Boys are increasingly left out of reading. As the WSJ puts it, “Scholastic and other publishers are heeding the research of such academics as Jeffrey Wilhelm, an education professor at Boise State University. Prof. Wilhelm tracked boys’ reading habits for five years ending in 2005 and found that schools failed to meet their ‘motivational needs.’ Teachers assigned novels about relationships, such as marriage, that appealed to girls but bored boys. His survey of academic research found boys more likely to read nonfiction, especially about sports and other activities they enjoy, as well as funny, edgy fiction.” The paper uses the […]
Coelho on His "Online Journey"
Novelist Paulo Coelho writes in the New Statesman about his decade-long adventures in connecting with fans and readers electronically. His starting point was significantly different from that of many of his peers: “in my case, I was never very keen on the notion of the reclusive author working in solitude, and have always tried to interact with my readers. So I’ve spent a lot of time on my website, knowing that it is one of the rare public platforms, besides the traditional book signing, open to me.” That genuine desire for constructive engagement with his audience, and a creative willingness […]
Scholastic Announces Direct-to-Home Continuities Sale
Scholastic announced that it has “entered into a definitive agreement” with private-owned Sandvik of Norway to purchase their US direct-to-home continuities business. Sandvik’s primary business is “operating consumer-direct, age-appropriate children‘s book clubs, using email and the Internet to reach their target audience of parents with children up to age seven.” The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009.Release
More from Author of Cancelled Novel
We’ve heard from Sherry Jones, author of THE JEWEL OF MEDINA, the novel cancelled by Ballantine covered in yesterday’s Lunch. Jones tells us that “because of my termination agreement with Random House, I am prohibited from commenting on the circumstances surrounding that termination.” But from her perspective, “Despite Random House’s statement, I’m not aware of any warnings of possible terrorist attack from any other source than Denise Spellberg. I know that Shahed Amanullah’s email had nothing to do with any of this, because I was the one who discovered it, and the resulting discussion, on the Husaini Youths website. “Although […]
Buzz for Selden Edwards' Debut
The Santa Barbara Independent has a long piece on Selden Edwards in advance of the release of his debut novel THE LITTLE BOOK on August 14. The paper says “the buzz in the publishing world is that this impeccably crafted and suspenseful tale of a world-famous American rock star who wakes up one day in Vienna, Austria, in 1897, will be the hottest fiction title of the fall.” Edwards began the book back in 1974 “and submitted the first of many final drafts as part of the requirements for a master’s degree at Stanford…. More than six supposedly final drafts […]
DailyLit Ads Sponsored Model
DailyLit has announced the first entry in a new model that allows for the sponsored distribution of serialized digital books for free to readers. GreetingCards.com is sponsoring distribution through September 30 of College Knowledge: 101 Tips, from the University of Michigan Press, originally sold in Daily Lit form for $4.95.Release