Posts tagged with publishing

Jun 13 2023

A messy situation

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The Guardian recently posted an interesting article about an uptick in demand in Russia for translated versions of escapist fiction. While some big-name authors like Neil Gaiman and Stephen King have announced that Russian editions of their books will not be made available for the duration of the war in Ukraine...

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Oct 10 2019

C'mon, guys...

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Well, we started off the week praising Macmillan Publishing, but that's officially over: there's an disturbing editorial in the Seattle Times about the effect Macmillan's upcoming e-book embargo will have on public libraries throughout the country...

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Oct 15 2018

Stupid Love Comedy, by Shushushu Sakurai

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Shushushu Sakurai's Stupid Love Comedy is an odd duck—it's packaged like a conventional romance manga, but most of the story is devoted to meta jokes and background information about manga publishing. The plot centers around Suzu Sakura, a manga artist who is disorganized, inconsiderate, and perpetually late. When her original editor changes jobs, Suzu is assigned to Hasegawa, the editing department's devastatingly handsome new recruit...

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May 2 2018

"Upending" is still more of a goal, I think.

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Yesterday, Buzzfeed published an article called "Meet The Black Women Upending The Romance Novel Industry". I read the whole thing with tremendous interest: it's an interview with author Alyssa Cole, editor Esi Sogah, and art director Kris Noble...

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May 23 2017

Best of luck

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According to the Romance Writers of America, Harlequin is planning to shutter five series lines next year: Harlequin Western (June 2018), Harlequin Superromance (June 2018), Love Inspired Historical (June 2018), Harlequin Nocturne (December 2018), and Kimani Romance (December 2018)...

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Oct 5 2016

An unholy hybrid

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Publishers Weekly informs me that Harlequin has added yet another imprint to its trade program: Graydon House Books will focus on "commercial women's fiction", and plans to start releasing titles by next September. I'd be more excited about this news if...

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Mar 29 2016

High tech

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According to the AP, 95-year-old French publishing house Les Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) has just opened Europe's first print-on-demand-only bookshop. The shop is tiny—approximately 775 square feet—but 3 million titles can be printed...

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Jun 5 2014

Clash of the Titans

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Anyone who follows book news has probably heard about the e-book pricing feud between Amazon and Hachette. I wouldn't blame you if you'd decided to skim the details (let's face it: "ongoing pricing debate" is not a phrase that catches the eye when the world is full of cat videos), but The Colbert Report helpfully invited Sherman Alexie...

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Apr 23 2014
Jan 3 2013

Absolutely necessary, I'm sure.

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Publishers Weekly recently posted an article attempting to define the new publishing sub-genre "New Adult", which apparently is a) ubiquitous, and b) a vital part of the publishing machine. I can sum it up for you, though: "New Adult" books are "Young Adult" books, but with explicit sex scenes in them...

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Nov 1 2012

A meeting of the deep, deep pockets

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The biggest literary news of the week was definitely the prospective Penguin/Random House merger. An announcement was made on Monday that by the latter half of 2013 the two publishing companies will be merged into a joint venture named the Penguin Random House Company. (Catchy!) If everything continues as planned...

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May 19 2011

Oprah she isn't.

NPR posted an article last Monday about TV personality and best-selling author Chelsea Handler, who was recently given her own publishing inprint within Grand Central Publishing. Handler might se...

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Apr 18 2011

The end of an era

GYAH. Manga-publishing pioneer Tokyopop has announced plans to close its US publishing division, effective May 31st. Tokyopop's film and TV development wing will remain open, and there's always ...

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Oct 28 2010

The future of publishing?

NPR has an article up on their "All Tech Considered" site about sci-fi writer Cory Doctorow's very 21st-century take on self-publishing. Doctorow's latest book, a collection of short stories call...

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Sep 7 2010

Down for the count

PublishersWeekly recently posted an interesting article about chain bookstores' ongoing attempts to stay profitable during the economic downturn. Of the three major U.S. book chains (Books-A-Mill...

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Aug 2 2010

Seriously, dude? Thucydides?

While checking out the Horn Book Blog, I followed a link to this Harvard Magazine profile of literary agent Andrew Wylie. I was mostly impressed by Mr. Wylie's seemingly colossal ego*, but I thin...

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Apr 28 2010

Bad omen?

Hmm. Yen Press has announced that they'll be switching their monthly manga/manhwa anthology Yen Plus from print to a digital format. The last printed issue will come out in July, and there are s...

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Jan 27 2009

Whoa.

According to the Arts Beat blog at the Times, Sara Nelson, the editor in chief of Publishers Weekly, the main trade magazine for the book industry, has been laid off, along with an additional 7% o...

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