Richard Charkin‘s blog has an interesting discussion about ereaders, following Andrew Marr’s piece last week in the Guardian, which you can read here. I’ve written my response, which goes along the following lines. I think most of us and the National Treasure that is Andrew Marr are all – sorry
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I was taken for a nice lunch yesterday. It’s one of the perks of the job. The person paying the bill asked me where I thought the industry was going. He mentioned the “death of the bookshop”, and I found myself laughing. It’s such a cliché. What is usually meant
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Reality TV Magazine has a scoop: Tony Cowell is to do for would-be authors what brother Simon has done for wannabe popstars. Cowell Sr (he is nine years older than Simon) has signed a deal with ITV to do a show called “Bestsellers!”, which will be screened this summer. Tested
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Dave writes to ask: I”‘ve just finished writing a fictional piece. When I started I intended to write a film script as it’s about such a visual subject, but I soon realised that it worked as a novel as well. I’m now ready to contact interested parties. 1) Should I
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The lure of cheap white wine and a room full of people – believe it or not – some of which even I don’t know hasn’t the pull it once had. Why? Well, invariably you walk into the room and are greeted by someone who ticks off your name and points you to a crowded room where the first friendly face you see is the wine waiter’s – and s/he is paid to smile
Helen Dunmore claims artists are really playing when they create. By that she means creativity is not about physical or genetic survival, fright or flight, the standard motors of daily ambition. Instead it transcends our daily needs in order to reveal the truth about the human condition. Dunmore referred to
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I am depressed. Why? Because of the top 10 books “people can’t live without” poll by the organisers of World Book Day. Here is the list: 1. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (20%) 2. Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien (17%) 3. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (14%) 4. Harry Potter
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There was an interesting story in The Independent on Sunday yesterday about Forbidden Love, Norma Khouri’s memoir of fear and loathing among the lovelorn in Jordan. The book claimed that Khouri had fled Jordan with a fatwa on her head following a doomed love affair between her Muslim friend Dalia
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Rajesh Talwar writes to me from India: “I’ve just had a novel, Inglistan, published in India that has been well received. A friend of mine thought that this could interest people outside India as well….how does this work? Do lit agents have a role? Is there anything I can do
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Thought readers would be interested in reading this press release from National Book Tokens. Let me know what you think: National Book Tokens launch Not Yet Published, a literary prize exclusively for booksellers. The Not Yet Published prize celebrates National Book Tokens 75th anniversary and long association with the book
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