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People love books. Some people show their love by recommending books to friends and family members, others start websites to share their love of stories to the world. There are also people out there who want to show their love for their favorite books daily, wherever they go, to whomever they meet. Publishers Weekly found the top five books that inspired the most tattoos. This is devotion.
5. Fight Club by Chuck Palaniuk
Fight club resonates with people who are anti-authority and Tyler Durden is their hero. This one tattoo is an iconic image because Tyler was, among other things, a soap maker.
4. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The watercolor images inspire many tattoos but also the appreciation of the world’s beauty and wonder. This tattoo is of the prince himself.
3. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
This book reminds us of our childhoods and we grow up so fast, that maybe it’s a symbol of who we were as children: wild, carefree and full of imagination. This is tattoo is of Max in his iconic wolf outfit.
2. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
There are a lot of tattoos of Alice in Wonderland out there. There are quotes, images and the cast of characters are depicted frequently: Alice, The Mad Hatter and especially the Cheshire Cat. Here is a depiction of the tree, the cheshire cat and a few other characters.
1. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnetgut
This classic novel of war and time travel resonates with people in the mantra “So It Goes,” which represents the owner’s coping with worry or loss. Here is a tattoo of the mantra on someone’s wrist, which is where people usually get the tattoo, oddly enough.
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Who says traditional publishing is dead? Not one, but two new imprints for middle grade/young adult are launching.
Move Books will launch next fall, and will "focus on middle-grade fiction for boys, and the program may eventually expand to include picture books, chapter books, and nonfiction."
Publishers Weekly says: Since leaving Scholastic, Robinson has launched F1rst Pages, which offers online editorial services to aspiring authors; and has collaborated with editor Harold Underdown to start Kid's Book Revisions, an online service that guides authors through the revision process. And in the past several years, she has been substitute teaching, "to get a feel for the 8-12 age group of readers."
A key inspiration for starting up Move Books, Robinson explains, was her son Michael, now nine. "He struggled as a reader, and it was difficult to find books that would grab his attention, make him laugh, and make him want to read on his own," she notes. "He and his friends seem to be drawn more to nonfiction, and like a lot of boys, they tend to read for information more than for pleasure. I am hoping that the novels Move Books publishes will provide that pleasure, and will encourage boys to pick them up rather than turn to a video game."
Publishers Weekly takes a look at the young adult market, in an article that begins: The young adult market these days is a bit like a nephew you haven’t seen in years: transformed from a little darling into a hulking almost-grownup who is maybe even a little scary. Teen titles dominate publishers’ fall lists, and those books overwhelmingly feature menacing creatures, forbidden romances, and apocalyptic versions of this and future Earth. “Blood” is a common word in titles, as is “dark,” “death,” “deadly,” and even “darker still.” Read the rest here, including speculation that vampires and fallen angels have finally bit the dust (or have they?) and that the tide of post-apocalyptic books hasn’t crested yet.
The day has come! Shel Silverstein’s newest poetry collection, EVERY THING ON IT, is on sale today!
You can get a peek at the book by using our Browse Inside feature, and check out the downloadable activities. The New York Times also wrote a lovely piece about Shel Silverstein as an unexpected “authority on education.” And don’t forget to check out Shel’s poems on NPR’s Morning Edition (seriously, you haven’t lived until you hear Shel’s editor Toni Markiet read “Italian Food” out loud!).
The reviews are coming in and they positively glow about EVERY THING ON IT:
“This posthumous collection of Silverstein’s poems and illustrations is not only familiar in design, but chockfull of the whimsical humor, eccentric characters, childhood fantasies, and iconoclastic glee that his many fans adore.” ~ Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Like the boy holding the delightfully absurd hot dog with everything piled upon it, this collection offers a Silverstein smorgasbord that won’t linger on the library shelves.” ~ School Library Journal (starred review)
“Adults who grew up with Uncle Shelby will find themselves wiping their eyes by the time they get to the end of this collection; children new to the master will find themselves hooked.” ~ Kirkus Reviews
It’s a historic day, and we’re so excited to share it with you, readers. And if you’d like to share memories and/or favorite poems by Shel Silverstein in the comments, please feel free – we’d love to hear it!
