Articles from February 2006

The Ick Factor

February 28th, 2006 · 3 Comments

Sometimes it’s hard to tell: is Susan Gable sadistic or masochistic? Or maybe she has too much time on her hands. Today’s tip certainly suggests the latter. It is rare that an advertising campaign affects us in a way that inspires utter loathing. Truly. We save such emotion for truly awful thin–wait, that’s what happened […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Podcasting For Authors

February 28th, 2006 · Comments Off on Podcasting For Authors

The husband has embraced audiobooks with an unexpected fervor — it turns out that T.C. Boyle short stories are just the right length for his cardio workout. Also just weird enough for his cardio workout, but that might be more than you need to know. He’s also been quite enthusiastic about the notion of podcasting […]

File Under: Marketing For Introverts

The Publishing World Has Officially Come To A Standstill

February 28th, 2006 · 1 Comment

As it turns out, the Da Vinci trial is keeping the industry glued to, hmm, what does one observe when a trial is held in the UK? News is scant, but we have high hopes that someone will do something. In the meantime, we’re heading back for more coffee.

File Under: Square Pegs

Breathing A Sigh Of Relief

February 27th, 2006 · Comments Off on Breathing A Sigh Of Relief

Forget all that nonsense about the world ending, we were indulging in a melodramatic moment. All is right again, and we have been given a heads’ up of the best kind — coming to a bookstore near you this summer (meaning camp out now!) will be a definitive biography of one Nelle Harper Lee (we […]

File Under: Books/Mags/Blogs

It’s The End of the World, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

February 27th, 2006 · 4 Comments

That thud you just heard was our head hitting a wooden desk. Hard. And, yes, it hurt. We’ve long suspected that the world as we know is coming to an end. We simply didn’t realize it would happen this week. And here we went and wasted the weekend on accomplishments. Nothing less than the future […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Commercial Break: Enlightening The Media

February 27th, 2006 · 5 Comments

We realize that most of our readers aren’t lucky enough to hear the behind-the-scenes conversations (nor the re-enactments) at BS HQ, so it’s possible that you missed some ranting and raving in the last week or so. It all started, more or less, with this: Take Gallup’s poll. Beyond flat to declining blog traffic, it […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Harper Lee, Girl Dectective

February 27th, 2006 · Comments Off on Harper Lee, Girl Dectective

We had one of those “All Harper Lee, All The Time”* weekends. First up, of course, was a screening of Capote, where we learned that Lee was a driving force behind In Cold Blood. Though the husband notes sometimes movies Make Facts Up. We don’t care, we believe. Now we learn that the book that […]

File Under: Books/Mags/Blogs

If Not Google, Who?

February 24th, 2006 · Comments Off on If Not Google, Who?

As we read articles about how the various Google initiatives are destroying life as we know it, we have to wonder where the viable alternatives are: There is much hue and cry about how Google is a commercial entity and surely has a profit motive. Only the most naive of us would believe otherwise. But […]

File Under: The Future of Publishing

Fisticuffs and Conga, What Will The British Think of Next?

February 24th, 2006 · 4 Comments

It’s Friday, February is slow (makes July and August seem like positively thrilling months), and we’ve hit rock bottom. First, pope news. Now feuding authors. Of course, no way could we resist pointing you to an article that starts like this: Literary award ceremonies, generally speaking, are not particularly boisterous affairs. This year’s British Book […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Desperately Seeking Royalties

February 24th, 2006 · Comments Off on Desperately Seeking Royalties

Okay, on one hand, the pope is rich. Sure all that money belongs to the church, but let’s be honest, the pope can tap the treasure trove whenever he wants. Then again, it is the firm policy of BS to support authors in their quest for full compensation for their work. Yeah, the pope wants […]

File Under: Square Pegs