The story seems innocent enough. A new contest for writers. Send in a book length manuscript get chosen and receive a publishing contract. An age old, time tested marketing theme.The problem is this story is not about publishing, books or publishers this story is about a social networking site that has turned up its pr engine.These days social networking is a hot play, publishing is not. With the recent mega-payment buy outs of MySpace and YouTube the social network sector is a blaze with websites trying to follow the formula and cash out.There is a good chance Gather.com is one...
Take My Library, Please
Talk about wanting to move onArtist Robin Pacific has had a tough couple of years and is doing away with her library as a way to sever herself from her past.A biblo-cleanse if you will.Pacific, a former professor of English, Canadian literature, Theatre and Women's Studies, is exorcising her library of 30 years through an exhibit/installation at the Red Head Gallery in Toronto.Details:-All the books are free-Collection of 1670 books-Includes rare, out-of-print and general books-Books are hung laundry-like from their spines on string-Each book bears the inscription: "This book is a gift for you from Robin Pacific."-Disposable cameras available to...
Free Books for the Masses
As part of Edinburgh's citywide reading campaign, One Book - One Edinburgh, 25,000 books will be given away free to its citizens!One must appreciate the Utopian seeds in such a gesture but it is also an idea laden with Orwellian overtones.Here's the deal:-"The books will be handed out free to everyone from coffee shops to schools and libraries in a bid to get as many people as possible reading the same book at the same time".-25,000 copies in three new editions of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped have been published for this event - a paperback, a new graphic novel by...
The Devil’s [Publishing] Dictionary
The Devil's Dictionary was Ambrose Bierce's comic take on Noah Webster's Dictionary. It was originally published as the Cynic's Word Book by Doubleday, Page and Company in 1906. The title was later changed when Bierce was editing his collected works in 1911. Since it's publication the concept has spurned hundreds of imitations.The latest versions to hit the blogwaves deal with the book and publishing industry.Here are some highlights:Cover Art - the design of the book jacket, generally produced in-house by the publisher's art department, all of whom are near-sighted psychotics who never actually read the book and routinely forget to...
At the Library: Books on the Chopping Block
Much like independent bookstores, public libraries are struggling to come up with a strategy that will help them stay relevant in todays shifting landscape. I recently blogged about the changes taking place at the college library level but the public libraries are also undergoing a transformation.John Morrison has a post at the Guardian that talks about some of the changes happening to the libraries of Great Britian. On of the most striking tidbits is that some libraries have been remodeled then reopened without the word library in their title! His local library is now referred to as the "Kaleidoscope".Yes, there...