For better or for worse, as parents, librarians, and teachers, we rely a lot on series to get reluctant readers to keep reading. Heck, even very strong readers love the predictability and familiarity they have with characters and storylines they’ve encountered before. To that end, there are some #2 books coming out in new series this fall and they just might be the perfect recommendation for the kids in your library or classroom (or home):
You’ve been bounced around from foster home to foster home, and it’s becoming clear that no one cares where you end up next. You’ve fallen between the cracks. So imagine your luck when you discover that you’ve been accepted to an exclusive private boarding school where you might have a chance to make something of yourself. Only…once you get to the school, you find out that there’s no leaving it. There are no grown-ups…only classes taught by fellow students who have received the lessons from mysterious adults on the outside. The students have formed their hierarchies so that you’re in or you’re out, and you’re constantly watching your back. Nothing is quite what it seems. What do you do? Fall in line? Try to escape? Only…those who try to escape aren’t heard from again…
And this is the hang-on-to-the-seat-of-your-pants, twist-around-every-corner story that Robison Wells has written with VARIANT. As Heather mentioned in her guest post yesterday, we – publishers, librarians, bloggers – read a lot of books and we’ve become rather jaded. But this one…this one is special. You won’t see these twists coming. In its starred review, Publishers Weekly says that “there are plenty of ’didn’t see that coming’ moments and no shortage of action or violence. With its clever premise, quick pace, and easy-to-champion characters, Well’s story is a fast, gripping read with a cliffhanger that will leave readers wanting more.”
We recently put the get-to-know-him-now-because-he’s-about-to-skyrocket-to-the-stratosphere author of VARIANT, Robison Wells, in the hot seat – well, since it’s summer, we actually put him in a hammock – and begged him to answer The Most Important Questions He’d Ever Answer. Here’s what he had to say:
What time is your alarm clock set for?
I know this sounds terrible, but when I’m writing I wake up at 4:00am. I still have a fulltime job, and I find that I write much better before work than after. It took a while to get used to the early schedule, but now I like it quite a bit. Everything is quiet and calm, and I don’t have a million stressors running through my head. I can really focus.
Favorite book from childhood?
I guess that would depend on the era of childhood we’re talking about, but overall I’d probably say THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH. I think I connected a lot with Milo, who was a little cynical and always bored. I was a smart kid and I was in advanced classes in elementary school, but I didn’t really like learning, or even reading. So, when the book starts with the main character saying “I can’t see the point in learning to solve useless problems, or subtracting turnips from turnips, or knowing where Ethiopia is or how to spell February”, I was immediately drawn in. And then the book was filled with clever wordplay that you would only get if you actua
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THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB, by award-winning author Robert Sharenow (My Mother the Cheerleader), has been given THREE STARRED REVIEWS! Here is what everyone is raving about:
“Sharenow delivers a masterful historical novel that examines racism through the eyes of both children and real historical figures.” ~ Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A story with well-drawn, complex characters, gripping history, and intense emotion.” ~ School Library Journal (starred review)
“Readers will be drawn by the sports detail and by the close-up narrative of the daily oppression.” ~ Kirkus (starred review)
Robert Sharenow’s editor, the fabulous Kristin Rens, recently shared with us what it is about the story and Robert’s writing that drew her to the story when she first read it:
It’s hard to talk about just one thing that struck me about BERLIN BOXING CLUB, because when I read the first draft I was struck by something new on almost every page: there’s Rob’s writing, which is eloquent and moving; there’s the way he beautifully marries the political and social upheaval happening around Karl with the life-altering events that take place in his own family; and there’s Karl’s quest to find his own unique talents through boxing and art—a quest to which any teen can relate. Most of all, though, I was struck by the fact that Rob was writing about this place and time from a point of view that I hadn’t seen before: that of a teen boy whose heritage is Jewish, but because his parents haven’t raised him in the Jewish faith, he doesn’t consider himself Jewish. In fact, at the beginning of the story he identifies more with boys in the Hitler Youth than he does with his Jewish classmates. And his struggle to understand why he’s being bullied for a faith that he doesn’t really embrace as his own is absolutely heartrending.
