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There are two hot book-related issues in the media this week firstly electronic book readers following the U.K release of the Sony Reader and secondly HarperCollins' new authonomy site. I've been aware of both for a while now so what do I think of them? Well its hard to really judge the reader without having a proper look at one, but from what I've read they're easy to use and can hold up to 160 books. They also have an excellent battery which is really important as there's nothing more annoying with gadgets than finding they've died when you want to use them. It is almost very light and has the advantage of no backlight. Would I want one? Yeah, I probably would but they're too pricey for me at the moment (£199 from Waterstone's although they come with a free CD including 100 classic novels) . Would I stop buying books because of them? I doubt it, I have an ipod but I still buy CDs and vinyl. They are also in black and white so at the moment they're only going to be good for fiction. I can't imagine big, beautiful coffee table books disappearing or my favourite 'art of' animation books. I think it would be good if you could read samples of books through them before deciding to buy - I must admit to not knowing if this is the case yet. I've never been one of those people happy to read a chapter or two in a bookshop before deciding to buy so this could save some expensive mistakes. There are also books you know you're going to want to keep and those you won't, as a colleague pointed out if a book is really good you're probably going to want to buy the real thing after having read it electronically. The major drawback I've heard about with electronic readers (another popular make in America is the Kindle) though is that they can go blank for a moment when turning pages which draws you out of the story and also that you can't really flick back a few pages to double check something like double checking a clue or character name. Find out more at www.waterstones.com Now onto the authonomy site. This is a website run by HarperCollins publishers as a way for writers to have their unpublished books read. HC do not accept unsolicited manuscripts so this is supposed to replace the slushpile. There are a few other sites around like this and they all basically work the same way. You upload your book or part of it (in this case 10,000 words or more) and then readers get to vote and comment on it. In return you do the same for other books. The most popular (which should in theory mean the best) are then passed on to an editorial team. On Authonomy they will pick out the top five on a regular basis. The problem with these kind of sites is there are too many people and too many books on them. At the moment there are almost 500 books up for consideration. The later you join then I would imagine the harder it is to move up the ranks. The site has also been running in BETA form (visible to only a chosen few) so again I guess they have a head start. It doesn't say how they were chosen. You have to register to join or read the books and I like the fact that authors can remove their story at any point. 10,000 words is an awfully big chunk of a book though and I'm not sure there's any advantage to having so much on show. HarperCollins state that the wordcount requirement is to guarantee that the books are complete or thereabouts. Its not for me, I did once join another community site like this but never posted anything. The next time I went on there was a harsh childlish message saying I was banned ... forever - I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. Let me know what you think about authonomy and electronic readers through the website and if you have a website too mention you'd like me to include the details.

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Mariella and guests on the Sky Arts coverage of the Guardian Hay Festival I've set my Sky+ machine for the new run of Hay-on-Sky showing on the Sky Arts channel from tonight (Friday, May 23). For the second year Mariella Frostrup (The Book Show)will be hosting this daily catch up on everything that's happened at the Guardian Hay Festival. Among the authors already lined up for a spot on the sofa are Cherie Blair, Salman Rushdie, Marian Keyes and Jo Brand. The literary festival celebrates its 21st anniversary this year and takes place over 11 days with more than 85,000 visitors expected to take part in the festivities whilst enjoying over 400 events covering themes including the arts, politics, environment, comedy and music. Mariella said: "I can't wait to don my favourite wellies again and talk to some of the most interesting people in the universe!" Every day at 8pm, on Sky Arts (channel 267) and Sky Arts HD (channel 268), Mariella will interview guests in the Sky Arts Studio tent, including Joanne Harris, Michael Wood, Rory McGrath, AL Kennedy and Seth Lakeman. There will also be highlights from each day's debates and talks as well as a live music or comedy performance. Hay-on-Sky will also include a daily sketch from British Comedian Dom Joly who will be out and about revelling in the Hay atmosphere. What the Dickens? is a new arts and culture quiz show This year Sky Arts are also launching What the Dickens? a topical cultural panel quiz hosted by Sandi Toksvig. The show will challenge the teams and viewers alike to, amongst other things, ‘Lose the Plot’, ‘Name the Thesp’ and finish famous lines from well-known books. http://hayonsky.skyarts.co.uk// Hay-on-Sky 2008… Friday 23rd May 2008: TIM SMIT- The Eden Project SANDI TOKSVIG – presenting the brand new Sky Arts TV show What The Dickens? STEPHEN POLIAKOFF – at Hay discussing recent BBC plays Joe’s Palace and Capturing Mary Performance: Tinariwen Saturday 24th May 2008: CHERIE BOOTH – Special interview with Mariella at the festival about her new book CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS – God is Not Dead FAY WELDON – Spa de Cameron SALMAN RUSHDIE – The Enchantress of Florence Performance: Louis de B and Ilone Antonius Sunday 25th May 2008: A L KENNEDY – Day RORY McGRATH – Bearded Tit NINA CONTI AND MONK.(EY) – Comedienne ventriloquist Performance: Son de la Frontera Monday 26th May 2008: JASPER FFORDE TIM WINTON – “Breath” GEN. MIKE JACKSON – “Soldier “ Performance: Sarah Jane Morris and Dominic Miller Tuesday 27th May 2008: SAM TAYLOR WOOD – Short film JO WOOD – Naturally: How to Look and Feel Healthy, Energetic and Radiant the Organic Way MARCUS BRIGSTOCKE Performance: Seckou Keita Quartet Wednesday 28th May 2008: JUDITH KERR – 40th anniversary of The Tiger Who Came to Tea and her new book SIR ROY STRONG – A Little history of the English Church TOBY YOUNG – Film version of “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People Performance: Nick Harper Thursday 29th May 2008: MARIAN KEYES – This Charming Man MICHAEL WOOD – India KATHLEEN TURNER – Send Yourself Roses Performance: Alex Valentine Friday 30th May 2008: JOANNE HARRIS – Runemarks DAN CRUICKSHANK – Adventures In Architecture IAN MCEWAN – His opera “For You” Saturday 31st May 2008: JOHN IRVING FRANCES OSBORNE – The Bolter JO BRAND Performance: John Wesley Harding Sunday 1st June 2008: DON MCCULLIN – “In England” GARRY KASPAROV – Giving Hay Lecture : Putin’s Russia and his book: How Life Imitates Chess Performance: The Ukulele Orchestra of GB plus MANY MORE to be confirmed closer to the day…

