It seems like the days of an author simply writing their way to bookshelves across America are coming to end.In his essay in the New York Times, See the Web Site, Buy the Book, J. Courtney Sullivan tracks the evolution of author Web sites and the "sizable industry" that has sprung up to meet the demand.HarperStudio, the new tech-savvy publisher who "believe traditional publishing models are broken and are experimenting with new ones," recently held a Social Networking pow wow for their authors. Here is a pdf of the presentation.Here's a look at role of the author in pre-internet days...
More Lovejoys
A reader of my previous post, Books and Sex, on the intriguing neon sign in the window of Lovejoys alerted me to a review of the book/sex shop that appeared on Spotted by Locals. The review entitled Lovejoys - Don’t let the “adult shop” sign fool you was written Vasco Rodriques.Here's part of his take on the place:If there is a London shop that misses more visitors because of a neon sign, that has to be Lovejoy’s. Whether you like it or not, some people still shy from getting into a shop that advertises Licensed Sex Shop, even though their...
Obama Retakes Oath and Breaks Another Barrier
Photo by Pete Souza, White House / MCTErrata -When President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 Teddy Roosevelt took a rushed oath of office without a Bible present. There's also no concrete evidence that presidents John Adams through John Tyler used a Bible at all for the oath. For more on oaths, bibles and presidents see Noreen Malone's piece at Slate.Here is Chief Justice John Roberts and Barack Obama in Round 2 of the swearing in ceremony. Both had minor stumbles during Round 1 at the inauguration so a re-do was called for in the White House Map Room.In my...
Books and Sex
This photo comes to us courtesy of Nigel Beale's ever expanding archive of bookstore photos.Now, I am all for toying around with new concepts and initiatives that help the independent bookstore stay relevant and succeed but this combination stopped me in my tracks. I contacted Beale to try and find out more about this intriguing photo. He told me that he took it a few years ago on a visit to London and the bookshops on Charing Cross Road but couldn't remember the name or any other details about the shop.Next step was to contact my colleague Nigel Burwood, the...
Batman and Kidd
Noted book designer Chip Kidd is also an avid comic book fan. In his recently released book Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan Kidd exposes us to the work of Jiro Kuwata. In the mid-1960's, during the heyday of Batman's television run in America Kuwata was commissioned to bring Batman and Robin to the Japanese manga crowd. Amazingly, the 400 page book represents only half of Kuwata's output during the one year he worked on the project.The book was published in October by Pantheon in a limited hardcover edition and in trade paperbackHere is a video tour of...