Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the famous court ruling in defense of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” against charges of obscenity, citing the poem’s “redeeming social importance.” The Times reports how New York radio station WBAI had the idea of airing a recording of Ginsberg reading his poem to commemorate defense, but was ultimately dissuaded by its lawyers, who feared that an increasingly zealous FCC could fine the station out of existence. howling in the wilderness
Daily links from booksquare: booksquare
As I read my morning edition of Publisher’s Lunch (for me, it’s really more of a breakfast thing), I noted this line from Michael Cader: “It’s interesting that as online contest fever for unpublished works continues to grow, press attention is diminishing.” He then goes on to detail the latest social networkesque publishing contest to hit the writing world. This trend, which I believe was first started by Romantic Times Magazine and Dorchester Publishing, has started to capture the imaginations of publishing professionals everywhere.
Daily links from booksquare: booksquare
Daily links from booksquare: booksquare
But for most writers even having an agent who does nothing for you is better than not having one. Apart from the kudos, having an agent is also a safety-blanket that absolves writers from the responsibility of taking care of their own careers. I’ve been most successful since I stopped waiting for others – agents, producers – to do things for me. But this gradual realisation has been a painful process. I wanted to be “discovered”, but was lucky enough to realise just in time that this was not going to happen. I decided that I wasn’t going to take
It is not a surprise that traditional entertainment companies are turning to the Internet to find new talent. In fact, the surprise would be if they weren’t. Not only is the web a great place to showcase talent, but it also gives editors, agents, producers, whomever the opportunity to observe fan reaction. Self-publisher works for a certain type of author. Over at Literary Kicks, there’s a lengthy discussion about the dysfunctional nature of (literary) fiction pricing. I use the parentheses because while the site’s focus is literary fiction, the problem is widespread. I’m sending you there to read that discussion;
