Keeping With the Expectation of Not Keeping With Expectations
This entry is overdue but time has been in short supply lately. The Man Booker Prize is undoubtedly the biggest literary event of the year and the winner usually benefits from heavily increased sales. Not only does the book that is short-listed sell well, but perhaps more importantly, winning the Man Book Prize or even being short-listed, has the potential of shifting some backlist titles.
This year’s list is as follows:
Desai, Kiran The Inheritance of Loss – Hamish Hamilton
Grenville, Kate The Secret River – Canongate
Hyland, M.J. Carry Me Down – Canongate
Matar, Hisham In the Country of Men – Viking
St Aubyn, Edward Mother’s Milk – Picador
Waters, Sarah The Night Watch – Virago
The only title that I am familiar with is the latest Sarah Waters novel, although I have never read any of her books. I do, however, remember the strong advertising campaign that was run for her and she has now become the favourite to win the award.
Personally I am a bit disappointed that David Mitchell’s, Black Swan Green didn’t make the shortlist, but then again that was somehow expected—at least on my behalf. David Mitchell has been short-listed three times, which is an exceptional account considering that he has only written three books prior to Black Swan Green. His last book, Cloud Atlas should have won him the most coveted award in the UK publishing industry, but he was robbed by the seemingly dull John Banville. If Mitchell would have been short-listed this time round he probably would have won just because the judges wouldn’t have known what else to do. Give him the award and people say he received it because he has been nominated three times before, or don’t give it to him and risk creating a strong biased against him that would mean he won’t be nominated again and probably never win. Conisdering that he was once again the favourite to win the award – according to the bookies – it is a shame to not even see him on the short-list. My prediction though is that his next book will win it! (Remember, you read it here first.)
In regards to this year’s list there isn’t really much more to say. I am delighted that Canongate have two titles on the short-list and I hope that they win it, although neither of their two books have really grabbed my attention. The only one that sounds distinctively interesting—to me at least—is Mother’s Milk, of which The Guardian says, “St Aubyn's novel is a sequel to his 1990s trilogy, Some Hope, which follows the fluctuating fortunes of the privileged, dysfunctional Melrose family. Fans will be familiar with his wonderfully malicious prose, which is, if anything, even more dazzling here than in the previous three books.”
The winner will be announced October 10 and I promise to be on time to deliver the winner and some useless ramblings.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Stifled Innovation—Let's Make It Work
As there has been some talk about economists, intellectual property and patents, here is another small entry on the topic.
In regards to B.C.’s comment on Stiglitz, who feels that patents stifle innovation (this is presumably the reason for which he sells the right of his inspiring ideas to the publisher willing to pay the most) here are a number of blogs from other, arguably equally renowned economists, who willingly share their ideas for free.
The first is Brad Delong, of the University of California, Berkeley. The Economist recently described his blog as featuring a morning-coffee video-cast and an afternoon-tea audiocast. His topics are wide ranging, interesting and include topics from the Treasury to Trotsky.
Another quite interesting blog is by a professor of economics at Harvard, who was also at one point a chairman of George Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers. His name is Greg Mankiw and he also uses blogspot for his blog, which I hope indicates that he is personally responsible for the maintenance of the site and doesn’t let some IT buff at Harvard do it for him. The Economist says that “his site began as a group email sent to his students, with commentary on articles and new ideas. But the market for his musings grew beyond the classroom, and a blog was the solution."
It is worth looking the article up in The Economist, I am sure it could be retrieved online. Part of the article revolved around the idea that big universities such as Berkeley and Harvard will lose some of their exclusivity if some of their most popular and sought after authors make their thoughts available for free to the public. Essentially though, it argues that by exhibiting their ideas online, professors actually serve as a kind of magnet to attract potential students to those particular universities. Not only then do they serve as a kind of advertising for learning, but they get to share their ideas and create debates. That for me is globalisation working at its best; people around the globe sharing their ideas and experiences and taking full advantage of technological advances have given us.
I am not a huge critic of Stiglitz (and certainly not a big fan) but surely he can combat “stifling innovation” by making some of his ideas freely available via a blog or a podcast and maybe, just maybe, really make globalisation work.
In regards to B.C.’s comment on Stiglitz, who feels that patents stifle innovation (this is presumably the reason for which he sells the right of his inspiring ideas to the publisher willing to pay the most) here are a number of blogs from other, arguably equally renowned economists, who willingly share their ideas for free.
The first is Brad Delong, of the University of California, Berkeley. The Economist recently described his blog as featuring a morning-coffee video-cast and an afternoon-tea audiocast. His topics are wide ranging, interesting and include topics from the Treasury to Trotsky.
Another quite interesting blog is by a professor of economics at Harvard, who was also at one point a chairman of George Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers. His name is Greg Mankiw and he also uses blogspot for his blog, which I hope indicates that he is personally responsible for the maintenance of the site and doesn’t let some IT buff at Harvard do it for him. The Economist says that “his site began as a group email sent to his students, with commentary on articles and new ideas. But the market for his musings grew beyond the classroom, and a blog was the solution."
It is worth looking the article up in The Economist, I am sure it could be retrieved online. Part of the article revolved around the idea that big universities such as Berkeley and Harvard will lose some of their exclusivity if some of their most popular and sought after authors make their thoughts available for free to the public. Essentially though, it argues that by exhibiting their ideas online, professors actually serve as a kind of magnet to attract potential students to those particular universities. Not only then do they serve as a kind of advertising for learning, but they get to share their ideas and create debates. That for me is globalisation working at its best; people around the globe sharing their ideas and experiences and taking full advantage of technological advances have given us.
I am not a huge critic of Stiglitz (and certainly not a big fan) but surely he can combat “stifling innovation” by making some of his ideas freely available via a blog or a podcast and maybe, just maybe, really make globalisation work.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Stiglitz Lecture - A Contribution
MM, I am honoured.
Stiglitz’ insight, comprehension and prose have left me in awe on numerous occasions. Yet I was a little disappointed by his lecture. Pen poised, I sat and awaited a riveting sentence, something that would ignite hope in me, a proposal of how globalisation could be made to work, and thus assist me in finishing my dissertation. Unfortunately he reiterated the unacceptable but not so shocking facts that the rich make money from the poor, that there are more people living in poverty than ever before and many are losing faith in the governing institutions. He argued that patents stifle innovation, that knowledge was a public good and that there was a social cost of withholding it. So why Stiglitz, did you not share more of yours? Given that the example provided for patenting was Blackberry computers rather than something a little more socially pertinent, maybe he assumed we were all economists and I actually missed the point.
The week before this, I attended a lecture that launched the UNCTAD Trade and Development Report. Here, Hiener Flassbeck announced a move away from the Washington Consensus—in which Stiglitz had his hand—recognising China and India as the new drivers of the economic world. Hiener’s discussion felt original, which is not to say it was all well received. The point is that it was apparent that more of the realities of the complexity of international development were being addressed. It is clear that neo-liberalism will always fail some. It is capitalist in essence and socially unsympathetic. It is about time social protection, education and health top the agenda.
Although Stiglitz may have made some moves away from a rigid economic line and had me almost convinced, I now believe he still represents the wrong side of an ideological battle. While he may be tweaking the methods, he appears to promote a market-led approach to development. This is one approach amongst many and this needs to be more widely acknowledged. The alternatives need to enter the mainstream development discourse, I personally would like to hear a little more of what China, India and Scandinavia have to say. It is a positive thing that Stiglitz has exposed some of the deficient actions of governing institutions and possibly engaged more people in this debate. I have not read his new book, maybe it does offer some answers, but I can’t help hoping he was on a three book deal.
BC
Stiglitz’ insight, comprehension and prose have left me in awe on numerous occasions. Yet I was a little disappointed by his lecture. Pen poised, I sat and awaited a riveting sentence, something that would ignite hope in me, a proposal of how globalisation could be made to work, and thus assist me in finishing my dissertation. Unfortunately he reiterated the unacceptable but not so shocking facts that the rich make money from the poor, that there are more people living in poverty than ever before and many are losing faith in the governing institutions. He argued that patents stifle innovation, that knowledge was a public good and that there was a social cost of withholding it. So why Stiglitz, did you not share more of yours? Given that the example provided for patenting was Blackberry computers rather than something a little more socially pertinent, maybe he assumed we were all economists and I actually missed the point.
The week before this, I attended a lecture that launched the UNCTAD Trade and Development Report. Here, Hiener Flassbeck announced a move away from the Washington Consensus—in which Stiglitz had his hand—recognising China and India as the new drivers of the economic world. Hiener’s discussion felt original, which is not to say it was all well received. The point is that it was apparent that more of the realities of the complexity of international development were being addressed. It is clear that neo-liberalism will always fail some. It is capitalist in essence and socially unsympathetic. It is about time social protection, education and health top the agenda.
