Dystopian Lit for My Imperfect World

I just read on Publishing Perspectives that Dystopian and Undead stories are very popular at the Bologna Book Fair this year. Well, that doesn’t really surprise me – it seems like half the books on the shelf are about these two subjects lately, though I do prefer zombies to vampires (vampires are too creepy).  Just [...]

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Lovecraft, Cthulhu, and Cupcakes

So I know there’s been a lot of talk about monsters and creepy fantasy creatures in publishing lately, but I’d like to give a nod to one of the best horror writers ever: H.P. Lovecraft. H.P. Lovecraft, among other things, wrote the The Call of Cthulhu, which has been made into a movie. Cthulhu is [...]

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Ugh…No More Twilight Stuff, Please

I was working at Borders when the fourth book of the Twilight saga was released. Only a couple people in the store had read the books, and we were expected to host a release party with trivia and contests, so it seemed a good idea to read them. Even the fourth one, since I’d read [...]

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Blogs as Literature? I Don’t Know

On The New York Times website Monday, there was an article discussing whether blogs can be literature. The “article” was actually a blog post in the Times’ book blog, Paper Cuts, and the author, Gregory Cowles, suggested that blogs aren’t really literature  - they are “by their nature part journalism, part journal.” I agree with [...]

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Poetry and Poetry Reviews

I just read this article about poetry, and the efficacy of poetry reviews – the point, tone, and sales potential of the reviews. At Ooligan Press, even as an Acquisitions manager I rarely like to read poetry. Honestly, I don’t feel like I have the expertise to comment on other people’s poetry – and the [...]

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I HEART Banned Books

I read a lot of banned books. It’s the contrary side of me, I think. So I was interested to see this page about The 11 Most Surprising Banned Books. 11 Most Surprising Banned Books: 1. The Dictionary 2. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 3. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig [...]

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Future of Indie Bookstores: Some Ideas

I really like independent bookstores, but it is increasingly true that they need great hooks to get customers. I took a Bookselling class at PSU where we learned a lot about the history and traditions of selling books, but these methods aren’t cutting it any more. Patrons don’t just walk into bookstores and buy the [...]

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Hope for Borders?

Since Borders has to repay over $40 million by April 1, I was pessimistic but PW just posted this: Borders Close to Refinancing? “A report from Bloomberg says that Borders is close to arranging new financing that would allow it to repay a $42.5 million loan due to stockholder William Ackman. The loan is due [...]

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