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I'm writing The Graveyard Book right now. Or at least, trying to get back to the place where The Graveyard Book is. Yesterday I called in the colour and lettering corrections on Absolute Sandman Volume 3 -- finally, Dalmatians will be spelled correctly! -- and today I have to write an introduction to a script in it (for Sandman 50 -- the only Not Full Script in the whole 75 issue run) and an afterword to the volume as well. (Next year DC are bringing out Absolute Sandmans 3 and 4.) And today I'm also writing a foreword to a book of essays by the late Professor Frank McConnell, who wrote the introduction to THE KINDLY ONES and was a remarkable and fine man.


Hello! While I'm sure Mr. Gaiman himself won't read this, and from the look of a similar question in the FAQ section, he may not want to.

My friend and I are looking to write a short story and/or screenplay based off of the main plot elements in Sandman IV. We're not sure if if we need to go through any legal loopholes to do so, and thought you may be more helpful than emailing DC first.

Thank you very much,

Michael Garrity

Michael, it's a great big blog, filled with information. A quick site search shows that I first answered this question in October 2002, over five years ago. There's even an answer in the FAQ section, because it's a question that's frequently asked. (You comment on having read the answer in the FAQ at the beginning.) It's still the same answer, I'm afraid. If you want to do a Sandman thing, you would ask DC Comics or Warner Brothers, and they will almost certainly say no.

A question of nudity...

Almost every review of "Beowulf" has focused on the handling of Beowulf's nudity when he fights Grendel: many finding it unintentionally funny, one or two speculating that it was *intentionally* funny, but still, lots of people fixated on it. (By the way, I do like how Caitlin's novelization spells out that Grendel has no sex organs, so nothing to see there, literally...) It seems worth asking, how much was the treatment of Beowulf's nudity a decision you and Avary made, and how much was it a decision Zemeckis made? I wonder if there was a chat along the lines of "He's naked in the original poem, so how do we deal with that on film, where male nudity means an automatic R?"

(As a friend who saw and loved "Beowulf" said, "I was promised nudity! Angelina's naked, but she's covered! Beowulf's naked, but HE'S covered!")

Chris Walsh

P.S. To change the subject abruptly, thank you for mentioning Project Erin last month.

That sort of thing - how you shoot a naked fight, or indeed a clothed fight - is entirely a director's decision. (In a film like Beowulf, where every pixel is a decision, I think you can pretty much assume that everything is the director's decision).

If you're curious about what Roger and I had originally written in May 1997 (what I think of as the Jabberwocky Version) and then about what the final shooting script looked like (which was the Roger-and-Neil final draft as amended by Robert Zemeckis), with extensive amazingly honest introductory material by Roger on how it started and then how it came back to life, and why in the end Roger sold it to Steve Bing's company for Bob Zemeckis to direct rather than make it himself, then you might want to check out the Script Book -- http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061350160/Beowulf/index.aspx

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