Author name: Booksquare

Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism.

The Source of Discomfort

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We went into this article on the woefully misnamed dick lit (woefully misnamed because, well, we expect it to be about private detectives; plus, we were rooting for lad lit simply because no male we know will pick up a book marketed as such) fairly certain it would be yet another been there, done that story. You know. Where men write books in an attempt to emulate the wild success of books written by women. Because, as Russell Smith helpfully notes, it’s all about fitting Tab A into Slot B — though, as we all know, high jinks will ensue […]

Books/Mags/Blogs

The Point of No Return

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We’d like to thank Gena for her time — and remind her that we are the Master now. She must dance to our tune until we tire of toying with her. We will, however, give her a few minutes off to eat. Well, that seemed like enough time to us. Now it’s back to work. First, we’d like to remind Gena that when she told us things in strict confidence, we had our fingers crossed behind our back. Probably, we should have mentioned this earlier, but things get so crazy around here. We bring this up because we’re going to

Wrapped Up In Books

A Random Thought

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Like the rest of our thoughts are so well-planned. For weeks now, we have been titillated with stories about the Booker Prize. Judges have written about their experience (for those who missed the articles, we’ll summarize: you read a lot of books) and oddsmakers have done whatever analysis oddsmakers do, resulting in predictions of winners. It’s all very glamorous and exciting. We want to be part of this glittering world. The stories are such that even mainstream American media have taken (brief) note. That is to say, information has popped up in the odd publication. It makes us wonder how

Square Pegs

A Truth

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To see the truth of a nation divided, you need look no further than our family. On one side, we have the mother, the youngest sister, and us. We are The Readers. On the other side is another sister and two brothers. They Don’t Read. Well, the sister sort of reads, but not so you’d be able to pin her down on the issue. The mother, being a librarian and natural reader, did everything right. Read to us from Day One. Read to us during meals (are fond memories of mealtimes are more the result of King Arthur than the

Square Pegs

Naked Came The Author

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As mentioned, debut author Gena Showalter is spending the week with us, and has fearlessly (if one can consider terror to be fearless — we do) agreed to answer any and all questions. No really, she said (and we’ll paraphrase in the interest of space), “I’ll talk about anything. Consider me an open book.” We won’t say we knew her when, but we sort of did. In addition to her unflagging generosity (as evidenced by her critical reads of our work when we’re feeling particularly insecure, and this happens more often than we’d like to admit), she’s a rising star

Wrapped Up In Books

That Copyright Thing

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We’ve been interested in the JibJab versus Ludlow Music (or is it the other way around) case for a couple of reasons. From the first article we read, we were quite convinced this was a simple case of fair use. Then we started wondering what Woody Guthrie would think of the whole thing. Then we really started wondering…why does this music publishing company own the copyright to Guthrie’s work. See how thoughts just keep building until there’s no room for anything new? We’ve frothed at the mouth about copyrights before, but found this intriguing because we kept coming back to

Tools and Craft

26 Miles Across The Sea, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

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We’ve thought long and hard about this summer thing — it seems everyone takes their vacation at the same time. Not us. We’re looking at sometime in the Christmas range. However, we are taking a long weekend. Yes, it’s possible to hit an island resort without ever leaving California. Heck, without leaving Los Angeles. That this came as a shock to the mother (Southern California native) will go all but uncommented upon. Except for the part where we ask, what state did she think it belonged to? We are traveling unencumbered (i.e., the laptop is remaining at home, but we’re

Square Pegs

After The Secret Handshake, The Hidden Clubhouse

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We know many things (and we’re always willing to share), but sometimes, we can only imagine certain experiences. Not that we don’t do an excellent job of making things up (that’s a technical writing term), but every now and then, we turn to experts for what is known as “first-hand experience”. Sounds a little messy, but there you have it. So next week, we’re going to force first-time author, Gena Showalter (who’s already introduced herself), to answer lots of questions regarding selling your first book (and your second…and your seventh), the editing process (“I only have how many days to

Wrapped Up In Books

Our Dark Horse

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We were all excited about the Booker longlist until we found out there’s already a favorite to run away with the whole thing. It’s sort of like knowing who’s going to win the marathon before Mile 20. Okay, so it’s usually obvious by then, but we’re sure our point is well-taken. This is a bummer because we’re quite taken with the subject matter of Susanna Clark’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, though we remain, as always, perplexed by the inclusion of an item not yet released on the list. Yes, we know, but allow us our moment of confusion. It

Square Pegs

To The Citadel

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And no, we’re not talking shopping. Effective, like, now (can you feel the urgency?), Gene Brissie will be editor-in-chief of Kensington’s Citadel Press. He will handle pop culture (yeah, that), history (what pop culture will be ten years from now), and other things like outdoor adventure (which, based on our research, includes this camping thing that’s all the rage).

Publishers and Editors
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