Author name: Booksquare

Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism.

Booksquare Has a Harlequin-Themed Temper Tantrum

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Though we do not have time to check our archives (in fact, we are not entirely sure where we keep our archives, though something tells us they’re in that place we’re supposed to “clean out”), we believe we have volunteered to sit down with the brass at Harlequin and offer our free advice. We believe we have made this offer no less than one million times. Do we get a call? No. And what happens? Well, let us suggest that there has been an unholy alliance between the romance publisher and NASCAR. We’ll give you a moment to absorb that. […]

Publishers and Editors

How To Kill A Book Club With Cynicism

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If we were Scholastic (and evidence suggests we are not), we would be doing everything in our power to build a trusting relationship with the little kids who make our publishing venture strong. We would be squeaky clean and bend over backwards to make sure that parents are not off-put by our very name. We would think about the Harry Potter franchise coming to end, knowing that we need a solid revenue stream to make up for the empty hole. In other words, we wouldn’t engage in potentially misleading billing and fulfillment practices that anger parents enough to file a

Publishers and Editors

Associated Press – Now With Two More Years Experience

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We don’t understand why we stopped and read this story, but stop we did. Read, we did. Post, we did. The age of the Associated Press isn’t of even the remotest fascination, except, well, except that it’s older than one thought. Which is just one of those things that makes you wonder what or who else is older than you’d think. Historically, the AP has dated its origins to a meeting of New York City publishers at the Sun office in May 1848. According to the Beach documents, the inaugural meeting took place two years earlier, with the agreement to

Square Pegs

Helpful Gift-Giving Advice

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We have recently been reminded that a major holiday is on the horizon (so many lumped together in such a short amount of time, how does anyone keep on top of it all?), and this is a Gift Giving event. Also, it seems that restaurant reservations are going fast, so now is the not the time to put things off until tomorrow. Now if you have a librarian on your list (and who doesn’t?), then we have you covered. Because nothing says “I love you” like an action figure that “shushes”. We may need to rethink that sentence. G.I. Joe,

Square Pegs

Meanwhile Back At The Ranch

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As things settle down on the ranch — there is only the faintest hint of dust swirling in the distance — we turn our attention to What Went Wrong. Things were moving along so swimmingly, it looked to be a successful season, and when disaster struck, and disaster is always a possibility, we know that, we didn’t see it coming. But surely someone out there is in charge of the publishing farm? And increasingly the question becomes “Who?” The front line of defense was formerly editors, those people who labored over each word, each paragraph, each book. Editors are not,

The Future of Publishing

If You Give It Away, They Will Download

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We’re not sure where to focus our attention in this story about young Italians downloading a free book about the struggle to survive on 1,000 euros a month. Part of us thinks, “Hmm, how interesting is it that an ebook broke out from the pack in such a manner.” The other part of us sits back and wonders, “Does this mean that Internet usage is so wide-spread in Italy that such downloading is possible?” And, thus, we’re stuck. You get to determine the underlying meaning on your own. Young Italians find a hero: Thousands download an internet novel highlighting the

The Future of Publishing

Cutting Every Fourth Paragraph

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There is nothing new in the announcement from Harlequin Mill & Boon regarding their increased commitment to providing audiobooks to consumers, except, well, this: Starting in March 2006 HARLEQUIN MILLS & BOON will publish four titles every second month in abridged CD format, featuring stories from its bestselling Modernâ„¢ Romance and Historical Romance series. Abridged? They’re seriously going to abridge these things? Given the length of the novels, doesn’t it seem like it would be more work to make them shorter than to read them in their entirety? We will never understand the minds of publishers. Harlequin Mills & Boon’s

Publishers and Editors

All This Heavenly Glory

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You were warned. You knew that you had to buy and read Elizabeth Crane’s All This Heavenly Glory. You’ve had, what is it?, two weeks. It’s a fast read — which is discussed in great detail over at the Co-Op. Fast can be a function of style, you know. We know that you met the challenge and are ready to go. This is the time to talk about structure, sentences that defy the rules of gravity, voice as character, character defined by third person and first person point-of-view, Click-Clacks, servant girls, and the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Not necessarily in

Books/Mags/Blogs

New For People Avoiding Rounding Up Receipts For The Accountant

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Galleycat reports (exclusively!) that A Million Little Pieces had its Dewey Decimal Number revoked — at least in Brooklyn. The book was issued the less-exclusive “FIC” category. We’re not sure what impact this has on the card catalogs of the world, but presume the transition will proceed in an orderly fashion, barring any holdouts in Sioux City. You just never know what’s going to happen there. Brooklyn Librarians: Frey’s a Fiction Writer

Square Pegs

Publishing Roundup, January Ends Like It Began

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Sure, publishing is a slow business, but don’t tell that to people running the show. Once again, we remind you that this information is only good for today. Always check with primary sources before assuming an editor or agent is still in the house. Pamela Dorman moved to Hyperion to create a new imprint. Said as-yet-unnamed imprint will target female readers 35 and older. Fiction and non-fiction. Makes us feel sorry for those on the cusp of 34. Katie McHugh will abandon Three Rivers Press for Marlowe & Company as an editor. Publisher’s Lunch says that “Tina Pohlman will not

Publishers and Editors
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