Although Stiglitz may have made some moves away from a rigid economic line and had me almost convinced, I now believe he still represents the wrong side of an ideological battle. While he may be tweaking the methods, he appears to promote a market-led approach to development. This is one approach amongst many and this needs to be more widely acknowledged. The alternatives need to enter the mainstream development discourse, I personally would like to hear a little more of what China, India and Scandinavia have to say. It is a positive thing that Stiglitz has exposed some of the deficient actions of governing institutions and possibly engaged more people in this debate. I have not read his new book, maybe it does offer some answers, but I can’t help hoping he was on a three book deal.
BC
Monday, September 11, 2006
Under the Golden Arches
Here Mr. Stiglitz under the golden arches, signing away for all those hungry book lovers. I have been desperately trying to convince B.C. to write an entry on the lecture and actually discuss a bit more of the content rather than rambling about publishing injustices. However, so far I have not had any luch and will herewith abandon the idea and move on to another subject.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Globalization, Stiglitz and Penguin
It is funny how intrinsically linked these three topics are, although not surprising.
I went to a talk at City University on Thursday to hear Joseph Stiglitz talk about his new book Making Globalization Work. Joseph Stiglitz was Chief Economist at the World Bank until January 2000 and won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001. He is undoubtedly one of the most famous economists in the world. His most popular books include The Roaring Nineties and Globalization and Its Discontents. This lecture was essentially a promotion for his latest book, which like the two above mentioned books, is of course also published by Penguin.
The lecture was generally quite interesting, especially because he spoke quite about the importance of Intellectual Property. Other than that I have to say that I wasn’t too taken by the lecture, as he didn’t really seem to say anything we didn’t already know. He touched on the fact that globalization was meant to decrease the discrepancy between rich and poor, which it hasn’t in most countries, particularly Africa. I can’t even remember the other examples he cited for why Globalization isn’t working, but the truth is that I can’t imagine too many people saying that Globalization is a full-out success and that generally, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
A funny example given by Stiglitz in relation to Intellectual Property revolved around one of his early books, piracy and China. He said that in the 80’s, somebody actually phoned him and asked him to write a foreword for a pirated edition of his book. Stiglitz, apparently, was quite excited and pleased about the prospect of doing this because for him it merely meant that his thoughts would be read by more people. He claimed that if one in ten people read it in China that would probably be more than the rest of the world accumulated. Needless to say, his publishers were fiercely opposed to the idea and dissuaded him from doing so.
Somehow I can’t get my head around the idea of making globalization work. Why if, for instance, if the discrepancy between rich and poor is constantly increasing, do you publish your book with Penguin, who are owned by one of the world’s largest media conglomerates, Pearson? The answer Stiglitz would give would probably be that their global presence makes it attainable to a wider group of readers. I don’t see how that is true, as even small indie publishers are in a position to license publishing rights on a global scale, especially with a brand name such as Stiglitz. The same goes for the book signing that ensued the lecture, sponsored by high-street giant Waterstone’s. Why not use Foyles or an independent? If you want to make globalization work and decrease the gap between rich and poor, conglomerates and indies, then surely you would do your part and support the weaker of the two. For me, personally, it wasn’t good enough to hear him say that through rational analysis and policies we will be able to make globalization work.
I went to a talk at City University on Thursday to hear Joseph Stiglitz talk about his new book Making Globalization Work. Joseph Stiglitz was Chief Economist at the World Bank until January 2000 and won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001. He is undoubtedly one of the most famous economists in the world. His most popular books include The Roaring Nineties and Globalization and Its Discontents. This lecture was essentially a promotion for his latest book, which like the two above mentioned books, is of course also published by Penguin.
The lecture was generally quite interesting, especially because he spoke quite about the importance of Intellectual Property. Other than that I have to say that I wasn’t too taken by the lecture, as he didn’t really seem to say anything we didn’t already know. He touched on the fact that globalization was meant to decrease the discrepancy between rich and poor, which it hasn’t in most countries, particularly Africa. I can’t even remember the other examples he cited for why Globalization isn’t working, but the truth is that I can’t imagine too many people saying that Globalization is a full-out success and that generally, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
A funny example given by Stiglitz in relation to Intellectual Property revolved around one of his early books, piracy and China. He said that in the 80’s, somebody actually phoned him and asked him to write a foreword for a pirated edition of his book. Stiglitz, apparently, was quite excited and pleased about the prospect of doing this because for him it merely meant that his thoughts would be read by more people. He claimed that if one in ten people read it in China that would probably be more than the rest of the world accumulated. Needless to say, his publishers were fiercely opposed to the idea and dissuaded him from doing so.
Somehow I can’t get my head around the idea of making globalization work. Why if, for instance, if the discrepancy between rich and poor is constantly increasing, do you publish your book with Penguin, who are owned by one of the world’s largest media conglomerates, Pearson? The answer Stiglitz would give would probably be that their global presence makes it attainable to a wider group of readers. I don’t see how that is true, as even small indie publishers are in a position to license publishing rights on a global scale, especially with a brand name such as Stiglitz. The same goes for the book signing that ensued the lecture, sponsored by high-street giant Waterstone’s. Why not use Foyles or an independent? If you want to make globalization work and decrease the gap between rich and poor, conglomerates and indies, then surely you would do your part and support the weaker of the two. For me, personally, it wasn’t good enough to hear him say that through rational analysis and policies we will be able to make globalization work.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Indie Start-ups
It seems that there have been a few interesting blog articles on starting your own publishing company around the web. Personally, there is nothing I would enjoy more than starting my own publishing company, but reading blog entries about remortgaging one's house, when I can barely pay my rent is very daunting. The idea of being a competent, independent and hopefully successful company is very enticing. What's more, working from a small office, not having a boss, not having to adhere to bureaucratic and administrative rules...what a dream!
If anybody out there is keen to start their own publishing venture and likes the sound of being independent then now is probably as good a time as ever to start. The independent publishing - and more recently independent bookselling sector - have been flourishing. Ventures such as Faber's Independent Alliance is drawing small publishers and booksellers together to try and compete with conglomerates like Penguin, HodderHeadline, RandomHouse and HarperCollins. For an interesting article and more information on the Independent Alliance read Andrew Franklin's article for The Guardian. Andrew Franklin is the founder of Profile Books, one of the most successful independents in the trade. It is an article well worth reading.
But back to the subject matter, as I have managed to get distracted. One account of a successful independent's journey to establishing itself in the trade comes from Clare Christian and her company The Friday Project. Her account is posted on Charkins blog and can be read here. Another good article also comes in the form of a blog from the small independent publishers Snowbooks, which can be read here.
Check them out and who knows, that indie start-up dream may be just on the horizon.
If anybody out there is keen to start their own publishing venture and likes the sound of being independent then now is probably as good a time as ever to start. The independent publishing - and more recently independent bookselling sector - have been flourishing. Ventures such as Faber's Independent Alliance is drawing small publishers and booksellers together to try and compete with conglomerates like Penguin, HodderHeadline, RandomHouse and HarperCollins. For an interesting article and more information on the Independent Alliance read Andrew Franklin's article for The Guardian. Andrew Franklin is the founder of Profile Books, one of the most successful independents in the trade. It is an article well worth reading.
But back to the subject matter, as I have managed to get distracted. One account of a successful independent's journey to establishing itself in the trade comes from Clare Christian and her company The Friday Project. Her account is posted on Charkins blog and can be read here. Another good article also comes in the form of a blog from the small independent publishers Snowbooks, which can be read here.
Check them out and who knows, that indie start-up dream may be just on the horizon.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Inspiration and Misjudgements
As I await inspiration to kill off my dissertation I decided to finally try and compose a 'real' blog entry, something I have failed to do for a couple of month now I believe. To be honest I am just getting back into the online world again, spending many an hour infiltrating the endless labyrinth that consitutes the web. This will only be a brief commentary on some of the changes I have made to the blog recently.
Under the heading "Great Sites" I have added a site from the Curran boys, my very special and beloved B.C.'s brothers. Their music is up and coming and although they have had to re-arrange their band set up a few times over the last couple of month, what I have heard so far sounds really good. Hard to describe but something along the lines of Neil Young meets Rolling Stones meets Stone Roses meets Bourroughesque lyrics. Very intersting! They are called Grand Carousel.
What has got me even more excited though are the additions to the blog section. First there is the Penguin blog and as far as I know it is the first blog from a major publisher. Of course Richard Charkin has his Macmillan blog, but considering his role in the publishing world I am not considering it in the same category as Penguin. Macmillan makes most of its profit from non-fiction material, especially STM journals, which are areas leading the race for combining technological advances/developments with traditional publishing. Hence the Charkin blog is different. Anyways, the Penguin blog itself is rather weak I feel but hopefully it will get better as time goes on. They seem to make a valiant effort to answer questions that get asked by people and this does indeed encourage customer interaction, which is probably the main purpose of the blog. If they can learn anything to help sell books, then I am willing to bet my life that they see their blog as a success. Check it out, it is interesting nonetheless.
