Category: words

Authors have been publishing their books on the internet for some time. But when Stephen King hits the web with his latest, bypassing the traditional book process, the publishing industry gets nervous. – Washington Post

Beating out JK Rowling, it’s Roald Dahl, he of Charlie’s Chocolate Factory and the Giant Peach, in a poll for World Book Day. – BBC

Think you’re well read? At a certain point, don’t you despair of the sheer volume of everything out there that’s worth reading? “Let’s not pretend: when did you last read a book by any of the younger Russian novelists? You’ve read Victor Pelevin? Really? ‘Chapaev i pustota,’ or the translation, ‘The Clay Machine-Gun’? Did you finish it? Did you understand it?” Really? – The Guardian

Stephen King publishes his latest book exclusively on the internet. – CBC

Why do we feel the need to remake certain stories over and over? Is it because there are things in literature that are too troubling to be left alone? On the other hand, “converting books into movies always seemed silly to me, I think. I never understood what they were for other than to rid people of the pleasure or necessity of reading. I think, though, that the point is not to see a plot enacted or certain characters embodied by actors, but to explore the question of how something will play.” – New York Press

The best writing in Australia these days isn’t coming from the country’s novelists. “History, and Australian history especially, is being written in a new way by a new breed of historian, who not only tells us of the events, but who explores the events in terms of their moral qualities.” – Sydney Morning Herald

Random House has put up its first complete book online. “Most publishers have realized they need to either post more content from the book or include extra content not in the book,” said Greg Durham, director of online publishing initiatives for Random House. “The ante has been upped.” – Wired

Independent bookstore owners in Canada say superstore giant Chapters pushes them around (“we are absolutely unable to compete with a monolith”). Because Chapters controls distribution, the book you buy for $9.95 in the US costs you $16 in Canada. But Chapters says it is good for the Canadian book business: “We believe we will bring efficiencies to the book industry that will actually make publishers more profitable, rather than less profitable.” – CBC

Dublin Literary Award is the richest prize for literature in the world. This year’s finalists: Dubliner Colum McCann, London’s Nicola Barker, Jackie Kay, a Scottish writer, and Americans Philip Roth, Toni Morrison, Michael Cunningham and Alice McDermott. Prize this year is £80,000 for a work of fiction. – The Independent (UK)

Prominent writers from around the world to gather in Korea for conference on world literature. “Writers can no longer hide behind language, culture and national borders in a world that is increasingly interdependent, pluralistic and diversified.” – Korea Herald