Booksquare

Today’s links of interest:

• Disney’s rights to young Mickey Mouse may be wrong
  Even if not true, it’s funny, especially since Congress (lookin’ at you Adam Schiff!) has worked overtime to change copyright law to protect Disney’s hold on Mickey Mouse.

Today’s links of interest:

• He Blurbed, She Blurbed
  Of course, the real question is how much these enthusiastic blurbs impact buyers. And how many authors have ruined their reputations with readers due to bad blurbing.
• US: Wanted: people to sign books for lazy authors
  Nice. Really nice.
• Bookstore Sales Down in June 
  Related: prices of gas, food, clothing, and living were up in June.
• Bay Area journal is an improbable success story in world of letters
  A profile of Zyzzyva and Howard Junker, the man behind the literary journal. Also, more importantly, a reminder that it’s all about finding the right readers and the right passion.

Today’s links of interest:

• Richard and Judy ‘treat their readers as stupid’
  There’s something precious about those who can’t get past their own snobbery to celebrate the fact that someone is getting loads of people to read. Get over yourself and start your own bookclub.
• ‘When a university lecturer proposes an amnesty on spelling mistakes, I fear things may have taken a turn for the apocalyptic’
  Just when you thought it was safe to accept the relative nature of spelling.
• Cinema stole my favourite books
  But, of course, the solution to this problem is obvious.

Today’s links of interest:

• Penguin wins back rights to Steinbeck’s early novels
  Surely there must be a smarter way to resolve this issue.
• Authors Guild to Study F&W/Adams Media Royalty Accounting
  Yes, finally, our favorite topic. Turns out someone didn’t have good accounting practices in place…and someone’s staff acknowledged this in email. Bad. And bad.
• Mary Matalin, publisher
  Interesting piece from Timothy Noah about the lack of standards being applied to some so-called conservative imprints of publishing houses. Oh, and how one "publisher" sidesteps responsibility for works published under her name.

Today’s links of interest:

• Writing Contest: Mills & Boon Modern Heat Writing Guidelines at I (Heart) Presents
  We have word that M&B is opening the doors to new writers via a terrific contest. Follow the link above to rules and guidelines for the previous contest, and if you read posts from that time frame, hello, good advice. If you think you have the write (ha!) stuff, send your first chapter and synopsis to: feeltheheat @ hmb.co.uk. Other rules: Your entry must be aimed at Modern Heat; Your entry must NOT have been submitted previously to Harlequin Mills & Boon; Only ONE entry per person; Submissions received after the closing date will NOT be assessed!; More detailed legal rules will be posted at a later date.

Today’s links of interest:

• New Review Site
  Litmob — where reviewers only review what they like. Oh yeah, this is how it rolls!
• Should George Orwell Blog?
  Yes.
• Top 10 literary virgins
  No seriously, they’ve run out of all possible top ten lists.
• Miramax says British columnist failed to deliver book
  Far be it for us to look for publishing trends, but the aggressive attempt to recover on failure of delivery of manuscripts seems to suggest that houses are going after money not well spent.

Today’s links of interest:

• Dude, you stole my article.
  A look at how one instance of plagiarism lead one reporter to dig deeper to find an even uglier pattern of abuse.
• The Next Big Thing: Christian Vampire Romance
  Funny. Mostly because, well, you know others are thinking the same thing.
• A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript
  Or, how Neal Stephenson finished "The Big U" because the technology gave him no choice.

Read more…

Today’s links of interest:

• They Tried to Make the L.A. Times Go to Rehab (No, No, No!)
  Poignant, painful, spot-on analysis. Alas, the LAT people who need to read this stuff, won’t.
• What’s really killing newspapers: They’re no longer the best providers of social currency
  Or, if newspapers want to save themselves, they need to remember what made them special in the first place.
• Rushdie anger at policeman’s book
  How do you know that Salman Rushdie has spent too much time in the U.S.? He’s suing…

Today’s links of interest:

• They Tried to Make the L.A. Times Go to Rehab (No, No, No!)
  Poignant, painful, spot-on analysis. Alas, the LAT people who need to read this stuff, won’t.
• What’s really killing newspapers: They’re no longer the best providers of social currency
  Or, if newspapers want to save themselves, they need to remember what made them special in the first place.
• Rushdie anger at policeman’s book
  How do you know that Salman Rushdie has spent too much time in the U.S.? He’s suing…

Today’s links of interest:

• Reading in the Open-ended Information Zone Called Cyberspace: My Reply to Kevin Kelly
  Sven Birkerts responds to Kevin Kelly.
• Fate of the Book
  Kevin Kelly reproduces a conversation from 1995 with, among others, Sven Birkerts about the nature of living online versus offline and how it impacts reading. The weirdest part of this might possibly be the arguments made by Birkerts — and how we’re still having this same discussion over ten years later.