Booksquare

Last night, I missed my bookclub*. My fault. I hate missing my bookclub meetings, but, well, someone screwed up her calendar. No names. When I first joined, I was a paranoid newcomer who thought it was about intellectual discussion and critical analysis. I read some serious dreck before I caught on. Maybe your bookclub trudges […]

I am not worried about the future of the book. I am not worried about the future of reading. I am not worried about the future of spelling (I am almost-but-not-quite ready to accept the “spelling is relative” argument, !@#$ British and their extraneous use of “U”). I am worried about the future of publishers. […]

Imagine, if you will, a bright, cold Tuesday morning in New York City. But you don’t mind the chill outside because you’re inside, attending Day 2 of the second annual O’Reilly Tools of Change conference. In fact, at this moment, the only worry on you mind is what fantastic session to attend (don’t worry, I’m […]

Since Santa didn’t bring me a Kindle (probably fair on his part since I didn’t bake him any cookies), I have no choice but to worry about the future of the world. Or rather publishing. Or rather aspects of publishing. To sorta paraphrase Captain Jack Harkness, the 21st century is when everything changes, we have […]

There is no question that we are undergoing major change in the world of entertainment. The rate of change is both rapid and glacial. What is absolutely certain is that the next generation will consider our ways quaint and overly complex. They are growing up with a new set of expectations — and it is […]

Yeah, well, you try to resist a bad pun first thing in the morning. So Amazon, as threatened, has released its e-reader, the Kindle (the naming of products remains one of those mysteries that will never be solved). It uses e-ink, has wireless connectivity, generous battery life, and kills germs. Why am I not excited? […]

So, yeah, you’re thinking that the Apple announcements yesterday were interesting. You’re thinking, wow, I didn’t want to spend a month’s worth of book money on a phone, but, hey, they lowered the price. Or maybe you’re thinking you didn’t need a new phone. But everyone can use an iPod. Especially since iPods are now […]

The beauty of the various entertainment industries is that there are many parallels to be drawn. Despite their apparent differences — sound, pictures, and words — are built on common distribution methodologies, they use the same accounting principles as their base (tweaking as necessary), and they make the same mistakes. As noted about a gazillion […]

I have been thinking a lot about about advertising lately. I have decided, much against my natural skeptical instinct, to accept the theory that it works. This despite the obviously flawed quality and rather obscure messages. Yesterday at the gym, I saw four commercials in a row…and not a single, clear, understandable explanation about the […]

For the past week, the notion of genre and images has consumed me. Okay, also wondering what’s for lunch, but the genre question has been more than a little all-encompassing. In addition to the fantastic article written by Pam Jenoff for BS last week, back channel discussion about Nicola Griffith’s Always has been happening (Gwenda […]