2008 Banned Books Week

Judy Blume, author of five banned young adult classics, appeared with a stellar line of authors, including Sara Paretsky (didn't know any of her books had been challenged in any way) at the annual Banned Books Read-Out, co-sponsored by the American Library Association and the Chicago Tribune.

Brought forward from its usual timing, the event was unusually well attended, thanks to Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, whose views on books such as Daddy's Roommate have been the subject of intense speculation.

A lighthearted commentary on this appears on a blog run by The Haphazard Gourmet Girls, which is running a series called "Civilization is Cooked Without Books," featuring recipes devised and devoted to banned books, including Sarah Palin cupcakes. (Illustration pictured.)

Such fun! Read and relish: http://haphazardgourmet.blogspot.com/search/label/2008%20Banned%20Books%20Week

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3:01 PM | 0 comments

What constitutes good sales for a literary novel?

The ubiquitous GalleyCat reports an interesting answer to an interesting question posed to editorial-assistant-turned-blogger "Moonrat," on her very interesting blog, "editorialass": http://editorialass.blogspot.com

What constitutes good sales for a literary novel?

And her answer?

7,000

"If you sold 7,000 or more copies, in hardcover, of your literary novel, you're a star," she elaborates. "If you've sold between 4,000 and 7,000 copies, in hardcover, of your literary novel, you did a damned good job. You're what they call a 'strong seller.' You're also in a good position to place your second novel well, with your current publisher or elsewhere.

"If you sold between 2,000 and 4,000 copies of your literary novel, you sold pretty strongly. You're still in a good position to have your publisher want to take on your second project, or to comfortably find a home elsewhere.

"If you sold below 1,500 copies, your publisher is probably disappointed, although they will never tell you that. Instead, they will tell you that debuts are hard, and literary fiction is nearly impossible. Both these things are true."

As she goes on to comment, these numbers are specific to literary fiction, but surprisingly adds that "commercial" fiction is going to have only slightly higher expectations behind it. A lot depends, of course, on the size of your advance . . . where the magic words "earning out" come into play. But it appears that the basic magic starts at selling seven thousand hardbacks.

Paperbacks, because of reduced profits plus smaller royalties, meaning it takes longer to earn out the advance, are a different story.

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-constitutes-good-sales-for.html

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2:33 PM | 0 comments

Medina "Suspended" In UK

The Jewel of Medina stalled yet again.

Alan Jessop, managing director of Compass, the sales company for the UK's Gibson Square, has reported to the Bookseller that Martin Rynja "has put publication in suspended animation while he reflects and takes advice on what the best foot forward is." The book was supposed to be published in the UK on October 15. Jessop added, "Everyone is going to have to be patient. This requires some careful thinking."

Suspended animation? The suspense is killing us all!

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2:09 PM | 0 comments

The London Book Fair, Monday 20th — Wednesday 22nd April 2009.

As regular as birdsong in spring, the London Book Fair is one of the major world events where book, audio, serial, TV, film, and digital rights are negotiated and sold. Billed as "a unique opportunity to hear from authors, enjoy the vibrant atmosphere and explore innovations shaping the publishing world of the future," next year's Fair will be held at Earl's Court, London, UK, in April.

To register as a visitor, and for more information on The London Book Fair go to www.londonbookfair.co.uk/

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2:06 PM | 0 comments

Jacket copy blog, and Moby-Dick re-imagined

Apologies to Carolyn Kellogg, book blogger for the Los Angeles Times, as the URL I provided for the next post along -- a chat about the hunt for McCain-pro writers -- came up with a ??? message. It should be as follows:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2008/09/who-are-the-aut.html


However, a rerouting to the home page of the paper, then to the Books section, and from there to her blog, was most rewarding. Her hot piece of news? They're going to "re-imagine" Moby-Dick!!

Read all about it on today's Jacket Copy blog: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/

But, oh heavens, is there no reverence?

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8:50 PM | 0 comments

Are there any authors-for-McCain out there?

Book-blogger of the Los Angeles Times, Carolyn Kellogg,
went hunting for literati who support John McCain, following lots of publicity on her own site http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2008/, as well as by the illustrious GalleyCat on http://www.mediabistro.com/, for various fundraisers organized by writers for the Barack Obama campaign.

I have already mentioned Young Adult Writers for Obama. There is also Ayelet Waldman, who petitioned authors to send in copies of their own books, which she bundled up in sets of ten and sent out in return for $250 donations to the Obama campaign. The response was overwhelming, including signed first editions from such luminaries as Stephen King. And then there is Steve Almond, who is hosting an Obama-thon in Boston on October 14, which includes appearances by Anita Diamant, Claire Messud, and Robert Pinsky, among others. Four days after that, Almond joins Michael Lowenthal and William Giraldi for a similar effort in New Hampshire.

Well, Kellogg reports that she found exactly three novelists who support McCain: Brenda Joyce, Linda Bruckheimer, and Nelson DeMille (pictured above). DeMille a Republican faithful--at the same time as penning thrillers about right-wing nutters, such as Wildfire? Incredible, I thought. So I checked.

To my astonishment, I found that there is a site which posts political donation histories onto the internet, and DeMille is on it. http://www.politicalbase.com/people/nelson-demille/28807/ And did he send money to the McCain campaign? Back in 1999, he did. Since then, he seems to have been a pretty regular supporter of Rudy Giuliani, though he gave money to the John Kerry fund, too. A reasonably evenhanded kind of bloke, all-in-all -- or so I would have commented on GalleyCat, if I could have remembered my password. But I didn't.

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3:08 PM | 0 comments

While the band plays on, a book festival is held in DC

On Capitol Hill, legislators were wrestling with the fine print of the doomed bail-out bill, but neither that nor the wet weather deterred those determined to put in an appearance at Washington, DC's National Book Festival on Saturday. Created by First Lady Laura Bush, the event has attendance figures that have grown from about 30,000 people in 2001 to approximately 120,000 attendees this year, according to the Associated Press. Post

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2:28 PM | 0 comments