We are passing this one with full confidence that our crack BS team will get to the bottom of the latest potential literary hoax. We’re not going to brag (much), but our research squad is capable of spending endless hours on a topic. We’d call it obsessive, but that’s such an understatement. Navahoax: Did a struggling white writer of gay erotica become one of multicultural literature’s most celebrated memoirists — by passing himself off as Native American?
Though his stories were based on truth, it was somehow understood that the truth was always worth bending for a good story. Source Notes by David Masiel
We have spoken at length on our thoughts on used book sales — not a bad thing, but, boy, it would be nice if the authors got themselves a piece of that pie. One thing each and every person who’s weighed in on this topic acknowledges is that the doctrine of first sale is alive and well. We’ve also noted that current copyright laws don’t really address the rapid changes in how we access and consume media. Congress needs to focus on this — and they need to understand the issue. We figure that’s going to take some time, if
It is the BS policy to give, give, give. Some days, we sit in our little office and wonder how we can make your lives easier. Generally, no answer appears, so we move on. But today, ah today, we have found the secret of success. Not surprisingly, the key to getting what you want is quite simple. It’s a bit like losing weight. In other words, maybe it’s not how hard the work is. It’s how hard you work. The article includes a helpful grit test. We opted against taking it as the last time we encountered grit, it came
“When I ask if anybody has any questions,” he [Louis Sachar] says, “every hand goes up.” Louis Sachar: Hot novelist of the sandbox set.
It hasn’t been hard to predict the slow demise of the standalone book section in major newspapers — the Chicago Reader reports that only five such sections still exist. And one, belonging to the Chicago Tribune is undergoing stomach stapling surgery. To save on the cost of newsprint. Apparently a brilliant plan to move the section to the lower-circulation Saturday was nixed when additional stuffing costs were factored into the move. The truth is that newspapers are losing eyeballs and consequently advertising revenue. We’d like to gently point out that had they paid attention when Craigslist first went online, this
As discussed last week (you do remember last week, right? It was the one with the holiday), the LitBlog Co-Op has planned a wide range of interesting and fun activities for each of this quarter’s nominated titles. Discussions, podcasts, editors, publishers, and even authors will be posting to the Co-Op site about their books. This week, the fun starts with Anders Monson’s Other Electricities, the book that made the California contingent feel really sorry for people who live near cold stuff. Our collective thin, tanned skin shivered as we read about cold, colder, and so damn cold it’s amazing humans
Maybe it’s the wind, we don’t know, but this article about the Catholic Church calling for The Da Vinci Code to receive an adult rating tickled our funny bone. We agree that protecting children is important — in fact, we think children should be protected from movies with violence, especially gratuitous violence. But we don’t always get what we want. We would like to remind the Church that this book has been made available in millions of households around the world, including many households with children. At this points, the kids have been exposed. Also, we’d like to remind everyone
Random House and a group of UK agents convened for a summit regarding the future of publishing. Or rather, the future of publishing as it relates to author compensation. We were taken by this rather prosaic comment regarding money or lack thereof: Transworld Publisher Larry Finlay said: “There’s no reduction of advances for the big names, but there are far more higher discount clauses in contracts now. That leads to reduced royalties, which could ultimately mean lower advances. Publishers are feeling the pain – unearned advances have increased.†The Publishing News coverage of this top-secret meeting doesn’t suggest that the
The LitBlog Co-Op unveils its final nominee for this quarter: Rupert Thomson’s The Divided Kingdom. Check out Bookdwarf’s description of this excellent book. But wait, there’s more! At the end of her post, there’s a link to discover your quarter. In light of recent discussions here, our region (helpfully revealed above) should come as no surprise. Starting Monday, the Co-Op begins a weeklong discussion of Anders Monson’s Other Electricities. The Co-Op has put together a party’s worth o’ fun, including podcasts, guest authors, rousing debate, and balloon tricks. Hmm, maybe you shouldn’t expect the balloon tricks — sometimes we misread
