By Edward Nawotka Today’s feature story by David Unger discusses his circuitous path toward publication, writing in English and being published in Spanish. One of the complaints foreign authors have who have failed to find publishers abroad is that publishers often have a narrow, if not limited view of a culture. The argument often heard is that readers expect books …
Marketing Watch: Authors@Google Online at YouTube
by Edward Nawotka Google is the arguably the single most powerful media force on the planet. The company has long hosted discussions with authors in a program called Authors@Google. Talk about a marketing opportunity. Many of their sessions are archived online at YouTube. Here’s one of their latest Authors@Google sessions — a conversation between comedian and TV star Tina Fey …
Cashing In on Cache: How Authors Can Take Advantage of Corporate Sponsorships
Cars, clothes and other perks can be had by authors who know how to push the right buttons with the right people. Interview by Jeff Rivera Long before the media can cry, “Ding dong the witch is dead,” the publishing industry refuses to go down without a fight. Despite the massive lay-offs, dwindling advances for authors and starving publicity and …
Are Authors Too Naked in their Self-promotion?
Author self-promotion is a necessary evil and a ubiquitous 24/7/365 business. But can it go too far? By Edward Nawotka “I’m nude when I’m alone, and I’m nude when I’m in his arms, but never in a sort of casually stupid gesture of the morning or whatever. Never.” “So nudity is not something trivial?” “Of course not. But we know …
FLIP: Brazil’s Perfect Literary Cocktail
By Maria Fernanda Rodrigues Throughout the year, Brazilian authors travel from one book fair to another, as many cities in Brazil have their own literature festivals and book events. All of them have the same goal: yo instill the pleasure of reading and (of course) sell books. One of these literature festivals, however, goes further than all others: FLIP – …
Do Literary Festivals Offer Sufficient ROI for Authors and Publishers?
Literary festivals are increasingly popular, but the effort and expense involved in sending an author to appear at one might never pay off. By Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story discusses the Paraty International Literature Festival in Brazil. It is widely considered one of the most successful — and fun — literary festivals anywhere in the world. The piece notes that …
DISCUSS: Should Tweeters Be Compensated for Contributions to Books?
By Edward Nawotka Today’s feature looks at some of the copyright and compensation issues surrounding the publication of the book Tweets from Tahrir, a collection of tweets that has been collated, edited and expected to be published shortly by OR Books in the United States. The issue is complicated and has implications for how publishers will treat social media contributions …
Saudi, Moroccan Share $50,000 International Prize for Arabic Fiction
From the press release: The Arch and the Butterfly by Mohammed Achaari and he Doves’ Necklace by Raja Alem are today, Monday 14 March, announced as joint winners of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2011. This is the first time the Prize has been split between two novelists. The winners were announced by this year’s Chair of Judges, the …
SURVEY: How Can Booksellers Futureproof Their Business?
Tell us what should booksellers should prioritize to save themselves. By Edward Nawotka Over the years booksellers have added coffee shops, stationery, toys, games, music download stations, movies, e-readers . . . As discussed in today’s lead story the future of bookselling looks to be multichannel. What do you think booksellers should prioritize to futureproof their business? Take our survey …
Is D.I.Y. or Self-Publishing Best Suited to Energetic Extroverts?
By Edward Nawotka Over the past few months we’ve featured stories on several self-published authors, including today’s profile of Steve Almond, last month’s feature by Alisa Valdes, and our earlier piece on Seth Godin. In each of these cases, the authors are self-motivated, high-energy, charismatic individuals. The came to D.I.Y. publishing after establishing their reputations by working with traditional publishers. And they have …