Author name: Booksquare

Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism.

Synchronicity, Or Close Enough For Government Work

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In our never-ending quest to avoid responsibility, we spent some time reading blogs yesterday. The option was clearing the inbox, and, well, that held no appeal. We stopped by Brenda Coulter’s place (happy belated anniversary) and noted a post on the price of audiobooks. Well, we thought, there’s something we can discuss with some semblance of intelligence. Then, following hard on the heels of Brenda’s post, was a comment from Susan Gable regarding the price of ebooks. Again, our first thought was to offer our thoughts. Plus, we like to think we’re the thrifty type, though there is no evidence […]

The Future of Publishing

Noon, Day One, 2006

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So much for our resolution to hit the ground running in the new year. If only we’d kept the thought to “hit the ground”. You live, you learn. We’d like to thank everyone who reads Booksquare. Especially those of you make it part of your everyday routine. Writers always wonder who is reading their work and how they feel about it. It is humbling to realize that people we’ve never met or seen read our (sometimes nonsensical) words regularly. Thank you. It is our belief that 2005 will be remembered in the annals of publishing history (we are taking it

Square Pegs

In Which We Reveal That Novels Are, Actually, Formulaic

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As it turns out, the secret to Agatha Christie’s success was not compelling mystery nor enduring characters. This is good news for you — what made Christie’s work unputdownable* was her hypnotic writing style. Yes, the mother was hypnotized all those years. Somehow this puts a pall on our small childhood victories: did we argue persuasively or was she in Christie’s thrall? According to a study, Christie uses literary techniques mirroring those employed by hypnotherapists and psychologists, which have a mesmeric effect on readers. It could mean the structure of her novels creates physiochemical responses which cause people to seek

Books/Mags/Blogs

To Live Outside The Law

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“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” -T.S. Eliot Hmm, in one of those funny coincidences, the song playing on the stereo is Dean Wareham & Britta Phillips’ (okay, it’s Luna without the rest of the band) Ginger Snaps. It blatantly cribs from the theme song from the Mary Tyler Moore show (“You’re gonna make it after all” becomes “We’re gonna make it after all”). This is a blatant, clear case of honoring the source. You know the reference being made by the song. You’re singing it your head right now. It’s homage, not ripping off. The idea of stealing versus

Our Continuing Fascination With Copyright

Blog Again, Blog Again, Jiggedy Something

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The special thing about sloth is that it can be enjoyed anywhere mai tais are made. But when one finds the perfect spot, it makes sloth all that much better. And well-done sloth leads to a happy person. Or so logic tells us. We are returned, rested, and ready. Mostly rested. This being a holiday week, we will ease slowly into our blogging routine (rise, make coffee, read, rant, write, repeat [except for numbers one and two]). Which makes us feel guilty for making the absolutely amazing David Thayer and Susan Gable work so hard. We thank them for their

Square Pegs

Hit The Road, Jack

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We’re off to explore volcanoes and massages and mai tais. Not necessarily in that order. A trio of trusty sitters will be feeding the blog and watering the posts while we’re gone. As always, treat them with the same dignity and respect you offer us. If that becomes impossible, keep the swearing to a minimum. It’s a high-class neighborhood.

Square Pegs

On Futhering The Incline of Western Civilization

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The OED still takes quotations from published material which has been specifically marketed at women, including the well-known women’s fashion and ‘lifestyle’ magazines, which represent a valuable source for popular culture and modern life in general. Elle, for instance, has supplied quotations used as examples for approximately sixty headwords, such as: chic, dramedy, high-street, bootylicious, Hinglish, indie, majorly, Medusa-like, omega-6, party spirit, texting, and try-hard. Although Elle has as yet provided us with no first quotations, Vogue has thirty-five, including: beautiful people, blusher, cellulite, launderette, low-impact [aerobics], miniskirt, peep-toe, talc [=talcum powder], and upswept [hair]. The contribution of women to

Quote of the Week

In The Beginning

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Long before Google was a glimmer in its founders’ eyes, years before Yahoo! made the scene, heck, possibly a decade or two before publishers caught on, there was a a digital revolution in publishing: Project Gutenberg. Way back when computers took up spaces the size the barns, a group of people were hand-typing (for the youth of today, that is a process where you rekey a work, letter for letter) books and storing them electronically. And this before storage was cheap and plentiful. Then, the dream was fantastic: Nobody paid any attention to it at all for the first 17

Our Continuing Fascination With Copyright, The Future of Publishing

The Ally Sheedy Effect

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It is rare that we point out the failures of the BS mother, but sometimes we must. Yes, we realize this incursion will lead to a longish catalogue detailing each and every transgression we committed under her roof — we are prepared to take our punishment. The mother missed a golden opportunity during our seventh year: to make us the youngest-ever published author. She has, in her secret stash*, a delightfully long, involved story — the first-ever book attempted by our young imagination. That a three-page assignment ended up around 21 pages or so should have been the first clue

Books/Mags/Blogs

Booksquare Awards A Rare Gold Star

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Such is our luck that our most sincere attempts at sincerity are often met with skepticism — still we persevere. We are very excited at the moment and pleased as punch with the publishing industry. We have been tingling with excitement about the recent digital warehouse announcement from HarperCollins. It’s like the great publishing gods finally heard our plea! Here are the basics, in all their glory: Brian Murray, HC president, said the company is intent “on building a digital warehouse that mirrors the one in the physical world.” HC has some 3,500 digital copies of its books, but those

The Future of Publishing
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