The other new addition is even better. The infamous Scott Pack is soon starting his new role of Commercial Director for the Friday Project and has been writing some very interesting blogs over the last couple of weeks. I cannot recommend this blog enough. Mr. Pack comes across as a genuine book lover who is not afraid to speak his mind and unfortunately he seems to have taken a lot of stick for this from the media and the general public. His blog has got a very interesting recommended reading list, a mention of other blogs often run by meaningless individuals like myself and just generally a different and very interesting take on the publishing industry. I am glad that there is someone not afraid to express his views and take on new challenges and I would therefore like to apologise to Mr. Pack for having misjudged him in the past.
I still don't understand why other, smaller publishers don't start blogs. I know that they probably don't have much time but if Scott Pack and Richard Charkin can find the time and inspiration than surely so can Jamie Byng? I would also like to see Bookshops have blogs, but maybe they already do and I am just ignorant. I will keep searching. My goal at this point is to write at least once a week with a kind of industry update for the masses and providing links to any interesting online material.
Thank you also to those 2 individuals that commented on the questionnaire.
M.M.
Under the heading "Great Sites" I have added a site from the Curran boys, my very special and beloved B.C.'s brothers. Their music is up and coming and although they have had to re-arrange their band set up a few times over the last couple of month, what I have heard so far sounds really good. Hard to describe but something along the lines of Neil Young meets Rolling Stones meets Stone Roses meets Bourroughesque lyrics. Very intersting! They are called Grand Carousel.
What has got me even more excited though are the additions to the blog section. First there is the Penguin blog and as far as I know it is the first blog from a major publisher. Of course Richard Charkin has his Macmillan blog, but considering his role in the publishing world I am not considering it in the same category as Penguin. Macmillan makes most of its profit from non-fiction material, especially STM journals, which are areas leading the race for combining technological advances/developments with traditional publishing. Hence the Charkin blog is different. Anyways, the Penguin blog itself is rather weak I feel but hopefully it will get better as time goes on. They seem to make a valiant effort to answer questions that get asked by people and this does indeed encourage customer interaction, which is probably the main purpose of the blog. If they can learn anything to help sell books, then I am willing to bet my life that they see their blog as a success. Check it out, it is interesting nonetheless.
The other new addition is even better. The infamous Scott Pack is soon starting his new role of Commercial Director for the Friday Project and has been writing some very interesting blogs over the last couple of weeks. I cannot recommend this blog enough. Mr. Pack comes across as a genuine book lover who is not afraid to speak his mind and unfortunately he seems to have taken a lot of stick for this from the media and the general public. His blog has got a very interesting recommended reading list, a mention of other blogs often run by meaningless individuals like myself and just generally a different and very interesting take on the publishing industry. I am glad that there is someone not afraid to express his views and take on new challenges and I would therefore like to apologise to Mr. Pack for having misjudged him in the past.
I still don't understand why other, smaller publishers don't start blogs. I know that they probably don't have much time but if Scott Pack and Richard Charkin can find the time and inspiration than surely so can Jamie Byng? I would also like to see Bookshops have blogs, but maybe they already do and I am just ignorant. I will keep searching. My goal at this point is to write at least once a week with a kind of industry update for the masses and providing links to any interesting online material.
Thank you also to those 2 individuals that commented on the questionnaire.
M.M.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Demise of Net Book Agreement & Dissertation
It has been a very long time since I last blogged. There are plenty of reasons for this, but no point in getting into them. Even this blog has been created purely for practical reasons - completing my dissertation. Anybody and everybody is welcome to comment and I hope that through the link that Richard Charkin agreed to add to his blog, some people with strong opinions regarding the demise of the Net Book Agreement (NBA) will leave their comments. I want to get as wide a range of comments from all over the industry (i.e. librarians, authors, booksellers, wholesalers, publishers, etc). The wider the spectrum of opinions, the better.
I would like to thank Richard Charkin for agreeing to do this, as he has already been extremely helpful in providing me with some valuable insights and information on this topic. So there, thank you Mr. Charkin for being such a strong supporter for young and growing publishers.
Below is the questionnaire that I have sent to various industry experts, but as mentioned above, I want all the feedback I can possibly get. I don't know if anybody will actually take the time, but if they did, I would be extremely grateful.
Thanks in advance for anybody contributing comments or even taking the time to look at the questionnaire. Please realise that comments do not strictly have to be answers to the questions below, any opinions on this subject matter are welcome.
MM
* *The three arguments chosen are meant to reflect a balanced view of the seven main reasons listed as contributing to the demise of the NBA and are by no means representative of the entire judgement passed and merely reflect personal choice on behalf of the author of this questionnaire and dissertation.
In re Net Book Agreement 1957 (No.4) 1995 Nos.3 and 4 (E. & W.) Restrictive Practices Court Ch D (RPC) Ferris J., Mr. B. Colgate and Mr. J. King 1997 Jan. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31; March 13 (Sweet and Maxwell Law Report).
I would like to thank Richard Charkin for agreeing to do this, as he has already been extremely helpful in providing me with some valuable insights and information on this topic. So there, thank you Mr. Charkin for being such a strong supporter for young and growing publishers.
Below is the questionnaire that I have sent to various industry experts, but as mentioned above, I want all the feedback I can possibly get. I don't know if anybody will actually take the time, but if they did, I would be extremely grateful.
Thanks in advance for anybody contributing comments or even taking the time to look at the questionnaire. Please realise that comments do not strictly have to be answers to the questions below, any opinions on this subject matter are welcome.
MM
Effects of the demise of the Net Book Agreement on the present and future publishing industry.
This questionnaire is aimed at enabling publishers (or indeed anybody involved in the book trade) to express their views on the effects that the demise of the NBA has had on the publishing industry.
All answers will be treated in strict confidence, and the anonymity (should this be desired) of respondents will be fully respected.
Please answer as thoroughly as you can. If you need more space, please feel free to take it, as I am keen to have as much information as possible.
1) Arguments for the demise of the Net Book Agreement as presented by the Director General of Fair Trading included (amongst others):*
1) “The Net Book Agreement restricts the ability of booksellers to expand the sale of books and compete with other products, to the detriment of consumers.”
2) “Consumers are likely to benefit from lower overall prices without the Net Book Agreement.”
3) The opportunities for extending the market for books to groups of people who in the past have not been regular purchasers is thus enhanced when retailers can determine their own process.”
1a. How far do you agree with the above points?
Fully agree [ ] Partly agree [ ] Disagree [ ]
1b. Are there other more important or more prominent reasons, which in your opinion, led to the demise of the NBA?
What are the advantages and disadvantages to the publishing industry, no longer being under resale price maintenance (having a free market)?
2a. Advantages
2b. Disadvantages
3) Do you believe that there have been any trends (positive/negative) since the collapse of the NBA, such as increased exports, higher book prices, fewer bookshops, etc.)?
3a. General trends
3b. Positive trends
3c. Negative trends
4a. Do you believe that the publishing industry needs to return to restricted market conditions, similar to the NBA, in order to protect independent publishers and retailers? Please give reasons for your answer.
4b. Could the removal of printed prices on books be the solution
5) Briefly, could you discuss how you envision the future for your company and what it plans to do to ensure it remains viable?
6) What role do you think supermarkets and online retailers played in the collapse of the NBA and in preventing the industry from reverting to restricted market conditions?
7) What if anything do you believe globalisation has played in leading to the demise of the NBA and creating a free competitive market?
Thank you for taking time in answering this questionnaire. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.
This questionnaire is aimed at enabling publishers (or indeed anybody involved in the book trade) to express their views on the effects that the demise of the NBA has had on the publishing industry.
All answers will be treated in strict confidence, and the anonymity (should this be desired) of respondents will be fully respected.
Please answer as thoroughly as you can. If you need more space, please feel free to take it, as I am keen to have as much information as possible.
1) Arguments for the demise of the Net Book Agreement as presented by the Director General of Fair Trading included (amongst others):*
1) “The Net Book Agreement restricts the ability of booksellers to expand the sale of books and compete with other products, to the detriment of consumers.”
2) “Consumers are likely to benefit from lower overall prices without the Net Book Agreement.”
3) The opportunities for extending the market for books to groups of people who in the past have not been regular purchasers is thus enhanced when retailers can determine their own process.”
1a. How far do you agree with the above points?
Fully agree [ ] Partly agree [ ] Disagree [ ]
1b. Are there other more important or more prominent reasons, which in your opinion, led to the demise of the NBA?
What are the advantages and disadvantages to the publishing industry, no longer being under resale price maintenance (having a free market)?
2a. Advantages
2b. Disadvantages
3) Do you believe that there have been any trends (positive/negative) since the collapse of the NBA, such as increased exports, higher book prices, fewer bookshops, etc.)?
3a. General trends
3b. Positive trends
3c. Negative trends
4a. Do you believe that the publishing industry needs to return to restricted market conditions, similar to the NBA, in order to protect independent publishers and retailers? Please give reasons for your answer.
4b. Could the removal of printed prices on books be the solution
5) Briefly, could you discuss how you envision the future for your company and what it plans to do to ensure it remains viable?
6) What role do you think supermarkets and online retailers played in the collapse of the NBA and in preventing the industry from reverting to restricted market conditions?
7) What if anything do you believe globalisation has played in leading to the demise of the NBA and creating a free competitive market?
