-
Beyond Will & Grace
I've read that the gay novel is dead, the category a ghetto, the niche an anachronism, and I realize, as a would-be novelist facing the maw of the computer screen, that I'm supposed to care about that kind of thing. But I don't. Which is not to say I'm being willfully naïve. I am also a freelance magazine writer living in New York City and no breathing species on the planet better understa...
-
Diversity First
The breadth of titles targeting today's GLBT audience continues to expand, with weighty topics ranging from wartime memoirs and tomes on gay marriage to such lighthearted fare as boy-meets-boy romances and steamy sex scenes. But is expansion per se what's needed these days? Might publishers be missing the proverbial boat? No, and yes, says Alyson Books publisher Don Weise.
-
Self-Published Titles Topped 764,000 in 2009 as Traditional Output Dipped
The number of books produced by self-publishers and other micro-publishers skyrocketed 181% in 2009 to 764,448, according to Bowker, while production of traditional titles was about flat.
-
More on Valuing Your Assets
To the Editor: As a former independent that got out when the getting was good, I couldn’t help agreeing with every one of the points made in Jon Platt’s thoughtful April 5 article “Value Your Assets.” However, the reality is that indies are only 5% (and sinking) of market share for publishers.
-
Help Is on the Way
Self-help books were once easy to recognize. They contained instructions, often provided by a therapist or psychologist, for living one's best life. These days, the boundaries are blurred, with many self-help tomes combining advice with memoir-style chronicles of the author's experience. One recent example is Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, a January HarperCollins title that spent 11 we...
-
What Poetry Reviews Are For (and Up Against)
Poetry reviewing is a controversial topic. Few publications review it at all, and with continually shrinking space for book reviews in general, poetry gets fewer column inches than ever, at least in print. And yet, there exists a long tradition of careful prose considerations of poetry. Just in the 20th century, there’s everything from important books of criticism by the likes of T.
-
HarperTeen Promotion Aims to Combat Winter Blahs
The folks at HarperCollins Children's Books found a way to help teen readers take the chill out of a snowy February with its 28 Days of Winter Escapes Web site, an online promotion with multiple interactive components. These included a calendar spotlighting a different young adult novel each day, links to Twitter and to YA blogs featuring Q&As with authors, games, a widget, a browse-inside-the books option, and a sweepstakes offering a chance to win a signed copy of a book and one of five iPod Touch prizes.
-
Branding 101 with Robert Friedman
In its first monthly San Francisco luncheon co-sponsored with the Association of American Journalists and Authors, the Northern California Book Publicity and Marketing Association invited Robert Friedman to speak about one of the biggest buzz words in the book business—branding.
-
Penguin Looks for 'Break-out' Success with 'Incarceron'
Incarceron, a young-adult dystopian fantasy by Catherine Fisher, is set in a dark world —a vast, living prison that contains metal forests, dilapidated cities, and boundless seas. Yet the outlook for the novel, released this week by Dial, is bright: the book has received five starred pre-publication reviews (including one from PW), has returned to press before pub date, and has provoked considerable enthusiastic chatter online and in bookstores...
-
Chelsea Green Partners with Kimbell Sherman Ellis
Chelsea Green Publishing is partnering with Kimbell Sherman Ellis, LLP (KSE), a strategic communications firm with offices in Montpelier, Vt. (where Chelsea Green is located), Cambridge, Mass., and Washington, DC. President and publisher Margo Baldwin said the alliance is meant to “redesign” the way books are publicized and sold in the digital age, especially in regards to Chelsea Green’s roster of authors who are able to speak to current political issues.
-
Above the Treeline Adds NetGalley Services to Edelweiss E-Catalogs
Above the Treeline and Firebrand Technologies will begin integrating NetGalley services into ATL’s Edelweiss digital catalogs, starting in the second quarter of 2010. As a result, publishers will be able to provide e-galleys to Edelweiss’s 700 registered users, which include booksellers, librarians and literary bloggers.
-
Behind the Scenes of a Cookbook Trailer
With book publishers struggling to find ways to introduce unsung talents to the marketplace, Chronicle has invested in a five-minute video for one of its cookbook authors. The publisher let us in on the production of the trailer for Eileen Yin-Fei Lo’s new book, Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking, which it is debuting today, and shared some tips on what makes a good trailer.
-
‘Hunger Games 3’ to Pub Next August
Hunger Games fans have just eight more months to wait: the as yet untitled third and final book in Suzanne Collins's dystopian fantasy trilogy will be released in English worldwide on August 24, 2010. An audio version from Scholastic Audio will be released simultaneously. In other news, the trade paperback edition of the first book in the trilogy, The Hunger Games, will be released on July 6, 2010.
-
Touring Author's Politics Arouse Controversy
Canadian authorities didn't want author Amy Goodman in the country for too long.
-
Invent a Tool for Alex Rider
Alex Rider's eighth adventure, Crocodile Tears, hits stores November 17 and Penguin is partnering with MAKE magazine to challenge young inventors to come up with a gadget cool enough for the teen spy's arsenal. After all, author Anthony Horowitz says that when he needs a new tool to get his hero out of peril, he goes to his own kids for inspiration. "I look around their bedrooms to see what kind of electronics and such they have littering the place," said Horowitz...
-
The Stories Behind Some Autumn Hits
In this busy fall selling season, several recently released children’s books are moving quite quickly out of the gate. Here we'll take a look at factors fueling the early success of five titles: Blood of the Witch and Fang of the Vampire, which launch Tommy Donbavand's Scream Street series; Ruined by Paula Morris; Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick; and Day Is Done by Peter Yarrow, illustrated by Melissa Sweet.
-
Gary Vaynerchuk Tours to Six Airports in 24 Hours
Wine expert Gary Vaynerchuk has a thing for wacky self-promotions, having done everything from appearing on TVs in gas stations to plastering his face on billboards along New Jersey highways. Now, he’s embarking on a two-day tour to airports in six different cities to promote his new book, Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion.
-
Guys with Books Rock the Road
Two authors. Two illustrators. Four books. Dozens of appearances. And, by all reports, immeasurable hilarity. These were some of the key components of the Guys with Books author tour that recently sent four creators of new Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers titles on the road...
-
Hands-On Promotion for Lupica Novel
Life imitates art in a kid-pleasing promotional campaign Penguin has scheduled for Mike Lupica's Million-Dollar Throw, due out on November 3. In the novel, a young football fan gets the chance to win $1 million if he makes an accurate toss of a football. Next month, youngsters attending the publisher's Million Dollar Throw Challenges at six bookstores across the country will have the opportunity to compete for a $1000 prize by successfully throwing a football through a target...
-
FiledBy Partners with StudioNow for Book Trailers
Online author Web site directory FiledBy is partnering with StudioNow, a company that provides online video production, asset management and syndication services. As a result of the collaboration, FiledBy will offer video book trailers and on-location author interview videos.
Browse archive by date:
