Author name: Booksquare

Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism.

Differentiating Between Chick-lit and Women’s Fiction

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Before we get into MediaBistro’s interview with Hyperion editor Zareen Jaffrey (whom some of you may remember from Red Dress Ink), we have to puzzle over one of the more odd book titles we’ve encountered this week: Desperate Housewives Cookbook. Now if this were, oh, the fifties, we’d be thinking, ah, a cookbook for a new cook. You know, “Hi honey, I’m bringing the boss home to taste some that good food.” And then the desperate housewife realizes that the pre-made frozen meals from her mother worked, but she’s out! She’ll have to cook from scratch… Anyway, that needed to […]

Publishers and Editors

On Quixotic Pursuits

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In Dickens’s spirit, I believe we need to take action against Google. Its quest to monetise for its own benefit the literature of the world must be stopped. So I call upon internet users worldwide to boycott the Google search engine until it ceases to scan books in America without prior permission, and desists from its mission to place ambient advertising on the great literary works. Switch your search engine from Google to MSN or Yahoo today, until you hear Google has withdrawn from the type of activities that have been described in another context as acts of “kleptomania”. Google’s

Quote of the Week

Once More With Punctuation

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At some point in our history, such notions as good punctuation and proper grammar emerged. One suspects, if one has spent some time learning the English language, that there were equal rations of randomness and sadism in the development of sentence structure and rules. Apparently clarity of communication could only be achieved via the most circuitous route. It is noted that some writers, well-known ones at that, didn’t follow rules that lead to neatly organized dots and dashes and curlicues. Or maybe they did, but in the end, it didn’t matter much because even in the days of Shakespeare, the

Square Pegs

Last Year’s Trend

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Was it just last year that the insane drive to add erotica to a publisher’s list lead to the creation of new and wilder imprints all over New York? Like pink phones, everyone had to have their own line. These weren’t your father’s dirty books, oh no. By definition, erotica is aimed toward women; by implication, erotica is selling like proverbial hotcakes. Which leads us to wonder about the genesis of that expression. Later. Later. Literary erotica is now (apparently) sweeping the planet. Or, if you will, As a publishing trend it might best be summed up thus – from

The Business of Publishing

Public Service Announcement: Restocking New Orleans Libraries

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This is from the March 3, 2006 “Shelf Awareness.” In an effort to restock its shelves after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Public Library is asking for donations of hardcovers and paperbacks for people of all ages. Library staff will decide which books should go into its collection; the rest will go to destitute families or be sold to raise funds for the library. Please send books to: Rica A. Trigs, Public Relations, New Orleans Public Library, 219 Loyola Ave., New Orleans, La. 70112. Apparently if donors mention to the Postal Service that the books are for the library in

Square Pegs

Backlist and Print-on-Demand: A Match Made in Heaven

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Though we can’t be certain*, we think the British press is on schedule: one article touting the future of self-publishing per quarter. It’s almost enough to make us wonder if there’s some sort of publishing revolution happening across the Atlantic. If only we had a correspondent who spoke English. Though the article intermingles self-publishing and print-on-demand, we simply do not have the time to explain differences. Place to go and all that. Likewise, we cannot focus on a cost/benefit analysis of self-publishing. What we’re enthusiastic about is potential. We do enjoy potential, especially on rainy days. Print-on-demand technology is rapidly

Non-Traditional Publishing, The Future of Publishing

Fill In Your Own Punchline

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To nobody’s surprise, readers largely prefer books with happy endings. Psychologists will surely do studies and focus groups, but we believe that deep down inside, most humans are hopeful. It’s a tough world and turning to a book that makes you think it will be just fine is human nature. It is that most of us crave overwhelmingly a happy ending to a novel; and that Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – in which Elizabeth and Mr Darcy ride off to Pemberley in the sunset and live happily ever after – is our runaway favourite of a perfect ending. Part

Square Pegs

Dump The Advance, Watch Authors Everywhere Go Catatonic

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We always appreciate it when someone comes out swinging, ready to fight the traditional publishing model. Lynne Scanlon, contrarian and cranky, has decided to enter the fray with a radical suggestion: dump the advance/royalty model in favor of cash-in-hand. As she rightly points out, contracts don’t favor the author (rule of thumb: the contract always favors the party who writes it): What’s an advance against royalties, really? It’s a loan. Something you have to pay back before you see a dime more. Yes, there is the possibility that enough copies will be sold at high enough prices and you’ll receive

The Business of Publishing

Morning Fix: Copyright Law

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We know how hard it is to get worked up about copyright. All those funny ©’s and time frames and what is fair use, anyway? So it’s always nice to have a copyright primer handy. Plus they make great party favors! Bloggers and copyright mavens alike can always use a refresher on truths and myths. One we see quite often is full reproduction of an article from another source. These are generally attributed, but posted with the clear intent of keeping you, the reader, from going to the source. That, for what it’s worth, is bad. To quote Brad Thompson:

Our Continuing Fascination With Copyright

The Tale Of The Cranky Agent, Or How You Can Avoid Mistakes

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Once upon a time, Betsy Amster was an editor. Then one day, she looked around her office and thought, “Wait! I can be an agent. The hours will be shorter, the pay better, and no marketing meetings.” So she cleared out her desk and hung out a shingle. At least some of the preceding is at least a little bit untrue. We are not sure that people actually hang shingles in this day and age. But it’s the former editor part that makes a difference: Before opening her own agency in 1992, Amster worked on the editorial side. She spent

Agents
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