Thank you for taking time in answering this questionnaire. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.
In re Net Book Agreement 1957 (No.4) 1995 Nos.3 and 4 (E. & W.) Restrictive Practices Court Ch D (RPC) Ferris J., Mr. B. Colgate and Mr. J. King 1997 Jan. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31; March 13 (Sweet and Maxwell Law Report).
Friday, May 26, 2006
Freakonomics - Q & A
I have not written in a while so here is an extremely long review of one of the books I read recently. Hopefully I will be able to establish a stricter routine soon but for now this is all I can offer. Another week comes to an end.
Freakonomics
Stephen D. Levitt &
Stephen J. Dubner
Penguin
"Freakonomics" is everywhere. No matter what you choose to do, where you choose to go or even when you want to do it. Freakonomics is everywhere, seriously. This argument is further encouraged by the fact that some of the most unexpected and perhaps unlikeliest of people to read books of any sort, have mentioned it to me recently. I was taken aback by their wealth of knowledge, of their insightful understanding of what underpins our existence. I suppose though, in retrospect, that what they had simply referred to on those rainy afternoons was that freakonomics was in fact, everywhere. The book that is. “The advertising campaign had been stunning,” commented one of those individuals. “No matter where you went, there was the book, somewhere making you want to read it,” the other one had chimed in at some point.
Now this is the book rather than that weird story.
“Freakonomics” is already a bestseller and it has been since it first came out as a hardback. The hardback cover was excellent and first drew my attention to it when working at Books Etc. As far as I can remember it was a small city, comprising of a couple of buildings, streets, cars, people, etc. In short, it was a microcosm of the world and the things we do. The book had also been subtitled as ‘A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything’. Brilliant title; it will sell many copies. The design was as though everything was constituted of tiny blocks, like lego, or like information blocks – data. Data is essentially numbers and the idea of having the world explained through them is fascinating. I suppose it served its purpose, the hardcover that is, and only through a different, more accessible and commercial cover, could the book reach a truly wide audience. It still says ‘A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything’, but somehow it doesn’t feel the same.
Anyways, the book is alright. I like this academic journalism that makes difficult and complex ideas very accessible and almost easy. Malcolm Gladwell comes to mind (and is preferred.) Levitt is an economist who graduated from Harvard. He has been hailed with prizes of all sorts, recognized as one of the leading intellectualists of his still very young life. Unlike other economists, however, Levitt is different. He says that he is “not good at math, I don’t know a lot of econometrics, and I also don’t know how to do theory.” But for Levitt, “economics is a science with excellent tools for gaining answers but a serious shortage of interesting questions.” Dubner on the other hand is a journalist, who once interviewed Levitt in order to write an article about him for the New York Times. In the end the joined their creative powers and, in terms of asking interesting questions and finding answers through numbers, this book certainly succeeds. It is only when I go back to my lifeless ambitions of a world’s microcosm that I feel quite disappointed.
Economics is about incentives. People function through incentives and a lot of their actions depend on them. Hence academics want to be as recognized as possible by fellow peers and ideally history, drug dealers want to make the most amount of money possible to, generally, escape their poor surroundings, and sumo wrestlers want to win as many matches as possible, as the best of them are treated like semi-gods in Japan. However, some incentives create negative responses from humans, cheating and success often being inseparable.
This book, and indeed what distinguishes Levitt from other, more standard stiff collared economics, is the ability to ask unlikely questions. Questions like ‘What do estate agents and the Ku Klux Klan have in common?’, ‘Why do drug dealers live with their mothers?’ and ‘How can your name affect how well you do in life?’ are at the heart of this book. By applying numbers to a set of data. One example is the sudden and inexplicable crime drop in the U.S. in the 1990’s. Nobody could explain its initial rise and even less so its sudden drop. People cited increased police numbers, new schemes, more arrests, new governors and all sorts of things as reasons. The truth was simple as abortion having been made legal 20 years earlier. All the would be criminals were thus not born and combined with other elements, such as a stabilized and improving economy, crime dropped incredibly fast.
Overall the book was interesting although it didn’t cover a lot of new territory. The analysis of the drop in crime rate, seems like old news and some of the other strange questions asked, such as ‘What do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common?’, whilst being intriguing and fun, don’t offer anything definitive to the reader. The answer to the above question seemed merely to be that by studying numbers, it could be figured out that both sumo wrestlers and teachers cheat and that perhaps they have been offered the wrong incentives. It is useful to think that the right incentives can bring the right results, just imagine fighting things like obesity or perhaps even immigration, but all of that surely is already known for that is exactly why we have economists. “Freakonomics” is a highly entertaining and commercial books, which will help pass some dreary moments on the tube or bus and may even inspire you to try and analyze your surroundings a little bit more, but in other than asking off the wall questions, it doesn’t answer any more pressing matters concerning the world we live in.
M.M.
Freakonomics
Stephen D. Levitt &
Stephen J. Dubner
Penguin
"Freakonomics" is everywhere. No matter what you choose to do, where you choose to go or even when you want to do it. Freakonomics is everywhere, seriously. This argument is further encouraged by the fact that some of the most unexpected and perhaps unlikeliest of people to read books of any sort, have mentioned it to me recently. I was taken aback by their wealth of knowledge, of their insightful understanding of what underpins our existence. I suppose though, in retrospect, that what they had simply referred to on those rainy afternoons was that freakonomics was in fact, everywhere. The book that is. “The advertising campaign had been stunning,” commented one of those individuals. “No matter where you went, there was the book, somewhere making you want to read it,” the other one had chimed in at some point.
Now this is the book rather than that weird story.
“Freakonomics” is already a bestseller and it has been since it first came out as a hardback. The hardback cover was excellent and first drew my attention to it when working at Books Etc. As far as I can remember it was a small city, comprising of a couple of buildings, streets, cars, people, etc. In short, it was a microcosm of the world and the things we do. The book had also been subtitled as ‘A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything’. Brilliant title; it will sell many copies. The design was as though everything was constituted of tiny blocks, like lego, or like information blocks – data. Data is essentially numbers and the idea of having the world explained through them is fascinating. I suppose it served its purpose, the hardcover that is, and only through a different, more accessible and commercial cover, could the book reach a truly wide audience. It still says ‘A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything’, but somehow it doesn’t feel the same.
Anyways, the book is alright. I like this academic journalism that makes difficult and complex ideas very accessible and almost easy. Malcolm Gladwell comes to mind (and is preferred.) Levitt is an economist who graduated from Harvard. He has been hailed with prizes of all sorts, recognized as one of the leading intellectualists of his still very young life. Unlike other economists, however, Levitt is different. He says that he is “not good at math, I don’t know a lot of econometrics, and I also don’t know how to do theory.” But for Levitt, “economics is a science with excellent tools for gaining answers but a serious shortage of interesting questions.” Dubner on the other hand is a journalist, who once interviewed Levitt in order to write an article about him for the New York Times. In the end the joined their creative powers and, in terms of asking interesting questions and finding answers through numbers, this book certainly succeeds. It is only when I go back to my lifeless ambitions of a world’s microcosm that I feel quite disappointed.
Economics is about incentives. People function through incentives and a lot of their actions depend on them. Hence academics want to be as recognized as possible by fellow peers and ideally history, drug dealers want to make the most amount of money possible to, generally, escape their poor surroundings, and sumo wrestlers want to win as many matches as possible, as the best of them are treated like semi-gods in Japan. However, some incentives create negative responses from humans, cheating and success often being inseparable.
This book, and indeed what distinguishes Levitt from other, more standard stiff collared economics, is the ability to ask unlikely questions. Questions like ‘What do estate agents and the Ku Klux Klan have in common?’, ‘Why do drug dealers live with their mothers?’ and ‘How can your name affect how well you do in life?’ are at the heart of this book. By applying numbers to a set of data. One example is the sudden and inexplicable crime drop in the U.S. in the 1990’s. Nobody could explain its initial rise and even less so its sudden drop. People cited increased police numbers, new schemes, more arrests, new governors and all sorts of things as reasons. The truth was simple as abortion having been made legal 20 years earlier. All the would be criminals were thus not born and combined with other elements, such as a stabilized and improving economy, crime dropped incredibly fast.
Overall the book was interesting although it didn’t cover a lot of new territory. The analysis of the drop in crime rate, seems like old news and some of the other strange questions asked, such as ‘What do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common?’, whilst being intriguing and fun, don’t offer anything definitive to the reader. The answer to the above question seemed merely to be that by studying numbers, it could be figured out that both sumo wrestlers and teachers cheat and that perhaps they have been offered the wrong incentives. It is useful to think that the right incentives can bring the right results, just imagine fighting things like obesity or perhaps even immigration, but all of that surely is already known for that is exactly why we have economists. “Freakonomics” is a highly entertaining and commercial books, which will help pass some dreary moments on the tube or bus and may even inspire you to try and analyze your surroundings a little bit more, but in other than asking off the wall questions, it doesn’t answer any more pressing matters concerning the world we live in.
