Publishers Weekly
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This Week in Short Fiction
You can count on One Story as a sort of literary sieve, distilling story-sized servings of up-and-coming writers we should know, and soon enough will know, if we don’t know them already. Next week, One Story will host its annual Literary…
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The FBI’s James Baldwin Obsession
Writing for Publishers Weekly, William J. Maxwell examines the 1,884-page FBI file on James Baldwin—the longest on record—as part of his effort to obtain surveillance information on African American authors through the Freedom of Information Act. Along with reports on…
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From Papyrus to PDF
Mike Kelley delivers a useful overview of the outlook for preservation of e-books for Publishers Weekly. In addition to the upkeep necessary to combat digital decay, which is at least analogous to the challenges of paper-book preservation, libraries are now…
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Cover Prices
Printing pricing information on book covers has long been a standard practice to help track inventory. The suggested pricing also helps increase the perceived value of books. The internet, especially Amazon, has changed that perception of value leading some booksellers…
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Evaluating Books One Pie Chart at A Time
Sometimes exegesis of a literary text just isn’t colorful enough. That’s when you break out the pie charts. Publishers Weekly‘s news blog, PWxyz, has an ongoing feature that slices canonical works of fiction into easily understandable visual representations of data.…
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Claire Messud on making friends with Characters
Annasue McCleave from Publishers Weekly suggested during an interview with Claire Messud, “I wouldn’t want to be friends” with Nora, the fiery protagonist in Messud’s new novel, The Woman Upstairs. “[Nora’s] outlook is almost unbearably grim,” continues McCleave. Messud shot back: For heaven’s sake, what kind…
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Segura Returns to PW!
Former Publishers Weekly deputy reviews editor Jonny Segura will return to the magazine in the new position of senior editor, digital media. On April 16th, Segura will take over responsibility “for the editorial quality of PW‘s online presentation.” (Via You Rach…
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Tumbling Publishing
Exploring how and why publishers are using Tumblr to grow an online presence, Publisher’s Weekly converses with Rachel Fershleiser, who does literary strategic outreach for the microblogging company. “Branding is an online capability; you can give readers a real sense…
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Praise for Wild
“Her account forms a charming, intrepid trial by fire, as she emerges from the ordeal bruised but not beaten, changed, a lone survivor.” Publishers Weekly reviews Rumpus contributor Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.
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New Self-publishing Service
Book Country, an online community created by Penguin this past spring, has announced the addition of a self-publishing component. Here’s an explanation of how it works. “BC offers three publishing “packages” at three prices: $549 for the professionally formatted print/e-book…
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Love and Shame and Love Review
Publisher’s Weekly reviews our November Book Club pick, Love and Shame and Love, by Peter Orner (whose Rumpus column you can read here). “Two themes—sometimes comic, often rueful—intersect throughout: the secret shames, frustrations, and humiliations that each character endures, and…
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YA Characters “Straightened”
Two co-authors of a post-apocalyptic young adult novel discuss how they were offered representation on the condition that they remove or straighten a gay character. “The conversation made it clear that the agent thought our book would be an easy…