Tag Archives: publishing

Literary Young People

Interesting article here: The Literary Cubs. It’s about a group of young, recent grads who, disillusioned with or unable to make livable wages in the traditional publishing industry, took it upon themselves to form a literary group and web publication. They meet in person for regular meetings, and they publish. Their web publication has grown big, and it’s going into print very soon. You can see them at thenewinquiry.com.

I have no idea what the future of publishing is. I don’t think radical minorities would fit in with this club. But it’s great that there are people passionate enough to throw themselves into the mix like this. It should give people hope that no matter what the economy does, literature and criticism will still survive.

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To E or not to E

It’s been awhile since we talked about publishing, but as we’re getting ready to publish the Thymos anthology (which has some excellent work), I’ve been talking and hearing a lot about publishing. Libby Hellman has published her seven novels both traditionally and through e-publishing. In the video above, she talks about traditional publishing vs. e-publishing, and how each has advantages. Even if you don’t have a book to publish, there’s a lot of information in the video that is good to think about. Check out her website here. (hat tip NH.)

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Amazon to Pubish New Tim Ferriss Book

Tim Ferriss

Thanks, Hertsel, for sending this: Amazon Set to Publish Pop Author.  Amazon is expanding their function into publishing books, and they’ve just signed up Tim Ferriss, the bestselling 4 hour motivational speaker. This is a huge step in Amazon becoming a serious player in publishing. According to the article, Amazon brought in New York literary agent and editor Laurence Kirshbaum three months ago to head their publishing division, and now they’ve got a bestselling author on their books.

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Gatekeepers and Phantom Players

This post comes from a combination of three web-based writings that I’ve seen on the web.  The first was this hilarious post by Abagond, about the six blind men touching an elephant.

In the post, he talks about how each blind man has an opinion on what an elephant is: the guy who touches the tusks thinks it’s like a spear, the guy who touches the side thinks it’s like a wall, the one who touches the trunk thinks it’s a snake, and so on.  In Abagond’s example, however, the guy who touches the trunk and believes he’s touching a snake is the only English speaking white man, and because he owns CNN, the NY Times, the top universities, and all the other media channels, the world comes to believe that elephants are snakes.

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The Keitai Shousetsu (Cell Phone Novel)

I found this  New Yorker article from two years ago–I Love Novels:Young Women Develop a Genre for the Cellular Age.  It’s about how women in Japan have become bestselling authors by writing novels on their cell phones.  They call it the keitai shousetsu (cell phone novel).  The article was linked from a recent New York Times article which profiled a company that is trying to do something similar in the U.S. by encouraging young people to write, share, and critique their writing online.

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Where the Money Goes in Publishing

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I’m literally years away from finding out what happens when you complete a novel and market it, but if you’re wondering exactly where the money goes when you buy a book at Barnes and Noble, click the image above or check out this informative article by Motoko Rich comparing print and E-books. 

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James Patterson, Inc.

James Patterson

James Patterson

There’s a great article in the NY Times Magazine this week about James Patterson, the country’s biggest selling author.  I had seen his name in the bookstores, but holy cannoli, I had no idea how big Patterson was.  I think I have a new literary hero, even though I’ve yet to read one of his books.

There are many different ways to catalog Patterson’s staggering success. Here are just a few: Since 2006, one out of every 17 novels bought in the United States was written by James Patterson. He is listed in the latest edition of “Guinness World Records,” published last fall, as the author with the most New York Times best sellers, 45, but that number is already out of date: he now has 51 — 35 of which went to No. 1.

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The New Art of Book Promotion

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Most of the people on this site are either bloggers, writers, or both.  I thought you all might find this Washington Post article interesting: Novice Authors Must Promote Themselves, Since Publishers Won’t.  Here’s a paragraph and a half from the article:

She cobbled together a trailer for her book on her home computer, using iMovie software, downloading a free tune off the Web for background music, and stuck it on her Web site. Her agent helped get her on one network television morning show. About 20 friends hosted book parties, which she hit on a self-funded three-week blitz, selling books out of the trunk of her car. A guy shot video of her reading an essay at one of these parties, and she posted it on YouTube when the paperback came out.

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