Category: words

Surprise, surprise – the Chinese government also banned one of Hong Kong’s leading political commentators, whose books criticize communism and advocate Taiwanese independence. – China Times (Taiwan)

African-American writers have long complained that big publishers have ignored them. But “in the past year, Time Warner, HarperCollins and Kensington Publishing are among those who started or acquired imprints specifically to release books by African-Americans.” – Chicago Tribune

• Big players in the e-publishing business are beginning to align to compete with one another and pirates. “The publishing industry must establish an honest market for electronic content before pirates find alternative markets.” – Wired

It’s been a difficult summer for the New York Times Bestseller List. “Once the gold standard of commercial success in the book world, the list has been discarded by America’s biggest bookstores, all of which now use their own lists as determinants of discounting policy and in-store real estate. And in separate incidents last week, the long-unchallenged authority of the Times list was called into question.” – Variety

The Chinese government seized a shipment of books heading to the US after being bound in Hong Kong. The book is by a former White House official, and “the publisher and printer said the book, ‘The Clinton Years,’ was seized because among its 227 black-and-white photographs was a picture of President Clinton clasping hands and chatting at the White House with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.” – New York Times

Margaret Atwood is 60 and has just released a new book. The publicity machine is buzzing at a higher pitch than ever before. “Being as famous as Atwood must be like carrying a bundle around on your back. People recognize you on the street. Even if they don’t speak to you, they give you knowing looks, or else they avert their gaze as though you have a bizarre virus that is transmitted by eye contact. People want stuff from you – autographs, donations, appearances, opinions, money, patronage.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

“For almost as long as there have been prisons, prisoners have turned author for diversion, creative expression, solace, penance, vindication, vengeance and release (physically and metaphysically). But their works have rarely been examined as a genre, and for what they reveal about the literary impulse behind bars.” – New York Times

Vladimir Nabokov was an evocative writer. Yet attempts to turn his books into films have been failures. “Many film-makers have tried to mine the wily Russian, and this new attempt revives the question: can Nabokov ever be filmed successfully?” – The Guardian

Five letters by Lewis Carroll have been discovered in an English castle. “We think it is quite exciting because the final letter was written so close to his death and was actually signed Lewis Carroll as opposed to his real name, Charles Dodgson.” – The Age (Melbourne) (AFP)

A few years ago most publishers were skeptical about e-publishing. Now? “Give the industry five or 10 years and you’ll see all bestsellers published simultaneously in electronic and traditional form. And in 25 years? Who knows . . . but the electronic format will probably be well ahead.” – The Age (Melbourne)