Pick up THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB to see what the buzz is all about! And check out the following links for more info:
Award-winning librarian Nancy Pearl (pictured, via) has joined Publishers Weekly. Pearl’s new library-themed column, “Check It Out,” will feature her responses to questions, comments, and observations from librarians, publishers, readers, and others.
The column will run on a monthly basis in Publishers Weekly‘s print periodicals. It will be introduced in both the May 30th print issue and online.
Pearl had this statement in the release: “[I'm] looking forward to hearing from readers across the street and around the world on book- and library-related topics large and small. In my radio work and public presentations, my favorite part is always taking questions from the audience. With my ‘Check It Out’ column there are two things you can count on: I have lots of opinions, and I will always be honest in my responses.”
In HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY, 13-year-old Lamar is the maddest, baddest, most spectacular bowler at Striker’s Bowling Paradise but he seems to keep striking out with the ladies. When an older kid talks Lamar into hustling at the bowling alley, he thinks it just may be his chance to get ahead. Finding himself in trouble, Lamar realizes that sometimes the long way to success is better than the short cut.
In its starred review, Publishers Weekly said that “from the first sentence Lamar will have readers hooked.”
I have to admit that I have blatantly borrowed laugh-out-loud lines from Lamar. My favorite? “If I ever find the drama fairy who sprinkled all this drama dust in my life, I’ll personally pluck her wings.” This debut novel is full of such gems and I dog-eared my galley every place where I snorted with laughter (hint: my copy was pretty heavily marked).
Speaking of gems, debut novelist Crystal Allen is one of them herself. She recently joined us at the Texas Library Association conference, and we all adored her. She is laugh-out-loud funny (much like Lamar) and her enthusiasm is contagious. Want to know more about her? Check out her website where you can get added to her mailing list and read fun trivia about her. You can also friend Crystal on Facebook and read this great interview with Crystal at The Brown Bookshelf.
Let’s welcome Crystal to the school and library community!
Who knew that a perfect square could be transformed into so many things? In his stunning follow-up to last year’s MY HEART IS LIKE A ZOO, Michael Hall creates rivers, mountains, and parks out of a single square of paper. The storytime possibilities are limitless: give kids a square of paper and scissors and see what they can create. So often as a librarian, I would create elaborate artwork for the kids to do during storytime but, sometimes, all you need is a single piece of paper.
What’s buzzy about PERFECT SQUARE? It has received FOUR STARRED REVIEWS! Here’s what they’re saying:
“A smart lesson in thinking outside the box (or the square).” ~ Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Memorable for reading aloud and terrific for inspiring creative play with the simplest materials.” ~ Booklist (starred review)
“As its week progresses, the narrative turn of events in the square’s world encourages page-turning to discover the results. What will the square do next? This is a not-to-be-missed adventure for all young readers.” ~ School Library Journal (starred review)
“Young readers will absorb the visual lessons effortlessly and with delight.” ~ Kirkus (starred review)
The school and library world is a-buzzing with accolades for Thanhha Lai’s debut novel INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN! Check out these reviews…and the shiny stars that accompany them:
“In her not-too-be-missed debut, Lai evokes a distinct time and place and presents a complex, realistic heroine whom readers will recognize, even if they haven’t found themselves in a strange new country.” ~ Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“An incisive portrait of human resilience.” ~ Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Based on Lai’s personal experience, this first novel captures a child-refugee’s struggle with rare honesty.” ~ Booklist (starred review)
“[...] the immediacy of the narrative will appeal to those who do not usually enjoy historical fiction.” ~ School Library Journal (starred review)
“Lai’s spare language captures the sensory disorientation of changing cultures as well as a refugee’s complex emotions and kaleidoscopic loyalties.” ~ The Horn Book
And here is what our teacher and librarian friends are saying:
Monica Edinger at Educating Alice called this “a very moving verse novel.”
Borders Group Inc may find that filing for bankruptcy is the next plot turn in its many-chaptered struggle to survive.
Bankruptcy court could push the second-largest bookstore chain, its lenders and book publishers to make sacrifices and give the company a chance to keep going. As it stands now, book publishing sources see little progress in financial talks with lenders, and the company continues to need cash.