M.M.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Standardisation - A Week and a Half
The week is over, finally. A hectic one it was too and since I started writing this another week is halfway through as well. Having completed my by far most difficult exams, Publishing as a Business and Publishing Law, I am now only two steps away from the finishing line (there is that minor and annoying hurdle of a dissertation left - but that is not on my mind right now). The third exam has also been done although that was probably the biggest struggle so far, as a cold and headache and a freezing room didn't make two hours of BS any easier. However, the champagne is on ice and the puppies in the oven. Along with exams there is nothing like a cold to keep you from sleeping, a flat tyre (the second in 5 times riding a brand new bike), and the hassle as class represantative (how I regret having volunteered for that) of having to discuss various 'issues' with our lecturer, firstly in a form of a letter. A letter which I wrote and feared was too harsh and hence enabling me to lose some sleep over that as well. On the plus side I ate lots of fruit and have had a sober mind for what is probably been way too long now.
Enough rambling (although that is all this ever amounts to, I know). WTC Dowling blessed this blog with another one of those invaluable, unknown words, which I already tried using, only to be met my some of the ugliest most unbelieving eyes ever. (Yes, eyes can be ugly.) Below I have also posted the link to one of my latest reviews for Subba-Cultcha, which is about M.Craft. Never heard of him? Same here. The music though is quite good so it might be worth giving him a go. Most of the reviews of unknown bands/aritists have to be generous, but this one is actually quite honest. There is also another review of a gig I went to from a band called Four Day Hombre, who actually had some good moments but resembled Coldplay too much for my liking (however you would never have guessed that from my review..) Check them out if you can be bothered. Other than that there has just been a lot of sneezing, worrying, spitting, shitting, eating, drinking, lying, watching, hoping, despairing, panicking, elation, surpising, drinking, laughing, cooking, swearing, punching, walking, sitting, etc, etc.
That's it for now but no doubt there will be more unintersting stuff to follow eventually. Just another quick note, anybody reading this who is interested in publishing and has been following the Charkin blog, check out the Review section of The Observer and look for the Robert McCrum (literary editor) whose column "World of the Book" appears every two weeks. Likewise, check out Joel Rickett's column in The Guardian on Saturday's called "The Bookseller", which appears on a weekly basis. They are two of the most insightful and quick ways to get updated on the publishing world. (You can even do so through the Internet, no payments required.)
That's all folks.
M. Craft Review:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1989
Four Day Hombre live gig review:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1951
M.M.
Enough rambling (although that is all this ever amounts to, I know). WTC Dowling blessed this blog with another one of those invaluable, unknown words, which I already tried using, only to be met my some of the ugliest most unbelieving eyes ever. (Yes, eyes can be ugly.) Below I have also posted the link to one of my latest reviews for Subba-Cultcha, which is about M.Craft. Never heard of him? Same here. The music though is quite good so it might be worth giving him a go. Most of the reviews of unknown bands/aritists have to be generous, but this one is actually quite honest. There is also another review of a gig I went to from a band called Four Day Hombre, who actually had some good moments but resembled Coldplay too much for my liking (however you would never have guessed that from my review..) Check them out if you can be bothered. Other than that there has just been a lot of sneezing, worrying, spitting, shitting, eating, drinking, lying, watching, hoping, despairing, panicking, elation, surpising, drinking, laughing, cooking, swearing, punching, walking, sitting, etc, etc.
That's it for now but no doubt there will be more unintersting stuff to follow eventually. Just another quick note, anybody reading this who is interested in publishing and has been following the Charkin blog, check out the Review section of The Observer and look for the Robert McCrum (literary editor) whose column "World of the Book" appears every two weeks. Likewise, check out Joel Rickett's column in The Guardian on Saturday's called "The Bookseller", which appears on a weekly basis. They are two of the most insightful and quick ways to get updated on the publishing world. (You can even do so through the Internet, no payments required.)
That's all folks.
M. Craft Review:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1989
Four Day Hombre live gig review:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1951
M.M.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Bloggy Hell: Transmogrify
Weird Word of the Week: TRANSMOGRIFY
OED definition: "transform in a surprising or magical manner"
How to use it:
This puppy is especially weird. This word apparently believes in magic. Try throwing it in at the end of a wild night out, just on the transitional cusp of high to low as the party peaks and boredom sets in. For example: "Wow, what a party!" (slight pause) "Sigh. What the shit's going on? This night's transmogrified into some kind of living hell. I'm going home. And I'm taking these nachos with me."
But that's a bit limited. Where's the magic? I suppose the traditional usage of this peculiar verb would be the old 'princess-frog-kiss-prince' chestnut. Let's try it out:
Princess Fladgella kissed the warty frog on the lips. Kazam! A strange but predictable transformation had taken place - the tailless amphibian had transmogrified into a foppish, effeminate prince, complete with blonde-highlighted mullet and fashionable women's jeans. "Release me, you sow!" squealed the prince, slapping Princess Fladgella hard across the face.
You can also use this word in religious renditions of Jesus abusing his Godly powers to get his companions shit-faced. For example:
And, lo, Jesus went to the wedding reception and saw that there was not enough wine to go around. He decided to transmogrify the water. He held His hand out, feeling the power of the Force flow through His quivering fingertips. The wedding guests gasped as they tasted the water Jesus had transmogrified with his phantasmagorical Jedi powers.
"This is not water," said David of Sidcup, "This is Cherry Lambrini. It is a miracle. Praise the Lord. Woo. Go Creationism. Blah blah blah."
And, yay, then the Son of God did turn to the fish-fingers. He held out His magical and perceivably unethical hand...
Ok, that's it for this week. Or month. Take care.
Rethpec
OED definition: "transform in a surprising or magical manner"
How to use it:
This puppy is especially weird. This word apparently believes in magic. Try throwing it in at the end of a wild night out, just on the transitional cusp of high to low as the party peaks and boredom sets in. For example: "Wow, what a party!" (slight pause) "Sigh. What the shit's going on? This night's transmogrified into some kind of living hell. I'm going home. And I'm taking these nachos with me."
But that's a bit limited. Where's the magic? I suppose the traditional usage of this peculiar verb would be the old 'princess-frog-kiss-prince' chestnut. Let's try it out:
Princess Fladgella kissed the warty frog on the lips. Kazam! A strange but predictable transformation had taken place - the tailless amphibian had transmogrified into a foppish, effeminate prince, complete with blonde-highlighted mullet and fashionable women's jeans. "Release me, you sow!" squealed the prince, slapping Princess Fladgella hard across the face.
You can also use this word in religious renditions of Jesus abusing his Godly powers to get his companions shit-faced. For example:
And, lo, Jesus went to the wedding reception and saw that there was not enough wine to go around. He decided to transmogrify the water. He held His hand out, feeling the power of the Force flow through His quivering fingertips. The wedding guests gasped as they tasted the water Jesus had transmogrified with his phantasmagorical Jedi powers.
"This is not water," said David of Sidcup, "This is Cherry Lambrini. It is a miracle. Praise the Lord. Woo. Go Creationism. Blah blah blah."
And, yay, then the Son of God did turn to the fish-fingers. He held out His magical and perceivably unethical hand...
Ok, that's it for this week. Or month. Take care.
Rethpec
Monday, May 08, 2006
Construction Finished - For Now
With the help of my esteemed friend Dr. Z, I have finally been able to get this blog working properly again. The problem with this webpage XTML language or whatever it is called is that sometimes the whole thing doesn't seem to work because you missed some tiny quotation mark or other annoying symbol like <>. Either way, it is pretty much where it should be now and closely resembles what it was before.
The only new bit really is the "Indie Publishers", which of course stands for Independent Publishers. In my opinion they are definitely amongst the best, but some other good ones, unfortunately don't have a homepage that is working properly (like Atlantic and Serpent's Tail). Why exactly that is the case I don't know because I can't think of much better, cheaper and effective advertising than that. But there are many people that know a lot better than me.
New to the list are Faber & Faber who are by far the culturally and historically richest out of the entire list, with the only possible exception of Granta perhaps. One of Faber's first editors was T.S. Eliot who helped them establish their amazing poetry portfolio, which is still one of their strengths today. The amount of quality books they have published is impossible to list but they include 2004 Booker Prize winner D.B.C. Pierre, another Booker Prize winner and multiple nominee Kazuo Ishiguro and one of my all-time favourites Paul Auster. Those are just some of the contemporary ones, for a general overview check out their homepage.
The Friday Project was on my links before. They are one of the newest and most exciting commercial publishing ventures out there at the moment. Run primarily by a former newspaper correspondant Paul Carr and multiple conglomerate experienced publisher Clare Christian. Recent developments have revealed that Scott Pack, who had been voted by The Observer as the single most influential individual in the publishing industry, will be joining their venture and will inevitably lend some publishing expertise to their developing list. Pack is equally hated and loved in the industry, more hated I would say, as he single handedly seems to decide what books Waterstone's stock, promote, support, despise, etc. Just what he can do to the Friday Project remains to be seen.
