Category: words

Dancers, athletes and musicians retire. But what about writers? “Computer keyboards are not retired. Career best-seller records do not lead to teary stadium send-offs. The creative force that drives writing may still burn, but the energy to promote a book fades like the pitching arm of a middle-aged hurler. In some ways, mulling a writerly finale seems a bit morbid.  – New York Times

As the recording industry continues to mount legal challenges to Napster’s file-sharing technology, the publishing industry is assessing its own content – both its vulnerability, and its marketability. “It appears audio book publishers are poised to deliver the first insights. The MP3 format provides for a real variety of content – abridged, unabridged, something that’s 20 minutes long, something that’s six hours long.” – Publishers Weekly

Dave Eggers’ McSweeney’s Books intends to cut out the middlemen between writer and reader. It’s traditional hardback publishing, not e-books, although the writer doesn’t get an advance, he gets “whatever remains after printing costs and incidentals, not to mention foreign sales, film sales, etc. Eggers isn’t taking a dime.” – Inside.com

Frightened about being cut off from Stephen King’s latest online novel (that requires a $1 download fee), devoted fans have been sending extra cash to cover all the delinquent readers. King himself is surprised by the acts of generosity: “Publicly, I have always expressed a great deal of confidence in human nature, but in private I have wondered if anybody would ever pay for anything on the Net.” – Salon (AP)

The government of Scotland announced its long-awaited cultural strategy. “Aimed at providing a blueprint for the future of Scotland’s culture, key promises included an additional £7 million for the arts over the next three years, a feasibility study for a national theatre, support for a film studio and an audit of the nation’s museums and galleries.” But why no mention of Scottish writers? – The Scotsman

“Readers and writers of the past – not just the geniuses, either; the intelligent, alert ones who kept current as we all like to think we do – remind us how culture and taste change. And why. What aesthetic, social and intellectual needs do beliefs serve in their time? Which ones serve us now, and why?” – New York Times

Phenomenal sales of the Harry Potter books have made JK Rowling Britain’s highest paid woman last year, earning her £:20.5 million. – The Age (Melbourne)

Pierced, intellectual, and independent, Harlequin Romance’s editor-in-chief Isabel Swift may not seem like your stereotypical romance novel editor. But she may be just the woman to envision a new future for the world’s largest publisher of romance fiction. “She wants to drag Harlequin into the 20th Century, if not the 21st, and she has a plan for getting there. If she succeeds, the Harlequin brand could return to its old, formidable self – like a wilted heroine flowering in the arms of her baron.” – New York Magazine

“Only seven years ago, the comic-book industry was a $1 billion business; today, it’s half that, with numbers decreasing each year.” But that doesn’t seem to matter to the 45,000 people who attended the world’s largest comic-book convention in San Diego last week – the numbers may not look good, but those on the inside say comic-books are just getting better and more creative all the time. – Dallas Observer

Chinese poet Bei Ling, a U.S. resident since 1988 and editor of the literary magazine “Tendency,” has been arrested by the Chinese government in Hong Kong. The Communist Party has recently stepped up its effort to crack down on dissident publications, and Lei is likely to be charged with “subverting state power,” which carries a severe sentence. – China Times (AFP)