May 3, 2013
"Protecting our author’s intellectual copyright will always be of a key concern to us and we have very stringent anti-piracy controls in place. But DRM-protected titles are still subject to piracy, and we believe a great majority of readers are just as against piracy as publishers are, understanding that piracy impacts on an author’s ability to earn an income from their creative work. As it is, we’ve seen no discernible increase in piracy on any of our titles, despite them being DRM-free for nearly a year."

— Julie Crisp of Tor, sharing thoughts on DRM one year after the imprint ceased using it: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/04/tor-books-uk-drm-free-one-year-later

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(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: DRM ebooks tor 
May 2, 2013
"For heaven’s sake, what kind of question is that? Would you want to be friends with Humbert Humbert? Would you want to be friends with Mickey Sabbath? Saleem Sinai? Hamlet? Krapp? Oedipus? Oscar Wao? Antigone? Raskolnikov? Any of the characters in The Corrections? Any of the characters in Infinite Jest? Any of the characters in anything Pynchon has ever written? Or Martin Amis? Or Orhan Pamuk? Or Alice Munro, for that matter? If you’re reading to find friends, you’re in deep trouble. We read to find life, in all its possibilities. The relevant question isn’t “is this a potential friend for me?” but “is this character alive?"

— Clair Messud’s epic reply in her recent PW interview: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/56848-an-unseemly-emotion-pw-talks-with-claire-messud.html#path/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/56848-an-unseemly-emotion-pw-talks-with-claire-messud.html

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(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: interviews messud epic 
April 30, 2013
In 1975, there was one craft brewery in the United States; today, there are more than 2,300. Powered by millions of savvy, devoted consumers and raking in hundreds of millions annually for producers and retailers, the American craft beer movement has changed the brewing industry and the international reputation of American beer. It has upended the Big Beer giants that once seemed untouchable and forever altered the culinary habits of not only millions of Americans but millions more worldwide.  This book is the definitive, highly praised history of the other American revolution.

In 1975, there was one craft brewery in the United States; today, there are more than 2,300. Powered by millions of savvy, devoted consumers and raking in hundreds of millions annually for producers and retailers, the American craft beer movement has changed the brewing industry and the international reputation of American beer. It has upended the Big Beer giants that once seemed untouchable and forever altered the culinary habits of not only millions of Americans but millions more worldwide. 

This book is the definitive, highly praised history of the other American revolution.

9:23pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZUX8Lyjxrizm
Filed under: books beer history covers titles 
April 25, 2013
Revolutionary effect of the paperback

From Smithsonian Mag:

“The iPhone became the world’s best-selling smartphone partly because Steve Jobs was obsessed with the ergonomics of everyday life…

“Seventy-five years ago, another American innovator had the same epiphany: Robert Fair de Graff realized he could change the way people read by making books radically smaller. Back then, it was surprisingly hard for ordinary Americans to get good novels and nonfiction. The country only had about 500 bookstores, all clustered in the biggest 12 cities, and hardcovers cost $2.50 (about $40 in today’s currency).

“De Graff revolutionized that market when he got backing from Simon & Schuster to launch Pocket Books in May 1939. A petite 4 by 6 inches and priced at a mere 25 cents, the Pocket Book changed everything about who could read and where. Suddenly people read all the time… And by working with the often gangster-riddled magazine-distribution industry, De Graff sold books where they had never been available before—grocery stores, drugstores and airport terminals…

“Other publishers rushed into the business. And, like all forms of new media, pocket-size books panicked the elites. Sure, some books were quality literature, but the biggest sellers were mysteries, westerns, thinly veiled smut—a potential “flood of trash” that threatened to “debase farther the popular taste,” as the social critic Harvey Swados worried. But the tumult also gave birth to new and distinctly American literary genres, from Mickey Spillane’s gritty detective stories to Ray Bradbury’s cerebral science fiction…”


Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-Revolutionary-Effect-of-the-Paperback-Book-204113211.html#ixzz2RWuwFJyE 
Follow: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

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(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: book history paperback 
April 24, 2013
It’s a book about nachos. 

It’s a book about nachos. 

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(Notes: 66)
  
Filed under: nachos cookbooks 
April 5, 2013
"The battle against unauthorized sharing and downloading is ongoing and we will never be 100% successful. Our adversaries, using ever-more-sophisticated means to illegally copy and distribute content, have no respect for the creative efforts of authors and even less regard for their right to be fairly compensated for their work. However, with awareness, knowledge, vigilance and action we can make a significant difference, and it is in that spirit that we now offer this information to you."

— That’s Simon and Schuster’s Carolyn Reidy, sounding motivated—and downright militant—in her letter this morning to agents, introducing new access to reports from Attributor through the S&S Author - Agent portal. You can read the full text here.

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(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: s&s piracy 
March 2, 2013
"

I often think about, and sometimes blog about, the constraints of genre fiction. On the one hand, we (publishers, that is) like books that fit into a formula that is easily marketable. On the other hand, editors (like me) seek books that push the limits of the genre, that seek to do something new, different, bold, brave, exciting. It’s a tough balance to pull off, and it requires a special writer. Burial of the Dead is such a book.

It’s one of those rare books that gets almost everything right. I discovered it a few years ago, and it has become one of my most-recommended books. I should mention that I am an editor at an independent publishing house, but I was not the editor who originally found and published Burial of the Dead. But I wish I had been.

"

— Agatho of Mysterious Matters on Michael Hogan’s fantastic novel, guest-blogging at The Rogue Reader

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(Notes: 1)
  
February 27, 2013
"I think I disagree with this “discoverability is a problem for publishers not for readers” idea. Readers may not /feel/ discoverability is a problem, but if we’ve not built systems to introduce readers to variety, newness, boldness, to introduce authors who might lie outside a reader’s normal patterns of reading, then readers everywhere are the poorer for it. Isn’t it part of our jobs as publishing professionals to foster bibliodiversity? To ensure that the readers of Patterson and Evanovich every now and then stumble upon a Chee or Heti or Hemon?"

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Filed under: discoverability bibliodiversity 
February 21, 2013
"We need to stop looking solely to publishers for innovation; it’s up to writers to forget about books and to think about technology as a fundamental part of a story. After all, it was James Joyce who came up with all of the stylistic inventions of Ulysses, not Sylvia Beach."

— Jeff Gomez (of Penguin and Beside Myself) sharing some thoughts with me as part of The Change Agents series at Digital Book World.

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(Notes: 4)
  
February 5, 2013
Join us next Tuesday night, Feb 12th, to celebrate the paperback publication of Jamie Brenner’s THE GIN LOVERS. “Take Downton Abbey and combine with 50 Shades and you have Brenner’s The Gin Lovers.” - Gwen Reyes of FreshFiction.com

Join us next Tuesday night, Feb 12th, to celebrate the paperback publication of Jamie Brenner’s THE GIN LOVERS.

“Take Downton Abbey and combine with 50 Shades and you have Brenner’s The Gin Lovers.” - Gwen Reyes of FreshFiction.com

10:52pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZUX8LydVdnsX
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