Constable & Robinso publish mostly non-fiction such as The Corporation by Joel Bakal, which I recommend to anyone who gives a dirt about this rotten place called world and other political, current affairs and history titles. Having said that, their new Editor seems to have pinched Monica Ali from previous publisher Random House so her future books (not the one coming out this summer) should be published by Constable.
Finally there is Granta. They have a long standing reputation of attracting and finding young authors, some of whom have become household names for many people. Ian McEwan is just one such example. In their magazines they publish unheard of authors and a lot of short stories and also have multiple awards and competitions on a regular basis. If someone gets published in their magazine, you can be sure they will publish a book soon afterwards. Also, David Graham, who was M.D. Director of Canongate and played a big rule in their recent resurgence as one of the strongest Indies, has joined Granta in the same position to develop and improve their fiction list.
There you have it for Indie Publishers. A lot of things happening all the time and I will try to rotate them as much as possible or just keep adding to them.
Good sites features some friends whose art everybody should support, quite frankly because it is damn good. Subba-Cultcha is an online magazine where I write a few reviews, more or less on a weekly basis ranging from DVD to CDs and Computer Games. On the links below you can see my few first ones, one on the Velvet Underground another on some crap computer game and one on Jim Moray. Its a strong Indie site so support it when you can.
I should really be studying for exams that start tomorrow and can't be faced going through the blogs which are more or less self explanatory. If you are into publishing, I can say that regularly checking the Charkin Blog can be very rewarding. He is one of the most outspoken, eccentric and some even say charismatic publishing individuals. He oversees Macmillan UK and is undoubtedly one of the most respected and powerful men in the industry. More on the rest some other time.
For the computer game:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1793
For the Velvet Underground:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1843
For the Jim Moray:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1871
M.M.
The only new bit really is the "Indie Publishers", which of course stands for Independent Publishers. In my opinion they are definitely amongst the best, but some other good ones, unfortunately don't have a homepage that is working properly (like Atlantic and Serpent's Tail). Why exactly that is the case I don't know because I can't think of much better, cheaper and effective advertising than that. But there are many people that know a lot better than me.
New to the list are Faber & Faber who are by far the culturally and historically richest out of the entire list, with the only possible exception of Granta perhaps. One of Faber's first editors was T.S. Eliot who helped them establish their amazing poetry portfolio, which is still one of their strengths today. The amount of quality books they have published is impossible to list but they include 2004 Booker Prize winner D.B.C. Pierre, another Booker Prize winner and multiple nominee Kazuo Ishiguro and one of my all-time favourites Paul Auster. Those are just some of the contemporary ones, for a general overview check out their homepage.
The Friday Project was on my links before. They are one of the newest and most exciting commercial publishing ventures out there at the moment. Run primarily by a former newspaper correspondant Paul Carr and multiple conglomerate experienced publisher Clare Christian. Recent developments have revealed that Scott Pack, who had been voted by The Observer as the single most influential individual in the publishing industry, will be joining their venture and will inevitably lend some publishing expertise to their developing list. Pack is equally hated and loved in the industry, more hated I would say, as he single handedly seems to decide what books Waterstone's stock, promote, support, despise, etc. Just what he can do to the Friday Project remains to be seen.
Constable & Robinso publish mostly non-fiction such as The Corporation by Joel Bakal, which I recommend to anyone who gives a dirt about this rotten place called world and other political, current affairs and history titles. Having said that, their new Editor seems to have pinched Monica Ali from previous publisher Random House so her future books (not the one coming out this summer) should be published by Constable.
Finally there is Granta. They have a long standing reputation of attracting and finding young authors, some of whom have become household names for many people. Ian McEwan is just one such example. In their magazines they publish unheard of authors and a lot of short stories and also have multiple awards and competitions on a regular basis. If someone gets published in their magazine, you can be sure they will publish a book soon afterwards. Also, David Graham, who was M.D. Director of Canongate and played a big rule in their recent resurgence as one of the strongest Indies, has joined Granta in the same position to develop and improve their fiction list.
There you have it for Indie Publishers. A lot of things happening all the time and I will try to rotate them as much as possible or just keep adding to them.
Good sites features some friends whose art everybody should support, quite frankly because it is damn good. Subba-Cultcha is an online magazine where I write a few reviews, more or less on a weekly basis ranging from DVD to CDs and Computer Games. On the links below you can see my few first ones, one on the Velvet Underground another on some crap computer game and one on Jim Moray. Its a strong Indie site so support it when you can.
I should really be studying for exams that start tomorrow and can't be faced going through the blogs which are more or less self explanatory. If you are into publishing, I can say that regularly checking the Charkin Blog can be very rewarding. He is one of the most outspoken, eccentric and some even say charismatic publishing individuals. He oversees Macmillan UK and is undoubtedly one of the most respected and powerful men in the industry. More on the rest some other time.
For the computer game:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1793
For the Velvet Underground:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1843
For the Jim Moray:
http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=1871
M.M.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Final Week: Final Day
A normal start to the day really. With a tinge of indifference I begin the day by writing what will eventually become my blog entry of the previous day. I usually do this on my ‘Ebury Complimentary Slip.’ The irony just feels fitting somehow. After that I completed the mailout for “Iran Awakening”, once again allowing myself ample amounts of time to do so. I have heard office stress and panic is not a very nice feeling, so I want to avoid this at all costs. When I did finally finish, Carolina gave me a completely new assignment to do, reinforcing my theory that good things come too late and mere last a short time (at least in terms of work). The assignment required for me to do research on an author whose latest book spontaneously managed to sell 7,000 copies in one week alone. That’s a hell of a lot of copies for someone that doesn’t enjoy celebrity status and is published by a tiny company in the middle of nowhere, in a tiny country called Wales (the publisher is called Crown House Publishing and the link for them is below). This is one of the benefits of Amazon.com I suppose; it provides a platform and market opportunity that even the smallest publishers can benefit from. Although the negatives of Amazon probably outweigh the positives, this is one valuable aspect that has to be recognized by even the greatest cynics.
Anyways, this author has got another similar book coming out so I was meant to look at potential publicity angles, provide a general author biography and take a closer look at her previous book, all of which will be taken into account during next weeks acquisition meeting. (The book has been offered to Ebury but presumably also a whole of other publishers. At the meeting the publicity, marketing and sales departments will pitch their ideas on why she should choose them over another company. Generally what authors seem to consider most important is the initial fee that they will get paid as an advance, the royalties they will earn afterwards and if the he/she can get along with the publishing company in general.)
I wrote a two page report and was told by Caroline that we would discuss it after lunch. Apparently she will tell me then how she would approach it in terms of whom to do mail outs to (radio, tv, newspapers, magazines, etc.) I will have to wait and see if that happens though, as right now I am writing this during what has become an almost two and a half hour long lunch break. The rest of the afternoon was really only spend doing mailouts for books that I can’t remember at a very slow pace. Caroline did eventually come and talk to me and basically said that the report was good and then we chatted for a while about general publishing stuff. It was a good last day I suppose and I was even given a bottle of champagne and two bags full of books I could choose. Not bad but now exams await.
http://www.crownhouse.co.uk
Anyways, this author has got another similar book coming out so I was meant to look at potential publicity angles, provide a general author biography and take a closer look at her previous book, all of which will be taken into account during next weeks acquisition meeting. (The book has been offered to Ebury but presumably also a whole of other publishers. At the meeting the publicity, marketing and sales departments will pitch their ideas on why she should choose them over another company. Generally what authors seem to consider most important is the initial fee that they will get paid as an advance, the royalties they will earn afterwards and if the he/she can get along with the publishing company in general.)
I wrote a two page report and was told by Caroline that we would discuss it after lunch. Apparently she will tell me then how she would approach it in terms of whom to do mail outs to (radio, tv, newspapers, magazines, etc.) I will have to wait and see if that happens though, as right now I am writing this during what has become an almost two and a half hour long lunch break. The rest of the afternoon was really only spend doing mailouts for books that I can’t remember at a very slow pace. Caroline did eventually come and talk to me and basically said that the report was good and then we chatted for a while about general publishing stuff. It was a good last day I suppose and I was even given a bottle of champagne and two bags full of books I could choose. Not bad but now exams await.
http://www.crownhouse.co.uk
Final Week: Day 4
I can’t really remember how it started. All I know is that today Iain Stephenson will come and visit the placement to find out how the placement has been going.
It’s come back to me now. I started the day by completing the mail out for the Judy Marks books. Whilst doing this I was just reading music reviews from the weekend papers and magazines, as I need to learn the ‘music review lingo’ for some reviews I started doing for an online magazine. (The link is pasted below for now, but once I complete my internship diaries I will change some of the links on this site and it will be up.) Once I finished the mail out Ed asked me to get rid of some old newspapers. This took me a while. I can’t remember what I did after that. I may have done some filing but somehow I made it to lunch.
