The quickening dissection and/or disappearance of newspaper book reviews (and newspaper book-focused staff) produced a couple of pieces of commentary this week. First Da Capo senior director of publicity Lissa Warren wrote at the Huffington Post on “will blogs save books?” She criticizes blog coverage of books with a broad brush for, well, not being more like the traditional take-it-from-the-approved-and-salaried-experts reviews that are being eliminated. “I think book reviews on blogs — particularly those of the Blogspot variety — tend to be self-indulgent. Book reviewing bloggers need to move away from opinion in favor of judgment. How does the book […]
Issues of the Week: Pre-Bookers
As conveyed in my original listing of the “Booker Dozen” that actually comprises 13 books, I’m baffled by the UK’s ability to generate attention and debate over a list of non-nominees for the Booker prize (or any other award). Longlists are no measure of distinction and are never remembered so it’s hard to imagine how they can “mean” anything, even as the UK press ascribes all kinds of attributes to the books selected (and not). And they’re designed to give judges cover to experiment and provoke–in the long term, how can you be irate over a book that was closely […]
Chicago Keeps "One Book" Going
Chicago has selected Tom Wolfe’s THE RIGHT STUFF as their 15th citywide reading selection. The pick coincides with the 50th anniversary of both NASA and Chicago’s Air and Water Show.Sun-Times
Chinese Printers Are Censoring Books for Export
Two Australian publishers report incidents of censorship by Chinese printers of their books. A printer company in Guangdong in southern China informed the UNSW Press after their book was printed that “Chinese authorities have found sentences within the text which infringe their sovereignty and have refused to grant an export authorization.” (There was a reference to the “China-Tibet border” in a biography by Felicity Jack.) And Hardie Grant reports “a similar problem with a reference book being printed in Hong Kong for an international market after it was advised to remove a picture of the Dalai Lama.”SMH
Book Country Returns to New York
The abandoned New York is Book Country has been resuscitated by Nielsen Business Media, as pointed out in this month’s Publishing Trends. To be held September 21 in Central Park (one week after the Brooklyn Book Festival, and one week before the National Book Festival in DC), the new version highlights books and authors but also promises pavilions for electronic gaming, cooking, finance, and hybrid autos, plus a music pavilion, making New York…cornucopia country?NYCB site
How About WOWIO 2.0?
Remember that goofy company that wanted to build a collection of free-access ebooks that wasted all that money a couple of BEA’s ago on an army of people in matching t-shirts chasing attendees on Segway scooters? Now entertainment company Platinum Studios (which says they control thousands of comic book characters) has bought the company and relaunched the site. They say that “prior to the acquisition and relaunch, WOWIO had over 2 million downloads in a year,” with partners including Rosetta Books, Taylor & Francis Group, and Soft Skull.Release