“Chandos Shakespeare” Oil painting attributed to John Taylor, c. 1610. Courtesy of the National Portrait GalleryIt was on this date in 1616, 392 years ago, that the bard left this earth.His reach remains unprecedented, his plays are still being performed in every corner of the globe and he is still taught and read in schools and universities all over the world. His work continues to attract filmakers from all over the world with over 700 film adaptations of his work to date.As his contemporary Ben Johnson said of him; Shakespeare “was not of an age, but for all time”Encyclopedia Britannica's...
Treasures of Montefiascone
The book Show
POOR, POOR BOOKS Weineck 3
I offer a modestly qualified reader's opinion regarding where, why, and how authors fail in writing books. The published volumes that I have used as examples are readily available in the open market, although I have excluded specific information.1. Author revenge. The author trashed noted personages, engaged in petty gossip, and exalted his own importance.2. Target practice. The author generated an intriguing topic and title, but managed to veer off-course by elevating minor details.3. Unintelligible construction. Sentences, paragraphs, and chapters were complete, organized, and elegant. Nothing made sense individually or in the conglomerate.4. Laundry list. This author described inventions, but...
BOOKSELLING ECONOMICS Wieneck 2
(add intro)In an earlier post, Michael Lieberman writes of book buyer satisfaction surveys here: http:// ww.bookpatrol.net/2008/03/vendor-satisfaction-and-online.html and bemoans the fact that booksellers have no similar surveys. However, start hereIn today's current market, the book business has tilted in favor of book buyers. As such, web venues are principally interested in keeping purchasers of books gratified. Hence, questionnaires on the book business are geared toward buyer satisfaction. How many sellers are available for each book or each buyer? For any bookseller who leaves the arena, there are countless others -- many neophytes -- who race to fill the void.Further, many existing...
AbeBooks to Buy Chrislands
AbeBooks will announce shortly that have acquired Chrislands.Chrislands is a company that provides low-cost websites to online booksellers. For as little as $19.99 a month and a $200 set up fee they can get you enjoying all the benefits of e-commerce.Apparently, as with all of AbeBooks past acquisitions, they will continue to exist independently of the mothership.No telling how this fits into Abe's overall strategy.