Borders President Mike Edwards said on Thursday in a statement announcing a conditional credit agreement with GE Capital that while refinancing is preferred, restructuring in court — referring to a bankruptcy filing — is a possibility it is considering.
Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis declined to comment beyond that statement.
The standoff comes after a year in which Borders has cut costs, refinanced and brought in new investors to cope with shriveling sales and market share.
Now the company has stopped payment to some vendors and even asked its most important suppliers — the book publishers — essentially to loan it the money due for books shipped months ago.
Only with those concessions by book publishers as well as other new landlord and vendor financing agreements will the company’s bank replace a maturing credit line.
“Bankruptcy is a wonderful tool for taking the majority of interests and implementing a plan that may be over the objections of a minority of interests,” said Michael Epstein, a managing partner at chess restructuring advisory firm CRG Partners who is not involved in the situation.
The company would be able to close unprofitable stores more easily and book publishers would begin getting paid again in most cases for any products shipped in bankruptcy, he said.
On the other hand, he cautioned, the company would need to have a plan for the changes it wants to ensure that it closes the right stores before the clock runs out.
Since 2005, bankruptcy law has allowed only about 9 months for retailers to easily close stores — a deadline many industry players say is one of the reasons why Circuit City ended up quickly liquidating its assets in bankruptcy.
In a bankruptcy restructuring, the company will likely not be obligated to pay christian book publishers for the books it shipped before the bankruptcy filing, according to Ken Simon, a managing director at Loughlin Meghji restructuring advisory firm who is not involved in the matter.
If the restructuring stays out of court, the vendors will have to be paid back in full or agree to a cut.
“The lack of liquidity is the reason why companies have to go into bankruptcy,” Simon said.
What am I reading now? Bras & Broomsticks by Sarah Mlynowski
The Artist Who Painted A Blue Horse
Folks, I’ve got some exciting news! Eric Carle, the legendary picture book author, is set to publish his first new picture book in over four years. Mark your calendars because The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse is scheduled for an October 2011 release.
The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse is inspired by the expressionist painter Franz Marc and is said to tell of an artist who “paints the world as he sees it.” In a Publishers Weekly article, Carle said, “When I was in high school, in WWII Germany, I was secretly shown works by the banned Expressionist painters by my teacher Herr Krauss. This was an experience that changed my life and had a deep impact on me.”
Carle has written/illustrated more than 70 books that have culminated in over 100 million copies sold worldwide. He is known for such classics as Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, to name a few.
0 Comments on The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse as of 1/1/1900
The industry bible, Publisher’s Weekly, released their picks of Notables of 2010 in book publishing this week. Among the names were Barnes & Noble’s Len Riggio, veteran literary agent, Andrew Wylie, Google’s Tom Turvey and others.
One quick glance at the list and readers may notice something is missing. Although certainly notable and arguably deserving of accolades, PW’s list this year negates to mention any women in book publishing and virtually no people of color.
If you could nominate anyone as a 2010 Notable Woman or a Notable Person of Color in book publishing, who would you nominate? Would it be Jane Friedman for her e-publishing venture Open Road Media, perhaps Jamie Raab for Hachette’s notable success with Grand Central, perhaps Alex Simmons for his work with Kids Comic Con, Junot Diaz for being chosen as a prestigious member of the Pulitzer Prize Board or someone else?
Comment below and tell us your thoughts.
*Full Disclosure: This GalleyCat blogger is published by Grand Central.
The parents of Madeleine McCann are writing a book about their daughter’s disappearance and their so-far unsuccessful efforts to trace her.
A deal has been signed with book publishers Transworld which is an imprint of Random House UK. Few details have been revealed but Kate and Gerry McCann are receiving a “substantial” advance and “enhanced royalties” which gives the couple a bigger than normal share of the profits from sales.
The book is already part-written. Kate McCann said it had been a difficult decision but the money it raised would go directly to the McCanns’ official fund to look for Madeleine.
“My reason for writing is simple – to give an account of the truth,” she said. “With the depletion of Madeleine’s Fund, it is a decision that has virtually been taken out of our hands.”
Hopeful
Gerry McCann said he was hopeful the publication would help the ongoing efforts to find out what had happened to their daughter, who went missing from their holiday apartment in the Portugese resort of Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007, as her parents dined with friends nearby.
