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
- Dolly Parton donated her 100 millionth book to the Library of Congress this week. Through her Imagination Library program, the singer has donated books to families for over 20 years. The 100 millionth book went to the Library of Congress, and Dolly was there to read it — and sing it — to the children who attended. (ABC News)
- Jane Austen? Family say note establishes disputed portrait’s identity (The Guardian)
- Penguin Random House is buying cozy mystery series again. A few years ago, PRH “decided that the cozy mystery genre was dying and did not renew the vast majority of their paperback cozy series,” leaving authors and fans in the lurch and spawning several Facebook groups dedicated to cozy mysteries. (author Denise Swanson Stybr, on Facebook)
- In related news, Crooked Lane Books has hired Terri Bischoff, formerly the acquiring editor for Midnight Ink, as Senior Acquisitions Editor. Fans of series left homeless by Midnight Ink’s closure are hoping that the series, or at least their authors, may be now picked up by Crooked Lane. (Midnight Ink is an imprint of Llewellyn Books. In October 2018, they announced they would no longer be acquiring any new manuscripts, though the backlist titles and those already in the publishing process will still be printed.)
Worth Reading/Viewing
- ‘Keats is dead…’ How young women are changing the rules of poetry (The Guardian)
- What the earliest fragments of English reveal. The BBC takes a look at a new exhibit featuring the written word in Anglo-Saxon England. From runic inscriptions on cremation urns to an 11th-century world map to a page of the only surviving manuscript of Beowulf, the exhibit shows not only the melting pot that was Anglo-Saxon England, but how it was connected to Europe through religious and intellectual interchange.
- Medieval book coffer shows appetite for mobile reading ‘is nothing new’ (The Guardian)
For Writers & Bloggers
- What Authors Should Do When Their Publisher Closes (Forbes)
- Jim C. Hines shares his annual “writing income” post. If you’ve ever wondered what an author actually makes, check out this post. Hines, an established SFF author with a backlist of at least 10 novels, offers a breakdown of his income for 2018. (His was not the family’s sole income for 2018; his wife earned a full-time salary plus health insurance. That—particularly the insurance—while not included in this breakdown, made it possible for him to leave his day job a few years ago.)
- Running a Book Review Blog Good post on how to run your blog (and not burn out) by Andrea Johnson, who runs The Little Red Reviewer. (guest post on Jim. C. Hines’s blog)
Really Cool / Just for Fun
- Enter an Archive of 6,000 Historical Children’s Books, All Digitized and Free to Read Online (Open Culture)
Bookish Quote
That’s definitely how I feel some weeks…
RO
I have always loved Dolly Parton so much, and many, many years ago I was able to see her in concert at a fair in ND. Yes, I’m talking ages ago(lol) I just afore how smart she is, and donating that many books is pretty phenomenal. I don’t read Cozy books, but I know quite a few people who do, and they say they’re pretty good. Happy National Chocolate Day and Hugs…RO
RO recently posted…TRIVIA & TREATS
Lark_Bookwyrm
She’s an amazing woman, isn’t she? Talented, smart, caring, and despite her fame, very real and down-to-earth.
Rita @ View From the Books
Yay to good news about Penguin Books. Also I enjoy some Crooked Lane books, so I hope the cozy is not “dead” which is ridiculous in itself because it seems like half of the blogosphere includes cozies occasionally. Now I’m off to read articles about Jim C. Hines. I know you enjoy his books so I’m going to check him out. Have a wonderful Sunday!
Lark_Bookwyrm
Hines is a really good writer. I also admire him for the work he has done on representation, inclusivity, and dismantling various -isms (notably, but not limited to, racism and sexism.) As for his books, you might give his Libriomancer a try, if you’re ever in the mood to try urban fantasy with a heavy dose of action-suspense and a side of humor.
sjhigbee
Thank you for the links – loved the one regarding Jim C. Hines:). Have a great week:))
Lark_Bookwyrm
I think it’s really helpful for both aspiring authors and readers to see what an author—a successful but not multiple-best-selling author—makes. I know it encourages me to try to buy books by the authors I like, so they can afford to keep writing!
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
I adore Dolly Parton. She’s so wonderfully herself and her literacy program is wonderful. I’m so glad to see that Crooked Lane might hopefully be picking up some of Midnight Ink’s series. I was so sad to hear that imprint was closing. I am thrilled about Penguin picking up cozies again. They’re in a low spot in publishing right now but I have hopes for more. Not that I don’t have boxes of cozies waiting to be read as it is!
Lark_Bookwyrm
I like cozies, too, and have more than enough to keep me going for a while! But it’s always good to see new series come out. There are several newish series I’ve been really enjoying—Victoria Gilbert’s Blue Ridge Library series and Katherine Bolger Hyde’s Crime with the Classics series in particular.