Author name: Booksquare

Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism.

Or The Department of Theoretical Scientific Stuff

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You know things have gone haywire when you read the following and realize it makes perfect sense: Not only does the University of Liverpool boast a library with the largest collection of science fiction literature in Europe, but from next week it will launch the world’s first website dedicated to science fiction research. Of course there should be a repository for all science fiction. Inventors and scientists can peruse the stacks (as it were) for products and avenues of research. The world will truly fulifill its potential. Sure, it’s going to change the course of patent law, but we’re thinking […]

Square Pegs

Brilliance Penetrates Our Lack of Sleep

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Day Three. The lack of sleep is setting in. People are starting to talk backwards. The world is filled with crazy notions. At least one person has sworn he sees the future. We dismiss him as crazy until we realize he’s not. We stop and stare. It almost makes sense: Over the last few years, many book authors have discovered that they can increase awareness of themselves and their works by maintaining an online presence, often in the form of a blog. But until recently, the opportunity for using the web’s multimedia capabilities for book promotion has been limited. Now

Tools and Craft

Performance-Based Raise

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Perhaps it’s our faulty memory, but didn’t Pearson’s, parent of Penguin, among others, have a bit of a distribution problem this past year? So much so that authors were angry because they missed major sales? Or was this whole thing just a figment of our overactive imagination? Not that we begrudge a well-deserved raise to anyone…it’s just that in day of corporate scandal we like to make sure everything is on the up and up. And so it seems. The company came close to achieving its goals (warehouse-related incidents aside) and is on target to get its finances in order.

Publishers and Editors

In The Days Before Fifteen Minutes of Fame Was Required

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It is possible that if Hans Christen Andersen were alive today, he’d be a rock star. Or at the least the title character in his very own reality series. Of course, if Andersen lived in the 21st century, he wouldn’t recognize himself. His work, dark and cautionary, has been turned into the stuff of cheery musicals and happy endings. This, of course, does not constitute a mystery, and we are hard-pressed to understand this: For Hans Christian Andersen, life wasn’t so much a fairy tale as a nightmare. Or so it seems. Though he was Denmark’s most famous literary son,

Square Pegs

Writers’ Philosophy 101

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The Emerging Writers Network has an interview with author Ron Rash. Dan Wickett and Rash discuss a wide range of topics from the importance of place to water as theme, but it was this line that caught our attention (note how we skipped over the part where running trains good writers. . .we do not, as a rule, condone activity that involves sweat without a good cause): I believe deep, intense reading is crucial to being a good writer. Every good writer I know is a voracious reader, both in the classics and in contemporary fiction. I think you need

Tools and Craft

We’re Just Not That Into It

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We should have a category for good ideas that should have stayed in the brain. There are many of of them Upperbacks, for one. Non-fiction chicklit, which covers territory that should remain private: Self-loathing and personal failure were never meant to be celebrated or turned into the latest wing of the self-help industry. What is the purpose of self-help if not to celebrate personal failure? Right. What is funny in fiction is just downright sad in reality. Hey, we’ve all had those moments; we all feel like our experience gives us a right to offer meaningless advice. We don’t need

Books/Mags/Blogs

Seeking One Ending, Contact Miramax

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Much like a Neal Stephenson novel, the Miramax/Disney publishing story is trying to end. Every natural concluding point stops just story of completion and we turn the page wondering where we’ll be taken next. As it’s just another phase of corporate shenanigans, things aren’t very interesting and we’re posting this now because the chances of our retaining interest much longer are somewhere in the nil to none range. According to Publisher’s Weekly and other sources, the deal, when it’s finalized, will end up like this. Bob and Harvey Weinstein will start a new publishing venture. As we previously predicted (the

Publishers and Editors

Eliciting A Visceral Response

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We can say, with all honesty, that our initial reaction to the title of Alicia Erian’s book was all she wanted and more. Every fiber of our progressive soul said, “You can’t call a book Towelhead. You can’t.” But of course you can. It’s not against the law, though, as Erian notes, it’s probably easier when the epithet comes from someone of Arabic descent. We’re so careful these days, it makes us wonder if such a book as The Egypt Game could be published. As she discusses her story, Erian makes it clear that she doesn’t mind making readers uncomfortable

Books/Mags/Blogs

Appearing For One Night Only

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Randa, Moorish Girl’s Friday columnist, considers readings from a performance perspective. Or, what about giving the audience a real show? Oh, stop your shuddering — she’s right. You must engage the audience to the best of the ability of your work. Rappers have a persona and an attitude they carry which attracts listeners and devotees. Persona and attitude go a long way: when I look at writers who have a devoted following, they all possess a certain twinkle in their eye: writers like David Sedaris, Sherman Alexie, Sarah Vowell, and Dave Eggers. But if a reading is a form of

Square Pegs

The Hidden Life of Dictionaries

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For those of us for whom dictionaries always were, it is hard to fathom a time when they weren’t. Yet it stands to reason that even dictionaries had to be created — that it took so long is almost baffling. We will assume that the lack of electricity had something to do with this. Still, the self-described indolent Samuel Johnson managed to oversee the process, becoming famous in the process: For more than half a century the English intellectual world had been mortified by the lack of a major English dictionary. The great national dictionaries had been produced by Italy

Books/Mags/Blogs
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