After lunch there was nothing for me to do so I quite literally sat around for a while. After that I did some filing for nearly an hour and then Stephenson arrived. To make a short story even ever shorter, it was extremely disappointing. He had originally said that he would talk to me and Caroline separately for 15 minutes each, before then having a conversation all three of us together. Instead he spoke to both of us together for no more than 15 minutes. This meant that if I wanted to be honest I would be ‘burning my bridges’ and probably offend the company. So I basically lied and said I really enjoyed absolutely every aspect of the internship and learned huge amounts. My ‘mentor’ Caroline summed the dialogue up adequately by saying “That was short and sweet.” (She seemed a bit nervous during the talk, as if what I chose to say would have a huge impact on her future.) The rest of the day I basically spend doing another mail out for “Iran Awakening” and left a bit early to go to University and get my exam schedule. Boring..
http://www.thefridayproject.co.uk/
It’s come back to me now. I started the day by completing the mail out for the Judy Marks books. Whilst doing this I was just reading music reviews from the weekend papers and magazines, as I need to learn the ‘music review lingo’ for some reviews I started doing for an online magazine. (The link is pasted below for now, but once I complete my internship diaries I will change some of the links on this site and it will be up.) Once I finished the mail out Ed asked me to get rid of some old newspapers. This took me a while. I can’t remember what I did after that. I may have done some filing but somehow I made it to lunch.
After lunch there was nothing for me to do so I quite literally sat around for a while. After that I did some filing for nearly an hour and then Stephenson arrived. To make a short story even ever shorter, it was extremely disappointing. He had originally said that he would talk to me and Caroline separately for 15 minutes each, before then having a conversation all three of us together. Instead he spoke to both of us together for no more than 15 minutes. This meant that if I wanted to be honest I would be ‘burning my bridges’ and probably offend the company. So I basically lied and said I really enjoyed absolutely every aspect of the internship and learned huge amounts. My ‘mentor’ Caroline summed the dialogue up adequately by saying “That was short and sweet.” (She seemed a bit nervous during the talk, as if what I chose to say would have a huge impact on her future.) The rest of the day I basically spend doing another mail out for “Iran Awakening” and left a bit early to go to University and get my exam schedule. Boring..
http://www.thefridayproject.co.uk/
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Final Week: Day 3
The third day seems ok, if nothing else, it marks the halfway point. I started the day by making a couple of more showcards. This time it was meant to contain the jackets from all three of the author’s previous books and of course the one being published now. I took some blurry and generally crap pictures so I may try to post them. I more or less managed to spend three hours doing them at a very lazy pace.
After lunch I had to write another press release. It seems that the first and last week have been the most interesting and challenging. I find that strange but probably that is just me. The press release didn’t really take me too long but I don’t think that Emma has looked at it for corrections yet. She will probably do it on her own time to exercise control over me.
Having done the press release I did a bit of filing until the Mac was free and then went to work on my flyers. I finally got the specific information, so it was just a matter of playing with the jacket picture and title to make sure the right information is legible and jumps out. I showed them to Sara who recommended some additional information that should go on the flyers because the book jacket is not very indicative of the fact that this is actually a book. Additional information such as: Published by Ebury July 6th 2006, £10.99 Available at all good bookshops should be enough. This gave me some more time to play around (and stay away from filing.) Because it was decided that they should be send to professional printers we wanted them to be perfect.
The author this was being done for is Mark Thomas. He is meant to be hilarious and is very politically controversial. Having had some meaningful things to do today, I was more than happy to start a mail out for “Mr. Nice & Mrs. Marks: Adventures with Howard”. That leaves me two days from the end, a visit from my professor to see how the placement went but I am not quite sure how honest I should be with him. This remains to be seen.
Check out Mark Thomas’ homepage on the link below. A lot of it has been censored I think due to the nature of the content. But I think it would be worth trying to catch one of his shows or read the book.
http://www.mtcp.co.uk/
After lunch I had to write another press release. It seems that the first and last week have been the most interesting and challenging. I find that strange but probably that is just me. The press release didn’t really take me too long but I don’t think that Emma has looked at it for corrections yet. She will probably do it on her own time to exercise control over me.
Having done the press release I did a bit of filing until the Mac was free and then went to work on my flyers. I finally got the specific information, so it was just a matter of playing with the jacket picture and title to make sure the right information is legible and jumps out. I showed them to Sara who recommended some additional information that should go on the flyers because the book jacket is not very indicative of the fact that this is actually a book. Additional information such as: Published by Ebury July 6th 2006, £10.99 Available at all good bookshops should be enough. This gave me some more time to play around (and stay away from filing.) Because it was decided that they should be send to professional printers we wanted them to be perfect.
The author this was being done for is Mark Thomas. He is meant to be hilarious and is very politically controversial. Having had some meaningful things to do today, I was more than happy to start a mail out for “Mr. Nice & Mrs. Marks: Adventures with Howard”. That leaves me two days from the end, a visit from my professor to see how the placement went but I am not quite sure how honest I should be with him. This remains to be seen.
Check out Mark Thomas’ homepage on the link below. A lot of it has been censored I think due to the nature of the content. But I think it would be worth trying to catch one of his shows or read the book.
http://www.mtcp.co.uk/
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Final Week: Day 2
Another good day, or at least so it seemed. I used a free computer to finish my Press Release for the Time Out “Weekend Walks Near London”. When I finished I gave it to Emma to check but she didn’t have time to do so immediately. I then asked her if she had anything else for me to do, at which point she invited me to file some press cuttings. This is by far the worst job I have had to do up to this point. There are literally thousands of press cuttings lying around, probably waiting for interns like me to file away. Depressing. (Press cuttings are anything published in magazines, newspapers, etc. regarding a book or author published, in this case, by Ebury.) I don’t need to say that after about 30 minutes when Ed asked me to help him check some stock I was elated and helped him immediately.
I was even happier when I found out that the remaining order of “Salvation Creek” had come and that I could complete the mail out I had started last Friday. I never though it would reach that level. After that I got to make corrections to the Press Release that Emma managed to check and half the day seemed to have passed in a hurry.
After lunch I approached Ed concerning those flyers he had wanted me to make on Quark. He actually had time so we sat down together on the Mac. I am not too familiar with Macs yet, but I have used them once in University in a Quark crash course we had to take. Quark is an amazing program really. The kind of things you can do, combined with the overall functions of a Mac are nearly endless. The flyer concerned a book called “As Used on Nelson Mandela” by Mark Thomas and is one of those popular politics books that seem to dominate part of the consumer market nowadays. Pop-politics. It required making an attractive design and putting specific information (in this case for a special offer on it). Since we didn’t have all the info yet I just really played around with it and will hopefully get to finish it tomorrow.
Afterwards I was happy to do another mailout for Ed for a book entitled “Straight Up and Dirty”, which is in keeping with what seems to be the hottest genre in publishing. Ever since Belle de Hour: The Diary of a Call Girl was published, everybody has been more or less copying the idea. Following from that it is now becoming common to take popular blogs of women’s ‘sexual confessions and adventure stories’ and making them into books. Not much value in them other than money.
I was even happier when I found out that the remaining order of “Salvation Creek” had come and that I could complete the mail out I had started last Friday. I never though it would reach that level. After that I got to make corrections to the Press Release that Emma managed to check and half the day seemed to have passed in a hurry.
After lunch I approached Ed concerning those flyers he had wanted me to make on Quark. He actually had time so we sat down together on the Mac. I am not too familiar with Macs yet, but I have used them once in University in a Quark crash course we had to take. Quark is an amazing program really. The kind of things you can do, combined with the overall functions of a Mac are nearly endless. The flyer concerned a book called “As Used on Nelson Mandela” by Mark Thomas and is one of those popular politics books that seem to dominate part of the consumer market nowadays. Pop-politics. It required making an attractive design and putting specific information (in this case for a special offer on it). Since we didn’t have all the info yet I just really played around with it and will hopefully get to finish it tomorrow.
Afterwards I was happy to do another mailout for Ed for a book entitled “Straight Up and Dirty”, which is in keeping with what seems to be the hottest genre in publishing. Ever since Belle de Hour: The Diary of a Call Girl was published, everybody has been more or less copying the idea. Following from that it is now becoming common to take popular blogs of women’s ‘sexual confessions and adventure stories’ and making them into books. Not much value in them other than money.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Press Release - An Excerpt
"Time Out Country Walks Near London"
The second volume of the Time Out Book of Country Walks has been fully revised and updated, featuring up to 30 walks within easy reach of London – taking you through glorious countryside, all on scenic footpaths with a minimum of road walking.
Walking Guide Highlights
Building on the success of the original book, with walks graded for difficulty and meticulous directions, this updated version is guaranteed to breathe life into the most jaded Londoner. Including anything from fun family strolls, strenuous up-hill hikes or romantic river routes, this guide has something for everyone. Explore the beautiful and pleasant greenery that is still prevalent in SE England, one of England’s highlights and great undiscovered tourist attractions; rich in history with pretty villages and full of natural beauty. Walk in the country and enjoy one of the best weekly workouts, offering a refreshing alternative to the local gym. Walking is also a great way to get out and socialize with old friends, or to meet new ones, both for locals and tourists looking to spend a cheap weekend away from a busy city life. Written and compiled by an eight year old self organised walking group, these walks are arranged every weekend all year-round, uniting a truly diverse group of Londoners.
