News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff
Book News
- A previously-unpublished novel by Harper Lee is coming in July 2015. (BBC) The novel is a sequel of sorts to Lee’s sole published novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, but was actually written before it. However, it’s not clear whether this is actually a good thing for Lee. (Madeleine Davis for Jezebel) OTOH, “Harper Lee’s Friend Says Author is Hard of Hearing, Sound of Mind” (Lynn Neary, NPR), so presumably she knows what she’s doing. Of course, the book is coming out regardless – and it has already claimed a top spot at Amazon. (Publishers Weekly)
- ALA announces 2015 Newbery, Caldecott, Printz awards and others (ALA)
- ISIS ransack libraries, destroys books in Iraqi city (Boston Globe) ISIS troops broke into Mosul’s Central Library, taking over 2000 books to burn them. Only Islamic texts were left.
- SFWA to accept self-published authors for membership. Authors who self-publish or publish through very small publishers will still have to meet fairly stringent income requirements, but this is a big step, both for the organization and for self-published authors.
- HarperCollins revenue up 20% due to Harlequin acquisition (Publishers Weekly)
- Comic Book Stores to Launch Children’s Book Week with a Bang, giving away free comic books to kids. Children’s Book Week runs May 4-10. (Publishers Weekly)
Worth Reading
Via mariannewiththesteadyhands.tumblr.com
- What a “Racebent” Hermione Granger Really Represents (Alanna Bennett, BuzzFeed)
- What Can Harry Potter Teach Us About Evil In Our World Today? Caspar ter Kuile examines several philosophical approaches to evil in light of Harry Potter. (On Being)
- Women in Cover Art. Author Jim C. Hines has been drawing attention to the sexualization and objectification of women in cover art for some time, notably through his recreations of cover poses. But in this blog post, he highlights some covers that portray their female progagonists as strong, capable women. Maybe we’re making progress?
For Writers & Bloggers
- Parajunkee has a Book Blogger Checklist infographic that is quite useful!
- 18 Rules for Using Text is an infographic on fonts, readability, layout, and design when using text. (The Visual Communication Guy)
- So You Want to Get Published? is a flowchart/infographic created by YA writer Kate Hart, detailing the process from writing the book through finding an agent and getting published.
Book & Movie Announcements
- Deborah Harkness’s “All Souls Trilogy is in development with the BBC, who hope to adapt it for television.” YESSSSSSS! (Author’s Facebook page)
- Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti to collaborate on new YA trilogy (GalleyCat)
- Myriad Pictures is adapting 3 GRR Martin short stories as a feature film. (Deadline)
Awesome Lists
- 23 Pictures Only “Lord of the Rings” Fans Will Think Are Funny (Buzzfeed)
- 17 Times Your Love of Books Was Officially Out of Control (Thought Catalog) Pretty much, yes.
- The top 10 novels featuring works of art (Sophia Tobin, The Guardian)
Really Cool / Just for Fun
A terrific explanation of poetic meter generally and Shakespeare’s use of iambic pentameter in specific. (David T. Freeman and Gregory Taylor for TED-Ed)
Bookish Quote
That’s it for this week!
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
As usual I now have lots of links that I missed and need to check out. I have mixed feelings about the Harper Lee novel as well with all the conflicting opinions flying about. I do hope that she is aware of what’s happening and isn’t being manipulated.
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library recently posted…Cook It Up Cookbook Challenge: January Edition
Lark_Bookwyrm
Agreed. It’s hard to say… but it’s interesting that someone who actually knows her says she’s of sound mind and believes she knows what she’s doing.
kimbacaffeinate
Wahoo I love the BBC and cannot wait to see what they do with Harkness’ trilogy. I fully intend to read the Harper Lee novel, cannot help myself.
kimbacaffeinate recently posted…Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews
Lark_Bookwyrm
I know – I’m superexcited about the All Souls series and at the same time trying not to get my hopes up too high, because it’s still only “in development.”
Liza Barrett
OMG I didn’t hear the news about the All Souls Trilogy. That’s AWESOME! If anyone can make magic with it (pun intended), it’s BBC. Also, thanks for sharing the resources! 😀
Liza Barrett recently posted…Weekend Writing Warriors: February 7 #8sunday
Lark_Bookwyrm
I know – I really hope it pans out! I think each book will do better as a TV adaptation (in several parts) than as a movie. But of course I have no idea what they are planning, only that Deborah Harkness says it’s “in development”. Fingers crossed!