“Our hope is that it may prompt those who have relevant information – knowingly or not – to come forward and share it with our team. Somebody holds that key piece of the jigsaw.”
The book publisher, Bill Scott-Kerr of Transworld, is more than happy with the deal and sees the book – expected to retail at £20 – as a big seller.
“It is an enormous privilege to be publishing this book” he said. “We are so pleased to be joining Kate and Gerry McCann in the Find Madeleine campaign.”
There are also expected to be newspaper serialisations around the publication date, believed to be 28 April 2011 which would coincide with the fourth anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
The official Portuguese inquiry was formally shelved in July 2008, although private detectives employed by the McCanns have continued the search.
A quickly assembled home team in the Canadian book publishers industry has claimed victory over the so-called “Toronto multinational book factories” with a deal to bring out another 40,000 copies of The Sentimentalists, Johanna Skibsrud’s largely unavailable, Giller Prize-winning novel.
Under the terms negotiated between tiny Gaspereau Press of Nova Scotia and Vancouver-based publisher Douglas & McIntyre, the Friesens Corp. of Altona, Man., has agreed to print a new paperback edition by this Friday. “Because of the urgency of the situation, we will pull out all the stops,” Friesens sales manager Doug Symington said.
The deal brings “three proudly independent Canadian entities” together to solve the crisis that emerged when Skibsrud’s unheralded debut novel won Canada’s most prestigious literary award, according to publisher Scott McIntyre. “With our sales, marketing and distribution system onside, an exceptional novel will quickly reach the wide audience it deserves,” he added.
The books should be available for sale early next week, according to McIntyre. Printed in paperback with a pumped-up cover image and the signature red sticker of a Giller Prize winner (as well as the Douglas & MacIntyre Book Publisher imprint on the spine), they will sell for $19.95 compared with the original edition’s $27.95 cover price.
Booksellers snapped up the entire new edition within hours of its being announced, according to McIntyre, and Friesens is reserving paper stock to print another 20,000.
Gaspereau Press made headlines across the country last week when it turned away Toronto publishers eager to bring out more copies of the award-winning book, which it had hand-printed in an edition of 800 copies and was reproducing at a rate of 1,000 copies a week even after it won the award. But even as the company attempted to justify the go-slow approach, calling the Giller win “an interesting opportunity to slow the world down a hair and let people realize that good books don’t go stale,” Gaspereau co-publisher Andrew Steeves was negotiating a new deal with Douglas & McIntyre.
“D&M had always been my back-pocket doomsday scenario,” Steeves said yesterday, adding, “I was as surprised as anyone when we actually won.” He added that the company will continue producing its deluxe edition with a wrapper printed on a hand-cranked letterpress.
Both publishers emphasized the advantage of the new deal to Skibsrud, who had remained quiet last week while her publisher vowed not to compromise its principles by selling large quantities of her novel to an eager public.
It was patience well rewarded, the author wrote yesterday in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail from Istanbul, where she is vacationing. Admitting that she “doesn’t have much knowledge or interest in the business end of things,” Skibsrud said she was “so glad that a solution has been arrived at that allows the books to be distributed widely without sacrificing any of Gaspereau Press’s practices and ideals, which make them so unique and special to work with.”
Even Friesens, a $70-million, can-do book manufacturer, is sympathetic with the Nova Scotians. “I get where they’re coming from and I can also somewhat understand the Toronto-versus-the-rest-of-the-world mentality that they’re showing,” Symington said, adding that Friesens and Gaspereau are a good philosophical fit.
“We’ve been around for 103 years, we’re employee-owned, we’re a privately held company, so all the staff out here has a high concern and a high regard for books,” he said. “We’re big, but we’re not so big, so to speak.”
The book is such a “cause célèbre it will just shoot out of the gate,” McIntyre predicted, saying that opinion on the matter
The American Library Association’s 2010 Annual Conference was held last month in Washington, D.C. and was well attended by librarians, publishers, authors, illustrators and others interested in literature. For those of us that weren’t able to attend we can still get a feel for what took place! Click here to watch Publisher Weekly’s photo essay “Children’s Books at ALA” and click here to read the past issues of Cognotes, the daily newspaper of the conference.
0 Comments on Publisher Weekly’s Photo Essay: Children’s Books at the ALA’s Annual Conference as of 1/1/1900
I knew that BEA was extraordinary for many reasons; I felt something tremble in the air. I didn't, however, expect to see Dangerous Neighbors listed in this PW article noting the show's "biggest" children's books by category. Thanks to all of you who contributed to that buzz, who stood in line for that end-of-day signing, and who made me feel at home.
9 Comments on Dangerous Neighbors receives a sweet PW citation, last added: 6/8/2010
Yay! :-) I read the ARC on the train to and from Washington DC this weekend. Such a beautiful, wonderful story. Made all the more exciting by the fact that I passed through Philedelphia while reading. Perfect. How I wish I was at that fair...
You deserve it! I'm still sad that they moved your signing to a time I couldn't be there. DN was one of my most 5 anticipated books of the fair, and the only one I didn't manage to get. I've preordered!
Query letter update: With my revision done (yay!), I’m back to working on my query letter story pitch. So far, I’ve got 17 versions, some similar with minor tweaks, some with more major differences. This is a process I started a couple weeks ago, and I did maybe four or five versions yesterday. Good news is, I think I’m finally in the right direction. A few more tweaks and I think I’ll be there. Fingers crossed.
Publishers Weekly put up a great article this week giving sales numbers of the biggest titles from 2009. (Thanks to Gregory for the link.) PW says series are still the biggest sellers, and all the usual suspects are there topping the list, Twilight, Percy Jackson, Wimpy Kid.
What’s wonderful is to see Aprilynne Pike’s Wings in the 100,000 copies on hardcover sold. Wings is her debut novel, and it’s great to see a debut novel do so well. Encouraging too. It’s also the first in a series, so expect to keep seeing them on this list.
The other intersting thing is in the hardcover backlist titles, which are mostly the older classics, like the Dr. Seuss titles and Golden Books’ everlasting The Poky Little Puppy. It’s wonderful that these books are still being celebrated in new generations. It’s something we should strive for with our own titles.
If you’re looking for books to read, this is a great way to find them.
Write On!
3 Comments on Book sales numbers, last added: 3/30/2010
Book Sales Numbers « Anita Nolan's blog said, on 3/30/2010 12:13:00 AM
[...] thanks to Day-By-Day Writer for pointing out the article. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Interesting info [...]
Amy said, on 3/30/2010 6:00:00 AM
Thanks for the interesting link!
I liked Wings. I read quite a few YA paranormal titles in the last year, but that one really stuck with me. Of the books I read, Wings had the only MC who seemed to really question the odd things that were happening to her. I’m surprised I haven’t run across more MCs doing that.
daybydaywriter said, on 3/30/2010 7:57:00 AM
Thanks for the input, Amy. I haven’t read Wings yet, but it sounds great. It’s on my to-read list, but because I’ve been writing middle grade, I’ve been mostly reading middle grade, with the exception of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series, with which I’m addicted.
As children’s publishers from the world over convene in Italy later this month (March 23–26), a number of issues hang in the balance. How will the economy shape this year’s fair? Is the age of the big YA fantasy trilogy finally over? Will picture books make a resurgence? What of the co-edition market? The digital revolution? We asked a sampling of Bologna veterans for their take on what to expect at this year’s fair, and what they’re looking for.
I saw this very cool PW piece about a new initiative HarperTeen has recently launched. Seems like such a wonderfully smart, positive, and original way to get directly to an intended audience, and get them involved in the writing and publishing process. And what a great opportunity for young, creative minds to be able to share their work easily with other members of the site, as well as publishing professionals who will offer feedback to the top picks. There is even the grand prize of obtaining a publishing contract for the winner. It's like American Idol for teen writers! It seems to have already caught on since "Inkpop had a soft launch in late 2009 and currently boasts more than 10,000 members ages 13 and up, and 11,000 written submissions, which include novels, short stories, poetry, and essays." I hope that this site will succeed, and that a new generation of writers will emerge, shaped by the opportunities presented to them in this terrific new forum.
