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Lev Grossman thinks he has big ideas about the evolution of publishing, and the novel in particular: “A lot of headlines and blogs to the contrary, publishing isn’t dying. But it is evolving, and so radically that we may hardly recognize it when it’s done. Literature interprets the world, but it’s also shaped by that world, and we’re living through one of the greatest economic and technological transformations since–well, since the early 18th century. The novel won’t stay the same: it has always been exquisitely sensitive to newness, hence the name. It’s about to renew itself again, into something cheaper, […]

Oprah Winfrey finally commented on the Herman Rosenblat Holocaust fraud romance on Friday, saying she is “very disappointed.” She told her audience, “That’s what happens with lies. They get bigger and bigger and bigger.” Winfrey said that Rosenblat was going to appear on her show again to “explain himself,” but said that his lawyers stopped the booking. Oprah’s friend Gayle King is disappointed that the media is blaming Oprah: “I called Oprah and I said, ‘I’m so tired of you being the whipping boy for this hoax because he didn’t just dupe you – he duped a lot of people.'” […]

The NYT notes that Patricia Cornwell’s latest bestseller SCARPETTA briefly mentions Philipp Meyer’s forthcoming AMERICAN RUST on page 333. Cornwell tells the paper, “I look through his book even now because I admire his writing so much. The same way, frankly, that I do Hemingway.” They share the same agent, Esther Newberg at ICM, who sent the manuscript to Cornwell.NYT

Following some of their peers, Macmillan has formally announced the launch of their own speakers bureau representing the house’s authors, with representation already for over 100 speakers and “growing rapidly.” Participants include William Shatner, Emily Giffin, Senator Lincoln Chafee, Rick Atkinson, and investment guru Michael Lipper. The venture is run by Ellis Trevor, formerly a publicist at St. Martin’s, and was founded by Trevor and Thomas Dunne Books editor Kathleen Gilligan. There is more information at their site.

The press release we cited earlier today regarding changes at the US book club giant was an “erroneous press release issued by a vendor with whom we have an arm’s length relationship,” Bookspan editorial director Sharon Fantera reports. That release has been pulled from PR Newswire. Bookspan underscores that there has been no change in the company’s name (our erroneous inference from the release) or primary strategy. They do operate on the web under the URL BooksOnline.com but the company itself remains Bookspan. While “positive option has made up a small portion of book club membership for years,” (that’s the […]

The book club giant comprising Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Guild, the Doubleday Book Club and all the rest of the former Bookspan–now renamed Booksonline, so I guess you know the new owners’ strategy–has given up the practice of shipping books to members who forget to tell them not to. “No books are shipped to members automatically anymore,” the announcement declares. “In this day and age of commercial overabundance and enlightened consumers armed with access to a boundless pool of information, it just couldn’t fly anymore.” The clubs now operate from www.bookclubs-online.com.Release