s Billy? Poet Laureate Speaks

As poets have weighed in against or for an American war in Iraq, one voice has been conspicuously quiet – current poet laureate Billy Collins. So LA Times reporter Tim Rutten emailed Collins and asked. Collins replied: “I have tried to keep the West Wing and the East Wing of the White House as separate as possible because I support what Mrs. Bush has done for the causes of literacy and reading. But as this country is being pushed into a violent confrontation, I find it increasingly difficult to maintain that separation.”

Library Of Congress Gets Digital Money

The Library of Congress will get $100 million collect and preserve digital information, including images, CD’s, Web pages and electronic journals. The Library has been “lagging in the task of archiving electronica: scholarly journals, books and magazines that are ‘born digital’; CD-ROM’s; digital photographs, music and films; and millions of miscellaneous pieces of Internet-based material. Digital technology “has spawned a surfeit of information that is extremely fragile, inherently impermanent, and difficult to assess for long-term value.”

Protesting Poets – Tradition or Knee-Jerk Reaction?

“The belief that poets are naturally rebellious and ‘progressive’ is a fairly recent one. It is equally naive to think that poetic talent confers on its bearer some special grasp of political wisdom. Just in the past hundred years, renowned poets have supported some very bad causes, including communism and fascism. Today, the literary community is overwhelmingly left of center. Is this groundswell of antiwar sentiment among poets driven by well-considered opposition to the war, or is it a knee-jerk reaction?”

Books Based On Video Games?

Better believe it. Games are big business. “Video game sales surpassed movie sales last year, with a staggering $9.4 billion take. Mario, the plucky plumber and star of an 18-year-old series of games, has brought in twice as much revenue as all five Star Wars films combined. The Sims, a digital family whom players manipulate through every stage of life, has sold nearly 20 million units. So it’s no surprise that book publishers are turning to video game novels. Yes, novels.”

The Next Children’s Book Phenom?

An English woman and her daughter are being touted as the next children’s book phenomenon. “Lionboy, the tale of a boy who talks to cats, has been created by Louisa Young and her 10-year-old daughter Isabel. Publisher Puffin, the children’s arm of Penguin, has signed the pair in a ‘substantial’ three-book deal said to be ‘in the high six figures’. The amount dwarfs the £2,000 paid to J K Rowling for her first Harry Potter tale, The Philosopher’s Stone.”