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
- PEN America to Honor Toni Morrison (GalleyCat) A complete list of the 2016 PEN literary award winners can be found here.
- The 2015 Nebula Awards nominees have been announced. There are some terrific authors on the list, including Naomi Novik, N. K. Jemisin, Anne Leckie, Ken Liu, Beth Cato, Nnedi Okorafor, Kate Elliott, Frances Hardinge, and Daniel José Older. I was surprised to see Novik’s Uprooted on the list for best novel rather than YA fiction.
- Author Discovers Prize News in Spam Folder. Actually, she ignored it, until her publisher told her she had won the Windham-Campbell literary prize — and $150,000. (GalleyCat)
- Samhain Publishing to Shut Down Operations. Samhain publishes e-books in the romance and erotica genres. (Publishers Weekly)
- First Book to Receive a Donation of 50,000 Books in Honor of Dr. Seuss’s Birthday (GalleyCat)
- More Layoffs Hit Berkley Publishing Group (Publishers Weekly)
- Hachette, Ingram Split Perseus’s Business. Perseus Books Group has 9 imprints, which will go to Hachette; Ingram gets the publisher’s distribution business. (Publishers Weekly)
(patconroy.com)
Literary Losses
Pat Conroy, bestselling author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, died March 4. Conroy, who announced in February that he had pancreatic cancer, was 70. (Obituaries: Washington Post; Los Angeles Times; NPR)
Worth Reading
- Teen readers aren’t in crisis, they’re just making their own rules (Elizabeth Minkel, The Guardian)
- Men of Our Times. Jim C. Hines argues thoughtfully and persuasively for recognizing the racial prejudices of SFF writers of the past. (Uncanny Magazine)
- NPR interviews Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series
For Writers & Bloggers
- Why You Should Be Honest When Reviewing Self-Published Books (Amanda Diehl, BookRiot)
Book & Movie Announcements
Concept art for Sanderson’s The Apocalypse Guard (art by Ben McSweeney)
- Brandon Sanderson has a new YA trilogy in the works, set in the same universe as the Reckoners trilogy. The first book will be called The Apocalypse Guard. (Sanderson’s blog)
- Agent Carter to get a third season (Nerd Reactor)
- Big Hero 6 Is Getting a Much-Deserved TV Series on Disney XD (io9) I hope they do it well; the movie was wonderful!
- The Entire Run of IF Magazine Is Now Freely Available Online (io9) The monthly SF magazine ran from 1952 to 1974. (io9)
- CBS’s Nancy Drew series will star Sarah Shahi. The series, titled Drew, is a contemporary adaption featuring a 30-something Nancy who is now an NYPD detective. CBS specifically wanted a non-Caucasian actress for their Nancy; Shahi has been starring in the network’s Person of Interest for the last several seasons. (Variety)
- CNET Unveils Monthly Fiction Series called “Technically Literate” (GalleyCat)
Awesome Lists
Really Cool / Just for Fun
- Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit gets his own 50p coin — and he didn’t have to steal it (Allison Flood, The
Guardian)
Bookish Quote
That’s it for this week!
Rita @ View From My Home
Good post! I liked the one about being honest when reviewing self-pub books and the Jim Hines article, though I cringed at the language (not his, the quoted text dealing with racism).
And Nancy Drew, hmmm… don’t know how I feel about Nancy all grown up and modernized. I have such a strong connection to the book series that if this show turns out to be good, I will enjoy it as just another good show, not as the real Nancy Drew storyline.
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Lark_Bookwyrm
I know; I have really mixed feelings about the Nancy Drew series, too, and I’ll probably do the same if I watch it — approach it as its own thing, not as “Nancy Drew.”
Bea @Bea's Book Nook
Oh, I hadn’t heard about the new Nancy Drew. I’ll have to give it a try; I wasn’t a big fan of the books so I won’t be as picky about the changes as some viewers. As for self and indie pubbed authors, I have never understood the argument for being kinder or easier when reviewing their works. It simply makes no sense to me.
Bea @Bea’s Book Nook recently posted…Cat Thursday: New Olympic Sport
Lark_Bookwyrm
I hadn’t heard about the Nancy Drew until now, either. I think it will be fun to see her reimagined as a 30-something police detective. I haven’t read the books in ages but I remember being frustrated by them because she never aged — even though I also loved them.
Charlie @ Girl of 1000 Wonders
I think I saw something about the new Nancy Drew series. I LOVE the Peter Rabbit coin! That is so incredibly cool, and what an honor.
Lark_Bookwyrm
It’s so cute (the coin, I mean.)