This week in open letters! I mean books! This was the week of Open Letters to Solve Everything. First, a group of luminaries led by Thomas Chatterton Williams including J.K. Rowling, Margaret Atwood, and Malcolm Gladwell published an open letter that bemoaned an “intolerant climate that has set in on all sides” and, though it […]
Malcolm Gladwell
This Week in Publishing 10/8/10
Tento týden v publikování… First off, thank you so much to everyone who entered the Guest Blog Contest Festival Event! There were actually so many spectacular entries that I decided to expand the number of contest winning slots. That’s right folks, this blog is going seven days a week. Well. At least until I get […]
The Science of Buzz
Fads, crazes, hysterias, and other contagious social phenomena have long been a mysterious and occasionally hilarious part of human history. From meowing nuns to the Backstreet Boys, we humans have periodically been overtaken by curious mass obsessions for reasons that have never been entirely clear. At least, until now. Science is catching up with buzz. […]
Publishing’s Winner’s Curse
Originally posted in the Huffington Post In the climactic scene in Frank Norris’ classic novel McTEAGUE, the two antagonists find themselves in the desert. Shady San Francisco dentist McTeague has murdered his wife to steal her money (Belated spoiler alert!). He is then pursued by his former best friend Marcus, who wants revenge slash money […]
This Week in Publishing 3/20/09
Lots and lots of links this week, so let’s get this started, shall we? First off, I’m as surprised as you are that my bracket wasn’t completely busted by 3 PM yesterday, which probably means that I’ll be dead in the water by the end of the day. There’s currently a nine-way tie atop the […]
The Holy Grail of publishing
Much like King Arthur, Sir Lancelot and Sir Robin the Not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir-Lancelot, people all over the various entertainment businesses, including publishing, are searching for the holy grail. And, of course, the holy grail of the entertainment industry is……. the blockbuster detector. Our jobs would be, to put it mildly, just a tad easier if we had […]
