“On the surface the book trade is as tumultuous as the seas off New York. But there are some unexpected constants. In the first six months of this year, ebook sales grew by 188% over the previous January-June, but overall sales of non-digital books are declining only slowly. When a product is cheap and readily accessible, people really do buy more of it.”
Tag: 10.30.12
The Stupendous, Serious Giller Prize (Has No Sense Of Humor)
“Last year at this time I made a joke here about the self-consciously self-aggrandizing crowd who populate the Giller gala and how that doesn’t make for great TV. The Association of Canadian Publishers took great umbrage. My assertion, in reply, that I was entitled to make jokes, didn’t go over well. The association let me know it took a very dim view of joking. Little wonder the funny tends to be AWOL in the Canadian book racket.”
Canadian Conference Of The Arts To Close After Government Cuts Funding
“The CCA, which has more than 200 members, had been funded annually without interruption by the federal government since 1965. But in April Canadian Heritage announced that, as part of the Conservative government’s ambition to achieve a balanced budget by 2015, it would be terminating the Arts, Culture and Diversity Program.”
Book Lovers Greet Penguin/Random House Merger With Sadness
“Don’t believe the guff about ‘rich content’ and ‘high-growth emerging markets’. This is consolidation and both authors and readers will have less choice and less diversity.”
How Comcast Keeps Us Hooked On Cable
“Even as Verizon, Apple, Netflix and YouTube have tried to capture the living room, Comcast still dominates.”
In Turkish Films And TV, It’s Ottoman-ia
“Since the lavish, feel-good Turkish epic Conquest 1453 had its premiere this year, its tale of the taking of Constantinople by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmet II has become the highest-grossing film in Turkey’s history … But its biggest impact may be the cultural triumphalism it has magnified at home.”