All about Anthologies: A Roundtable Discussion
With Lilly Dancyger, Sari Botton, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, and Christine Taylor.
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Posts Tagged: book publishing
Congratulations on Publishing Your First Baby
As the old saying goes, making a baby takes two people, but delivering one takes a team.
...moreThe Real Lives of Working Writers
Bestselling and award-winning writers Danielle Trussoni and Walter Kirn host the Writerly podcast, a weekly discussion of all things pertaining to the real lives of working writers. From getting and firing an agent, to book publicity, to contracts, to working with an editor, to writing your first draft—Writerly will cover it all. And, follow Danielle […]
...moreA Writer’s Labels
The problem, however, lies in the fact that, whenever these labels are internalized by those in positions of power, they flatten a writer’s experiences. They shrink someone to just a sliver of his or her identity. Brandon Tensley writes for Pacific Standard on the limited roles available for writers of color.
...moreFor Men and By Men
Slate’s Rebecca Onion and Andrew Kahn analyze the overwhelming maleness of both the subjects and authors of history books, discussing their findings with book publishers: Our data set revealed some answers about the publishing of popular history that we expected: Authors are largely male, biographical subjects too; “uncle books” make up a third of the […]
...moreToo Many Books?
Each holiday season, Icelandic readers enjoy the jólabókaflóð. This seemingly unpronounceable word is best translated as the Christmas Book Flood, a tradition of a rush of new books released in time for Christmas. Icelanders have been giving each other books at Christmas since the Second World War when imports were expensive and scarce. The result […]
...moreNot-So-Young Adults
Good news! Early reports show that book sales are up 4.9 percent in 2014. Who can we thank for this Christmas miracle? Adults who read e-book versions of YA novels, that’s who. Sales are up by a dramatic 53 percent in YA/Children’s e-books, while sales in Adult Fiction/Nonfiction are down 3.3 percent—maybe because all the […]
...morePlot Isn’t Everything
At Guernica, Rebecca Saleton, the editorial director of Riverhead Books who has worked with the likes of Hillary Clinton and Peter Matthiessen, talks about her experience in publishing over the last 30 years and how she still believes that readers are, in fact, interested in ideas: We can get so carried away with the […]
...moreDespite Scandals, Facts Still Unchecked
The publishing world has been rocked by numerous high-profile scandals in recent years. James Frey’s memoir turned out to be more of a novel, for instance. Yet despite these mistakes, book publishers are still allowing facts to go unchecked leaving open a major source of potential misinformation, reports The Atlantic: And reliance on books creates […]
...moreThe Self-Promotional Balancing Act
When does sending an email blast about an upcoming event become spam? Writers are as much publicists as they are authors, and social media hasn’t made things any easier. Over at Beyond the Margins, Randy Susan Meyers explores how much is too much when it comes to self-promotion.
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The Rumpus Interview with Richard Russo
Prize-winning writer and Authors Guild Vice President Richard Russo discusses publishing in the age of ebooks, the continued relevance of the Guild, and the Amazon-Hachette conflict.
...morePublishers Are Rich
Writers have been getting poorer, and it turns out publishers are partly to blame. The Guardian reports that while authors are expected to do more when it comes to marketing and promotion, and though electronic books have lowered costs for publishers, the beneficiaries of these savings tend to be the publishers rather than the authors: Nicola […]
...moreAll Press, Good Press
Publicity is a fundamental component of the book-selling process—it’s unlikely a reader will buy something she doesn’t know exists. So why do we find public relations so despicable? In an essay for Jacobin, Jennifer Pan reminds us that capitalism is a system within which both PR and the creative industries operate, and asks us to […]
...moreSoho Press, a History
Founded in 1986, independent publisher Soho Press has built its reputation on engaging literary novels, a catalog of international authors, and a crime fiction imprint. The press has thrived even through an era of upheaval in the publishing and book retailing industries. Jonathan Reiss chronicles the publisher’s history over at The Millions.
...moreIn Defense of Literary Agents
The rise of self-publishing and smaller independent presses has left many writers questioning the value of literary agents and their fifteen percent commissions. The collaborative nature of publishing depends on these middlemen though, warns Bethanne Patrick at Beyond the Margins: …agents today do more than simply harvest a commission (if indeed they ever did only that). […]
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Solidly Mid-List
So what happened? How did I get here? That’s really the mystery of this whole business, this amazing adventure we call writing.
...moreWant to Publish a Book? Here’s How
It’s quirkily written with lots of jokes, but don’t let that fool you: Delilah S. Dawson’s Terrible Minds guest post, “25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author: Lazy Bastard Edition,” is thorough, professional, and extremely helpful. From advice to read a lot to drafting hints to help deciphering the correspondence of agents and editors, […]
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The Rumpus Interview with Dennis Johnson and Valerie Merians
Dennis Johnson and Valerie Merians, the co-founders of Melville House, share the history behind their thriving independent press—once earmarked as “a disaster in the making” and now celebrating its 10th anniversary.
...moreThe Rumpus Mini-Interview with Shya Scanlon
We’re catching up with Shya Scanlon halfway through the serialization of his novel, Forecast, across 42 web journals and blogs. The Rumpus: How is the serialization going? How are people responding to it? Are they following the novel across its different web outlets?
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