4 Comments on Reading and writing teens, last added: 1/28/2010
I'm not so thrilled. I registered with Inkpop's sister site Authonomy, and now HarperCollins is spamming me with highly misleading adverts for CreateSpace. By aiming their sites at aspiring writers, HarperCollins has gathered a mainly uninformed and vulnerable client base - the exact people who are more likely to fall for this pay-to-play spiel. I feel very uncomfortable about this.
Thanks for the notes. I had lunch today with one of the inkpop editors and will share this feedback with her. It's still a work-in-progress and I know they're open to feedback and suggestions. Thanks!
It’s been speculated by some in the publishing industry that enhanced e-books are most certainly the wave of the publishing future. Some will argue that with standard e-books not even completely off the ground, this is misguided, while others will say that such a product would be a completely new medium and not a book at all.
Whichever camp you happen to be in, some interesting developments were just announced on the multimedia front. PW reports that Vook, the video book company, has developed new software called MotherVook that will allow publishers to create their own media-enhanced e-books.
Is this one small step for publishing-kind? Though the details haven’t all been worked out, I’m interested to see how this takes off in our ever-changing landscape. I’m one of those who believe that media-enhanced books are more likely to happen then not. So now, particularly on the eve of the Apple tablet unveiling, will publishers take advantage of this software to create hyperlinked, video and music enhanced editions of what, until recently, has always been an ink and paper medium? And if this MotherVook software does take off in the market, will enhanced e-books make books better? It’s gotten me thinking, do I want a book that comes tricked-out with extras?
3 Comments on E-books: New and improved?, last added: 1/26/2010
The whole notion of a "vook" doesn't do anything for me. I love me some ebooks, and I have been happily devouring them on my iPhone and am even likely to get a nook sometime soon.
But I don't need extra bells and whistles with the story. I want the story and okay, yeah, some nice cover art to go with it. I'm happy with the electronic version of the product I'd otherwise be buying in the bookstore. Adding in extra bells and whistles and music and such just distracts from the writing, for me!
This is something I've been thinking about recently. Like you I'm inclined to think it will happen. It seems to me a logical progression, and an obvious potential selling point for e-content.
As regards the question of making books better, I think it's really a question of how it's used. I'm sure in some instances it will lead to a thoroughly immersive multi-media experience. Yet in others it will distract from the story and appear gimmicky. There is parallel here I think with the recent debate on the use of 3D in films.
I actually would be happy to see extra content, as I'm very attached to hard copy, and I'm likely to need something extra to persuade me to go for a e-version rather than a print version of my favourite author. Even then I would probably prefer the hardback.
"[D]o I want a book that comes tricked-out with extras?"
We already have those; they are called movies. I do not think that anyone would disagree that the best movies with the strongest storylines and characterization are all based on books. So will we authors now have to write screenplays along with the MS in order to even be looked at?
They discovered we exist! True, CBAY is never mentioned by name, and it's not the profile that will later be in the Religion Bookline, but the article about David Michael Slater that's been kicking up all this dust is mentioned in Publishers Weekly!
I'm doing little fancy dances around the room.
You can see the link here. It's under the "In the Media" heading. Yeah!
Could a review at some point be next? We can only hope . . .
0 Comments on We made PW's Children's Bookshelf as of 1/1/1900
4. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
3. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
2. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
1. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnetgut
Award-winning librarian Nancy Pearl (pictured, 
The industry bible, Publisher’s Weekly, released their 
As we countdown the final days to the 2010 Bologna Children’s Book Fair, be sure to read Diane Roback’s recent article entitled “
this is beside the point, the point being YAY! but: children's? that surprises me.
What Holly said...big YAY! I'm looking forward to this one.
Congratulations, Beth! I can't wait to read this book!
Woo hoo! How exciting.
Way to go!!
Yay! :-) I read the ARC on the train to and from Washington DC this weekend. Such a beautiful, wonderful story. Made all the more exciting by the fact that I passed through Philedelphia while reading. Perfect. How I wish I was at that fair...
If only I was at the fair and knew how to spell while typing... :-)
That's awesome! :)
You deserve it! I'm still sad that they moved your signing to a time I couldn't be there. DN was one of my most 5 anticipated books of the fair, and the only one I didn't manage to get. I've preordered!