Author name: Booksquare

Though we sincerely hope that no New York Times reporters are turning to us for clarification of policy, we cannot be sure. Times reporters are sneaky that way. Thus we offer yet another in our continuing series of public service posts. If you are a reporter for the New York Times, you are also (apparently) allowed to write books. In some cases, you will have to tell everyone in the food chain prior to committing so much as a paragraph to Word. In others, your star power (real or perceived) will allow you to bend the rules. Whether or not […]

We are, as you can see in the headline, leaving open the possibility for one more story on this topic. Not knowing a thing about British law processes, except the thing where they wear 18th century style wigs, we don’t know how long things will take to wrap up, and cannot guarantee any manner of extended attention span. Thus we leave you with this: Summing up the case, Mr [James] Baldwin said the ideas were “not original” and “too general” to be protected by copyright. Also: “Many of the ideas complained of were not original to The Holy Blood and

And here we bring you a surprising story about chicklit, or, in other words, a thoughtful essay about the impact of fiction aimed at young women around the world. While the American media focused on the frothy layer of chicklit, the writers were actually exploring topics of importance to today’s women. What’s being exported to women around the world is the realization that they can explore issues and restrictions of their cultures in a way that is accessible to their peers. We have long believed in the subversive nature of fiction — what better way to send messages than through

Membership has its privileges, except, of course, when membership means that really cool insight is inaccessible to others. Though it is inconceivable to us that not everyone is a Publisher’s Marketplace member, we must face reality. And also do a post will sketchy attribution and limited access to source. Life is funny like that. So Michael Cader is talking about the Freakonomics guys and their blog and their website and how the whole interactive thing ties together. See, the blog, especially in this case, creates community. Community builds community. This is not Confucius speaking. This is what you should be

The Bat Segundo Show continues its frenetic pace of podcasting (do they ever sleep at Segundo headquarters?). This week, William Vollmann tries to keep up with the craziness, managing to discuss everything from Copernicus (no podcast is complete without that) to the use of narrators in fiction (helpful, if you’re wondering). BS would like to note that no bats were harmed in the making of this program. We cannot speak for the humans. The Bat Segundo Show #26: William Vollmann

Sometimes we do have nice things to say about other people. Like the inimitable Jayne Ann Krentz. For those who think we spent our evenings in Texas hanging out at bars, uh uh, not us — we were working hard with the lovely HelenKay Dimon on a Krentz appreciation. Then we hit the bars. Perfect Partners by Jayne Ann Krentz

Our Austin journey, as all Austin journeys must, has come to an end. Only one more night of drinking and carousing (we, of course, always watch from sidelines or something like that) and then it’s back to the Center of the Universe and real life. We’re still writing up our thoughts on various sessions — most of the remaining items are more relevant to Medialoper, so look for them there. Remember: all you have to do is substitute the word “publishing” for any of the other media types listed. We were very excited to meet the Pinky behind Pinky’s Paperhaus