We totally stole the headline from Arts Journal. We have no shame, and it is one of our favorite poems. Besides, what, pray tell, other possible headline could there be for a lead like this: In this era of first-person shooters, successful video games seem to require lots of shooting, explosions and other assaults on the senses. But who says you can’t write a game about the poetry of Emily Dickinson? Arts Journal Battle for the Belle of Amherst
Well, we escaped from the Texas State Capitol building. Barely. Thank goodness for our innate nosiness, or we’d still be stuck in the dungeon. If we may make a suggestion, perhaps better signage would be appropriate. Also, better security — it is rare that we long to see someone in uniform wielding authority, but today, it would have been welcomed. Yes, all of this is beside our real point. Except for the part where today’s adventures are something that would happen in a comic strip. See how we cleverly tied things together? Comic strips are facing the same challenges as
Let us begin with a bit o’advice: limiting your audience is bad. Creating barriers to your products, never good. Unless maybe it’s the waiting list for the Birkin bag. Books are not Birkin bags. Just making sure we’re all on the same page. We do not use any MSN services. We don’t. We won’t. We’re sorry. We don’t have a lot of faith in any current digital rights management system (this will likely change as the systems become more sophisticated and consumer-friendly). Penguin, of all publishers, should be thinking innovative rather than hamstrining itself. Of course, what do we know?
You’d think that people would keep excellent track of their money. But they don’t. While we cannot give away trade secrets, we recently encountered a situation where two well-known (in a different era) producers had their checks returned because they’d either a) died or b) moved without a forwarding address. This, sad to say, is not outside our normal experience. Thus, in the spirit of public service and all that, we bring you a listing of authors and works due money…yet nobody has claimed the funds. Yes, yes, we know, it’s the Google era. You will have to take our
Oh sure, maybe it’s because we get scared when the phone rings. It’s like the telegram of yore…nothing good can come from voice communication. Yes, probably major publishers should contact us via email for advice on running their businesses. That will reduce the likelihood of us staring at the Caller ID display with a mix of terror and confusion. We get that “star” (and we use the term with the highest level of appreciation and disdain) books make bucks. Something (maybe cyncicsm) tells us that the initial sales rush is like that of a horror film…no legs, lots of remainders.
Though it’s hard to tell, we’re deep in the throes of research. No, we are not making this up to pretend we have an excuse for not following through on our major (ha!) proposal for addressing the woes authors face due to the burgeoning resale market. We are doing true and actual research. This involves…stuff. Like looking at financial statements. Those are the things with numbers. There will be a sea change in how art is sold to the public. Likely, this will happen in the music industry, despite their myriad missteps. Technology and consumers have outpaced the industry, and
For a lot of reasons, we hope this is the real thing. If not, we hope the author is having a great time. And, no, not a clue why we feel this way. We were delayed in Burbank (???) for two hours due to fog. The brain may be recharging more than a few neurons. formerlyROSIE
What is it called when you read someone else’s email? Eavesreading? Well, we eavesread a lot. Such is the hazard of putting words where we can see them (also, if you don’t want us looking, close your curtains). Last night, we were reading the husband’s blogs over his shoulder and this article caught our eye. Sure, we’re Veen fans (mostly from a different perspective), but that wasn’t what caught our eye. Let’s just say the eye is drawn to red. Two in the morning, Montréal
We love useless information. As should be obvious. We love the OED. As should also be obvious. When the two intersect, life is good. The March 2005 newsletter is now available (surely you knew there was an OED newsletter?), and we couldn’t help but read the article on antedatings. And what did we learn? Oh, just a little factoid about the word “paperback.” Much older than you’d imagine. 1843, give or take. Sure changes everything, doesn’t it? Interesting antedatings
The delightful thing about major authors with major releases is that they do the press rounds like crazy. After a while, it sort of feels like you’re reading the same story in a different font. It’s as if there are only so many column inches available for author profiles. Which is why the Internet should set the author interview free, but, sadly, we don’t get our wishes fulfilled as often as we want. Oh sure, the whole story thing is great, but, if you’ve ever been to an author question-and-answer session, you know what the people want: the writing. It’s
