The changing face of publishing
Here is quite a long and thorough article on how publishing is changing. I picked the bits I found most interesting about the present. . .
Indeed, the problem for readers is that regardless of which side you agree with in theory, in practice you probably love the idea of buying books for under $5.00 but hate the idea of having to sort through quite so much junk to find good books at that price.
. . . the pricing. . .
Books deliver three sorts of value: good writing, good stories (true or fictional) and social connection. By the last, I mean that reading is a social activity and we like to read what others are reading. So popular books are worth more to us than less popular books.
. . . and the future. . .
Publishers also need to manage their backlists more effectively. Hugh Howey points out that in fiction many of the top-sellers are not recently published novels. Publishers are used to pulling titles out of physical circulation after a few months and focusing their promotional efforts on new authors. However a rich back catalog, all made available in electronic format will allow publishers to respond more quickly to emerging market trends.
Read the article here.
So much to love
I’m reading “Pride and Prejudice”, a version which happens to have the below picture on the front cover.
The painting is “Congratulations” by George Henry Harlow. Here is my list of concerns about the painting:
1. Why are these young women clearly teething?
2. Who stretched out their necks like that?
3. Why is a man’s hand protruding from the right-hand woman’s neck?
4. Why is the left-hand woman’s head and neck not attached to the left-hand body (I don’t care how good your corset is, chests do not stick out that far)?
It seems I’m not the only person who just can’t draw hands.
“Owl Ninja” by Sandy Fussell
You know what it’s like in late Winter, when it feels like the sun will never return – and then it does? That feeling of light and warmth is exactly the feeling you get when reading a Sandy Fussell book.
The rest of this review has been moved to Comfy Chair.
The long, long road
I know better than most how long it takes for publishers to make a decision on a book that is reasonably well-written and therefore difficult to reject. Right now I have books at two of Australia’s big publishers. One has been there for almost a year; the other has been there for literally years. Even when a book is accepted for publication, there is a lot of editing, proofing, and maybe even illustrating to do.
This is an article about how long it takes to go from acceptance to publication.
Louisette is seven months old
She crawls, and she has her first tooth. The whole world of movement and (soon) chewable food is opening up. She’s like a teenager who just earned her driving license. AND she has another cousin (a girl).
All the other months have links from here.
I got got
So I was caught in a scam yesterday. A simple but brilliant*scam. My phone rang; I noticed it was a long-distance number and was instantly intrigued. All I heard when I picked up was a buzzing noise so, after a pathetically small period of wondering who had called me, I called the number back.
No-one picked up. No-one ever does – as I discovered when I googled the number to see if it belonged to a publisher or to some annoying advertiser. Calling them back cost me $1.25, apparently. So I won’t be doing that again in a hurry.
In unrelated news, Louisette is seven months old tomorrow, so I’ll be posting another months’ worth of daily photos.
*or so I like to tell myself
Steamtrain/house/car thing
Here is a fascinating article on this amazing moving contraption, the Neverwas, and here is its web site.
“And Another Thing. . .” by Eoin Colfer
This is not an Artemis Fowl book – it’s a continuation of the Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. As a rule I flinch when I hear about any writer doing any reboot (gritty or otherwise) of someone else’s work – Arthurian myths, vampires (sparkly or otherwise), elves versus dwarves, etc. But I KNOW Colfer is a brilliant writer (and, obviously, so is Douglas Adams – except of course for being dead nowadays). So I was cautiously hopeful.
The rest of this review is at Comfy Chair.
The power of story
Cracked is a comedy news/science website that is often not safe for work (or children). But every so often it gets inadvertently inspirational – such as during the article “Five Ways You Don’t Realize Movies Are Controlling Your Brain“.
Here’s the bit I liked best:
The point is, this is why stories were invented — to shape your brain in a certain way. A guy named Joseph Campbell wrote whole books about it, you should read them. These basic stories, these myths of the hero overcoming the odds, the great man who sacrifices himself for the greater good — they’re what make civilization go. In a society, the people and the buildings and the roads are the hardware, mythology is the software.
And while your ancestors had their heroes that they heard about around the campfire, you have Batman, and Luke Skywalker, and Harry Potter. And yes, the movies you watched this summer serve the same purpose as those ancient myths.
Read more: 5 Ways You Don’t Realize Movies Are Controlling Your Brain | Cracked.com http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-you-dont-realize-movies-are-controlling-your-brain/#ixzz22zmCeBYl
Poppa’s Hat
Louisette’s crawling is coming on amazingly. She’s more fluent every day, and I like to put a bottle on the floor and have her crawl over to grab it just before a feed. Her confidence is skyrocketing and you can see by her face that she knows how far she can go (up to about two metres. . . pending distractions).
My hip is much better, thanks for asking. My job is going swimmingly.
Louisette’s adorable new cousin is doing great.
Louisette also developed a sudden and passionate desire for her grandfather’s hat.
