On the Power of Negative Reinforcement →
A Tumblr post from an Algonquin author on the positive power of negative reviews and how to stay true to one’s own writing. Good stuff!
A Tumblr post from an Algonquin author on the positive power of negative reviews and how to stay true to one’s own writing. Good stuff!
“It would have been understandable had booksellers held up their hands and surrendered. But booksellers are made of sterner stuff.”
A great idea from author Alexander McCall Smith on how to help bookshops stay competitive in the online shopping world!
A wonderful idea from the New York Public Library - and reasons to miss commuting in NYC!
A little lunchtime viewing: Ann Patchett talks about the success of the neighborhood bookstore she opened in Nashville, Parnassus Books, on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday.
“I can’t imagine a world without reading, without books, and I can’t imagine a world without bookstores.”
(Source: oprah.com)
A hilarious and insightful look into the life of a book lover by Joe Queenan.
“I’ve never squandered an opportunity to read. There are only 24 hours in the day, seven of which are spent sleeping, and in my view at least four of the remaining 17 must be devoted to reading. A friend once told me that the real message Bram Stoker sought to convey in “Dracula” is that a human being needs to live hundreds and hundreds of years to get all his reading done; that Count Dracula, basically nothing more than a misunderstood bookworm, was draining blood from the necks of 10,000 hapless virgins not because he was the apotheosis of pure evil but because it was the only way he could live long enough to polish off his extensive reading list. But I have no way of knowing if this is true, as I have not yet found time to read “Dracula.”“
Beautiful, brilliant, and inspiring piece on Ann Patchett and her independent bookstore, Parnassus, located in Nashville.
“If what a bookstore offers matters to you, then shop at a bookstore. If you feel that the experience of reading a book is valuable, then read a book. This is how we change the world: We grab hold of it. We change ourselves.”
Apply now to be a giver for next spring! Hooray for World Book Night!
“Instead of killing physical books, ebooks have actually encouraged a new level of fetishization of the printed page.
Enduring physical presence is no small thing in an age when information appears on a screen, then changes, evolves, and maybe even disappears.
In the years to come, if you want to know why physical books and bookstores seem more special than ever, maybe you should thank Amazon.”
Both parties confirmed the merger earlier this morning, bringing a mass of news articles and speculation about the effect this ‘mega’house will have on the industry. Both Penguin and Random House say that authors will continue to have the center of attention and that editorial choices will not be compromised. However, with the fact that Penguin Random House will control 25% of the English speaking book market and the knowledge that HarperCollins under News Corp had expressed serious interest in buying Penguin, I doubt that this will be the only potential merger we see in the next couple of years. A world of mega retailers begets a world of mega publishers.
Huh? Say that again?
