Author name: Booksquare

Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism.

Protecting The Innocent

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We have a friend — let’s call him Peter — who has been trying to get us worked up over the James Frey flap. Other individuals have given up on the goal, but Peter keeps trying. It’s simply not going to happen, but he’s stubborn. He tries little things, like pointing out that he was three chapters into the mess, but now has to give it up. “Return it,” we say. “You kept your receipt, right?” Of course he didn’t. “Here’s someone who’s all worked up,” we say, forwarding endless links to endless articles. He reads them all, only temporarily […]

The Business of Publishing

Gently Steering You Elsewhere, Again

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We have long admired Jennifer Crusie both personally and professionally, and were elated to discover that one of her early novels, Anyone But You, was being re-released. Of course, as discussed here earlier this month, HQN chose to release this book as a hardcover. Sure we questioned the wisdom of paying hardcover (well, closer to trade paperback) prices for this book, but we were hypocritical, typing with one hand, ordering the book with the other. We want you to make your own decisions before plunking down cash (what does a plunk sound like anyway?), so we bring to you a

Books/Mags/Blogs

On The Challenges of Trilogies

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I will say that writing the trilogy has presented me with a lot of challenges in that you’re trying to write one story and maintain a story arch over three books. I can barely organize my sock drawer, and I think you can tell from talking to me that I can barely organize my thoughts. I never outline anything, and I never plan anything in advance, I always jokingly say that for me, writing is like standing at the open mouth of the plane, holding on to the ripcord, looking down and saying this could all end badly, or it

Quote of the Week

Blatantly Commercial, And He’s Okay

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It is no secret that publishing is a commercial endeavor, but often editors like to pretend it isn’t. If you had to publish a roman a clef written by Nicole Richie, you’d want to live in an alternate reality, too. Jeremie Ruby-Strauss has skipped the inner turmoil that marks an editor’s rite of passage, and is wholeheartedly embracing his commercial mandate. Kensington’s new imprint, Rebel Base Books, is targeted directly, well, at guys like Jeremie: The imprint comprises books based on humor websites. We didn’t set out to exploit an underserved demographic, we just ferreted out opportunities where we could,

Publishers and Editors

And Today. . .

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Yesterday, Garner (which Jill has been monitoring on the Amazon charts and, based on her detailed analysis, has declared a major hit). Today??? Yes, you have to go there. It will be worth it, we promise. But we’ll give you a clue this time: we keep mixing this author up with the dude from Varnaline. If you know what we mean (and you should, you really should), you’ll want this book. LitBlog Co-Op

Books/Mags/Blogs

This Week Brought To You By The Letter M

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For those who find nothing more satisfying than looking up words (and then looking up more words), the Oxford English Dictionary (or as we call it chez Booksquare, Our Beloved OED) is offering free look-ups. Oh sure, there’s a catch, there’s always a catch. We are waiting for the fine OED folks to contact us for our suggestions on reducing catches and making the world overflow with love. Anyway, in association with a British programme (we remained by baffled by the British insistence on spelling things wrong) called Balderdash and Piffle, you can look up words corresponding to the letter

Square Pegs

The Case of the Small-Town Murder

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We just wanted to let you know that the Winter 2006 LitBlog Co-Op choice, Garner by Kristen Allio is available at Powell’s with a 30% discount. Be the first kid on your block to have your copy! How long has it been since you picked up a book that made time disappear? How long has it been since you read a book that resonated in your mind for weeks after? While ostensibly a murder mystery — or maybe it’s a death mystery — Garner is also the story of a town on the edge of time: In Garner, Allio pulled

Books/Mags/Blogs

Read This! Winter 2006

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The books have been read, debated, considered, and — most importantly — voted upon. The LitBlog C0-Op has made its Winter 2006 selection. Other nominees will be revealed throughout the week, and the Co-Op has a full calendar of book-related events planned to keep you warm this season. Yeah, we’re making you hit the LitBlog site to get the scoop. But only because Dan Wickett is making his debut with the group, and, well, you know how we feel about Dan. The LitBlog Co-Op

Square Pegs
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