Square Pegs

Hard as it is to believe, sometimes we think being a published novelist is worse than being an unpublished novelist. After all, people sympathize with the downtrodden, and we’ve pretty much perfected hangdog expressions. Published authors face all sorts of trauma (which Jill has helpfully detailed…we’re waiting for her latest adventure and accompanying life lesson). It is assumed you are rich if you have published a book. It is assumed you are willing to share your agent with everyone you meet. It is assumed that your publisher is standing sturdily behind you, helping your career blossom like you’re the only […]

Richard Curtis continues his series on publishing in the 21st century with a review of how the paperback industry imploded in the mid-1990’s. What many perceived as streamlining and efficiency actually adversely impacted the entire publishing industry. As they say, not bad for a day’s work. Curtis details the previous manner of distributing books to illustrate the impact the change in distribution procedures had. What was once a personalized-for-your-community business became a numbers game — high score won. The industry thought the change would affect genre titles (those expendable little creatures), but: Although a growing number of traditional bookstores stocked

It is our belief that lazy people accomplish far more with less energy than non-lazy people. Lazy people work efficiently. After all, one does not want to burn precious calories on effort, when those same calories can be put toward important activities like sleeping. So lazy people — the ones who invented the printing press and typewriter and word processor and are working to perfect voice activated technology — cut out the inefficient in the world and get things done. Yet some people don’t find this comforting. Put forward in the book, The Joy of Laziness – How to Slow

While we have serious reservations about the CAN-SPAM legislation (but we’re a bit of an expert on the whole issue. Unfortunately.), we are happy when the government gets all tough. Finding spammers is not as hard as the press would have you believe, but it takes resources. And, sadly, much spam originates outside our borders (if you doubt this, we will graciously allow you to read the Booksquare spam archives…or as we call it, The Temple of Doom). But if you have a law like this, it needs to be enforced. Spam harms us all. It costs the spammers nothing,

No, really, we have no idea what was slipped into our wine glass. All we know is that we’re suddenly feeling funky. Hmm, maybe it’s possible we like sunshine more than we’d ever admit in public (or maybe it’s that we could drive today without fear of someone rearending us…Los Angeles drivers never take yellow lights seriously). Whatever it is, it has us veering so far from our original topic, we’ve forgotten what it was. We’ll be right back. Ah, right. Genre fiction writers. Mad Max interviews the author currently known as Lynn Viehl (yes, one beauty of genre fiction

And, there’s another one. This time it’s a library banning a book. Nudity. Specifically, nude Supreme Court justices. On one hand, the lack of muscle tone and physical fitness (and, frankly, lack of endowment) is pretty obscene. If we’re going to be subjected to naked men, we want them to look good. On the other hand…it’s a joke. A parody. An example of humor. Presumably the justices themselves figured that one out. Now, we get the idea of protecting children, but they’ve seen naked bodies. At least we assume all children bathe — though some may avoid the task as

We have to admit, we chuckled when we read this: Mr. [John] Logan’s handlers at the Creative Artists Agency also enhanced his status before he began writing “The Aviator” by building into his deal an unusual provision guaranteeing him sole screenplay credit, Charles Evans Jr., one of the film’s producers, said in an interview. The guarantee blocked the producers, who included the normally hands-on filmmaker Michael Mann, and even Mr. Scorsese from hiring writers to revise Mr. Logan’s work or from professing any part in the screenplay’s authorship, whatever they may have contributed. Asked whether he had such protection, Mr.

Thanks to Booksquare’s top Secret Agent, we bring to your attention yet another case of parents and book banning. That the book is about free will and making choices seems to be lost on this small band of parents who feel the subject matter is inappropriate for their children. And, that, we agree is their right. However, for other kids, the book sends a clear message: “It [The Giver by Lois Lowry] is a powerful book,” said Dawn Vaughn, president of the American Association of School Librarians. “It is important for young adults who are at a point in their

We do not believe books are going away — though, the more we think on the topic, it’s not so much the books as the stories our species craves. We love our stories. That many of them are contained in books is a major boon to natural readers. In a way, other methods of delivering stories, television for example, are just expansions of sitting our the campfire. Only the husbands are fatter and the wives clearly married down. Libraries haven’t been just about books since, well, the inception of libraries. They serve many purposes in their communities, and the fact

We know — a lot of you are anti-Amazon. We understand your reasoning, but at Chez Booksquare, Amazon has been a major lifeline. While we do not meet the traditional definition of shut-ins, the occupants of our household, especially male, have a strong aversion to shopping, crowds, and shopping in crowds. Online shopping has made the entire buying-something-wonderful-for-the-wife experience a pleasure. Also, it has strengthened our relationship with our UPS driver. While Amazon runs the risk of becoming the Evil Overlord of Online Shopping, it does so much good around here, we are turning a blind eye to the potential.