News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, giveaways on this and other blogs, and other cool stuff.
Books & Ebooks in the News:
 |
| Alice Munro, © shapton 09 |
- “Alice Munro wins Nobel Prize in Literature” (Publishers Weekly)
- “Bowker Counted 391,000+ Self-Published Books Last Year”. In case you were wondering. (Jason Boog, GalleyCat)
- Goodreads went to the Frankfurt Book Fair, where they talked about their growth and figures and what they’re doing to connect authors with readers.
Worth Reading:
- “At 75 She’s Doing Fine: Kids Still Love Their ‘Madeline (NPR’s Morning Edition)
- “First Novels: The Romance of Agents” (Martha Woodroof, NPR’s MonkeySee)
- “How I Learned to be Half of a Non-existent Writer” (Novelist SJ Rozan, who is also half of Sam Cabot, on BookRiot)
- “The Thirtysomething Teen: An Adult YA Addict Comes Clean” (Jen Doll, Vulture)
For Writers & Bloggers:
- “App Annie Releases Ebook Analytics Tools” for authors to track sales. (GalleyCat, or go directly to App Annie’s launch.)
An appeal for help:
- SF/Fantasy author Eugie Foster was recently diagnosed with cancer. Though she does have some health coverage through her day job, the coverage is limited, and her financial situation is tight to say the least. If you would like to help out and discover a new author at the same time, here are links to her Kindle ebooks and short stories; she owns the ebook rights, so all royalties go right to her. (Thanks to Jim C. Hines for bringing Eugie to my attention.)
Book Announcements:
- Historical romance author Julia Quin will be on BookTalk Nation on Oct. 21. Sign up to reserve a space; you can also order a signed copy of her new Smith-Smythe book, The Sum of All Kisses, due out on Oct. 29.
- CoverGirl is launching a Hunger Games makeup line called ‘Capitol Couture.’ (The MarySue)
Awesome lists:
- The Best Kids’ Halloween Books of 2013 (Huffington Post)
- 10 Famous Authors Who Remind Us That Great Writers Can Also Be Decent Human Beings (Huffington Post)
- Young Adult Books that Changed Our Lives (CNN Living)
- List Challenge: NPR’s 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels
- The Literary World’s Most Fascinating Dandies, Past and Present (Jason Diamond, Flavorwire)
Really cool:
- I’m sure you’ve seen photos of the dress made from Golden Books. Publishers Weekly’s Elizabeth Bluemle talks with designer Ryan Jude Novelline about the design and construction process and his plans for the dress (currently on display at Drift Contemporary Art Gallery in Portsmouth, N.H., as part of its Last Word exhibit through November 2.)
Bookish Quotes:
That’s it for this week!
I’m always on the lookout for interesting articles, lists, and links for News & Notes, so please let me know if you see (or write!) anything that might be good for this feature. You can leave me a comment or send me an email — my address is on the About/Review Policy/Contact page.
Greg
Lots of interesting links this week… both the article on agents and especially the one on YA books and their appeal were good reads. I’ve often been fascinated how the YA field has evolved and changed…
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
The YA field has indeed changed. In some ways, it’s great; in others, it’s too bad — books that used to be marketed as adult are now marketed as YA, which means they might lose some readers who “don’t read” YA — or don’t think to look in that section of the bookstore or library.
kimbacaffeinate
I love Madeline and that dress is just wow! Great post as always, now to check out that app.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Isn’t that dress spectacular? I first came across it on Pinterest and was blown away, so I was really interested to read the interview with the designer.
And I always loved Madeline, too!
Bea
Oh wow, that dress is amazing!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
It surely is! Stunning and very cleverly designed.
Greg
I agree. I haven’t always been familiar with the YA section of my bookstore and so have probably missed books with broad appeal that I would have liked. Now that I’m blogging I’m much more aware of books in that area- I can think of several recent books that were only displayed in that area and I wondered how is anyone else going to see these if they don’t venture down that aisle (and with kids often sitting on the floor in that aisle reading- how many adults will venture in)?
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Yes, that’s exactly what I meant. When I first started reading Robin McKinley, “Beauty” was in the fantasy section. I’ve never had a problem with reading YA and MG books as an adult (as long as they are good), but as a former bookseller and bookstore manager, I’m pretty sure a lot of my adult patrons wouldn’t have bought Beauty or a lot of other great books if they’d been shelved in the Children & Teen part of the store. That’s changing, thank heaven, both because more people are recognizing the really good writing and storytelling that’s happening in YA (thank you, J. K. Rowling, for removing a lot of the stigma!) and because more people are buying books online, where they don’t have to shop a particular “section”. Maybe ebooks help too — it’s easier to read without the cover advertising what you’re reading, so there’s less embarrassment factor for those who still feel it.
readerholicnotes
SJ Rozan is one of my favorite mystery writers. I didn’t realize she had collaborated on a book. That article was interesting to read! And, oh my gosh, that dress is amazing.
I agree about young adult books. So many books I read as a teenager and “young adult!” were books in the fantasy and science fiction sections of the library and bookstores. Young adult wasn’t an option when I was growing up!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
When we were growing up, there was “Juvenile Fiction” (at least in the library) — a name/descriptor I always disliked! But yes, a lot of what is now marketed as YA was once found in the SF/Fantasy section of both libraries and bookstores. A year or two ago, they re-released Robin McKinley’s “Sunshine” (not intended as a strictly YA book nor originally marketed as such) as YA. And I have to wonder, if David Eddings or Mercedes Lackey (to name just a few) had started writing and publishing now, would their books, particularly the Belgariad series and many of Lackey’s Valdemar novels, have ended up in YA — and possibly lost their adult audience as a result?
Elizabeth
I agree…An Apple A Day is Good for Your Body. A Chapter A Day is Good For Your Mind.
Thanks for stopping by my post of THE FUNERAL DRESS. I hope you get to read it. It was very good.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My Blog
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I find that if I don’t read at least a little every day (pleasure reading, not for work), I become cranky and grouchy, so it’s definitely true for me!
Thank you for stopping by!
Elizabeth
Now that definitely makes sense.
Thanks for the comment. 🙂
Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
Is it weird that I would love to wear the book dress as my wedding dress? It is GORGEOUS I can’t stop staring at it 🙂 And yay for the mention of Madeline, I love the books and the show. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad reading me the books in French. I can’t wait to read them to my own some day, they’re amazing books. So glad to see Munro win the Nobel Prize. It’s amazing to see a Canadian up there!
Thanks for posting this 🙂 Always love stopping by for this!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Not weird at all — that dress is breathtaking! I’m glad you enjoy these posts – they’re a lot of fun to put together!