Articles from August 2007

Are Libraries “Free”?

August 29th, 2007 · 8 Comments

I was reading comments on a blog and paused over one that said that libraries are “free options” in the book world. Over time, that idea roiled around in my little brain. Are libraries really free? ‘Cause if they are, then, wow, finally there’s something in this world without a catch. It is time that […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Reaching Readers: The Door-to-Door Theory

August 27th, 2007 · 12 Comments

I have been thinking a lot about about advertising lately. I have decided, much against my natural skeptical instinct, to accept the theory that it works. This despite the obviously flawed quality and rather obscure messages. Yesterday at the gym, I saw four commercials in a row…and not a single, clear, understandable explanation about the […]

File Under: The Future of Publishing

Reading Books: 3 Out Of 4 Americans Do It

August 23rd, 2007 · 6 Comments

So here’s the deal: depending on how you interpret the numbers, one in four Americans didn’t read a single book last year* or three out of four Americans read at least one book last year. If you stick with the latter statistic, that’s a whole lot of reading going on. Remember, this is a really […]

File Under: Square Pegs

The Lazy Daze of Summer Post

August 20th, 2007 · 6 Comments

Today’s theme is “What I Did On My Summer Vacation”, though the fact that summer revelries have been condensed into 2 1/2 days should tell you something. Mostly that the child-free of the world are able to schedule their vacations for less crowded times of the year. Even though the trip is short, I, naturally, […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Pattern Recognition

August 15th, 2007 · 5 Comments

BS: Ah, Summer. The living is easy. Especially when you can get someone else to write while you’re, well, talking on the cell phone and land line and emailing and IMing and all the stuff that goes with a busy day. Today, we bring you Katharine Weber, author the great novel Triangle. In what can […]

File Under: Books/Mags/Blogs

So Much For The Summer

August 14th, 2007 · 1 Comment

Okay, I admit it. I was looking forward to a more contentious summer. A summer filled with knock-down, drag-out fights. You know, the stuff in movies. By the ones who make the movies. To date, the negotiations between the Writers’ Guild and the studios have been remarkably, boringly civil. Which is to say, they’ve been […]

File Under: Square Pegs

The More Things Change

August 7th, 2007 · 11 Comments

[BS: Yesterday, we talked about genre and reaching readers. Today, we have one of the authors discussed in the post. Please welcome Nicola Griffith, author of Always as she talks about the challenges — and then some — of living with a single character over the course of many books. Needless to say, this is […]

File Under: Books/Mags/Blogs

Why Did The Reader Cross The Aisle?

August 6th, 2007 · 9 Comments

For the past week, the notion of genre and images has consumed me. Okay, also wondering what’s for lunch, but the genre question has been more than a little all-encompassing. In addition to the fantastic article written by Pam Jenoff for BS last week, back channel discussion about Nicola Griffith’s Always has been happening (Gwenda […]

File Under: The Future of Publishing