Walking Guide Highlights
Building on the success of the original book, with walks graded for difficulty and meticulous directions, this updated version is guaranteed to breathe life into the most jaded Londoner. Including anything from fun family strolls, strenuous up-hill hikes or romantic river routes, this guide has something for everyone. Explore the beautiful and pleasant greenery that is still prevalent in SE England, one of England’s highlights and great undiscovered tourist attractions; rich in history with pretty villages and full of natural beauty. Walk in the country and enjoy one of the best weekly workouts, offering a refreshing alternative to the local gym. Walking is also a great way to get out and socialize with old friends, or to meet new ones, both for locals and tourists looking to spend a cheap weekend away from a busy city life. Written and compiled by an eight year old self organised walking group, these walks are arranged every weekend all year-round, uniting a truly diverse group of Londoners.
Final Week: Day 1
A good start to the final week. Somewhat surprisingly it was in keeping with that unspoken universal law that good things come to those who wait (or a more pessimistic view that good things come too late and don’t last). I guess if it’s a universal law then it isn’t or shouldn’t really be surprising, but most things aren’t meant to make sense. Either way, I am not sure which point of view to take but perhaps the future will tell.
I started the day by trying to finish of a mailing I started on Friday for a book that’s coming out entitled “Salvation Creek”. There must easily have been over 100 copies. I ran out of books though and luckily Emma greeted me with a giant smile and a giant mail out that needed to be done. Judging by her expression I feel like I should be grateful to be able to do this. I should consider myself lucky to be in a position to stuff endless amounts of books into envelopes. No matter, I ended up mailing books until the early afternoon. Fortunately though, I also ran out of books for that mailing and after reading Publishing News extensively and checking my e-mail on a computer nearby that I had used for something briefly in the morning, I was told to write another Press Release. An excerpt from that will come out on the next blog.
I was also informed that The Times did a piece on my Fodor’s Guide to the Da Vinci Code based on the press release I had written in my first week. That was mildly and an excerpt is posted below.
The Times Saturday April 22, 2006
The World This Week
“Veni, Vinci”
‘You’ve read the book, seen the court case and got the popcorn on standby for the movie, released next month. Now there’s the travel guide of the film of the novel. Fodor’s Da Vinci Code Companion (£9.99) explores the locations and landmarks in the book, and provides maps, tips and activities for those following the Da Vinci trail. Alternatively, you could put a paper bag over your head and try to avoid the hype. Good luck.’
I started the day by trying to finish of a mailing I started on Friday for a book that’s coming out entitled “Salvation Creek”. There must easily have been over 100 copies. I ran out of books though and luckily Emma greeted me with a giant smile and a giant mail out that needed to be done. Judging by her expression I feel like I should be grateful to be able to do this. I should consider myself lucky to be in a position to stuff endless amounts of books into envelopes. No matter, I ended up mailing books until the early afternoon. Fortunately though, I also ran out of books for that mailing and after reading Publishing News extensively and checking my e-mail on a computer nearby that I had used for something briefly in the morning, I was told to write another Press Release. An excerpt from that will come out on the next blog.
I was also informed that The Times did a piece on my Fodor’s Guide to the Da Vinci Code based on the press release I had written in my first week. That was mildly and an excerpt is posted below.
The Times Saturday April 22, 2006
The World This Week
“Veni, Vinci”
‘You’ve read the book, seen the court case and got the popcorn on standby for the movie, released next month. Now there’s the travel guide of the film of the novel. Fodor’s Da Vinci Code Companion (£9.99) explores the locations and landmarks in the book, and provides maps, tips and activities for those following the Da Vinci trail. Alternatively, you could put a paper bag over your head and try to avoid the hype. Good luck.’
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Jacket Meeting
It started with a briefing about books to be published next year March. In other words they were recently acquired and being pitched to the rest of the company. One was a book combining elements of poker with body language. Examples of other books on poker published by competing companies were shown to the designer and general ideas for the kind of jacket design that was wanted were discussed. The designer will come with some ideas in the next few weeks and they will then be discussed. Due to a key accounts meeting being held this Friday, some of these books, which are lead titles should be as close to being finished as possible. Close to being finished here refers strictly to having a title and a finished jacket.
Some of the ideas that were pitched by the designer sparked some interesting debate concerning font, background colour, general theme, etc. Literally every detail, down to the smallest speck of colour can be immensely significant in the overall ‘feel’ the jacket gives off. The marketing, sales and production directors were there along with two of the publishing directors and the publicity manager, Caroline. Individual editors would then be the ones in charge of briefing their titles (like the poker book above) and this generally included explaining the title, explaining some proposed designs, ideas, etc.
To publish a successful book you don’t even really need to come up with a new idea. As a matter of fact, most successful books nowadays are the complete opposite of original. Part of taking of it is taking old ideas and making them sell and that is a skill more difficult then it seems, especially if you don’t want to plagiarise. “Commercialize the content”. A maternal guide book is discarding its orthodox jacket design of having the author on it, in favour of an illustrated chick-lit design. The reasoning behind this is that they are fashionable, trendy and basically sell a hell of a lot of copies. It is still considered risky though if the author is Gina Ford, the biggest name in parenting books.
The advantage of using the same designer is that initial instructions may be minimal, as he/she will have a pretty good idea of what is expected. On the other hand though jackets can sometimes be too similar and recognizable and “fresh hand” and new ideas may actually be the best option for certain books.
Some of the ideas that were pitched by the designer sparked some interesting debate concerning font, background colour, general theme, etc. Literally every detail, down to the smallest speck of colour can be immensely significant in the overall ‘feel’ the jacket gives off. The marketing, sales and production directors were there along with two of the publishing directors and the publicity manager, Caroline. Individual editors would then be the ones in charge of briefing their titles (like the poker book above) and this generally included explaining the title, explaining some proposed designs, ideas, etc.
To publish a successful book you don’t even really need to come up with a new idea. As a matter of fact, most successful books nowadays are the complete opposite of original. Part of taking of it is taking old ideas and making them sell and that is a skill more difficult then it seems, especially if you don’t want to plagiarise. “Commercialize the content”. A maternal guide book is discarding its orthodox jacket design of having the author on it, in favour of an illustrated chick-lit design. The reasoning behind this is that they are fashionable, trendy and basically sell a hell of a lot of copies. It is still considered risky though if the author is Gina Ford, the biggest name in parenting books.
The advantage of using the same designer is that initial instructions may be minimal, as he/she will have a pretty good idea of what is expected. On the other hand though jackets can sometimes be too similar and recognizable and “fresh hand” and new ideas may actually be the best option for certain books.
Week 4: A Bleak View
This week was only four days long and pretty much lacking any excitement whatsoever. It started, as far as I can remember, with me making some more god forsaken showcards and doing a hell of a lot more mail outs. There is always the odd little job to be done for the publicity director Sara, but this usually involves photocopying and mailing books as well.
The highlight was definitely the jacket meeting I was allowed to attend on wednesday (see next entry) but I don’t really understand why it took four weeks for me to finally be allowed to sit in on one of these meetings and why it is the only one I have gone to. As a partial optimist I should really just be that that I got to go at all, but I find that easier said than done.
On Friday I had to use Sara’s computer and log unto Media Disk to search for some specific people to mail them books. The great thing about sitting in Sara’s office is the view. It is incredible. One gets to see almost all of Bloomsbury, including of course, the beautiful British Museum with its circular glass roof and the reading room protruding from the centre like its core. More impressively though is the view of the Senate House (University of London). This is, of course, where George Orwell worked for the BBC and would later serve as the architectural inspiration behind his bleak ‘Ministry of Truth’ in his novel, 1984.
Anyways, other than the view, which I guess was pretty bleak as well; the week was thankfully coming to an end. With the final week just around the corner I should really be looking for jobs and revising for exams.
The highlight was definitely the jacket meeting I was allowed to attend on wednesday (see next entry) but I don’t really understand why it took four weeks for me to finally be allowed to sit in on one of these meetings and why it is the only one I have gone to. As a partial optimist I should really just be that that I got to go at all, but I find that easier said than done.
On Friday I had to use Sara’s computer and log unto Media Disk to search for some specific people to mail them books. The great thing about sitting in Sara’s office is the view. It is incredible. One gets to see almost all of Bloomsbury, including of course, the beautiful British Museum with its circular glass roof and the reading room protruding from the centre like its core. More impressively though is the view of the Senate House (University of London). This is, of course, where George Orwell worked for the BBC and would later serve as the architectural inspiration behind his bleak ‘Ministry of Truth’ in his novel, 1984.
Anyways, other than the view, which I guess was pretty bleak as well; the week was thankfully coming to an end. With the final week just around the corner I should really be looking for jobs and revising for exams.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Week 3: Short and Sweet
This week was a lot shorter than originally foreseen. Due to some unexpected circumstances I had to go to the German embassy on thursday to have my passport renewed. It expires in less than a month. Since it was Good Friday the following day, the week was a glorious three days short.
If my memory proves me right I spent about 90% of those three days making more showcards; sometimes as many as 16 a day, only to spend the remaining time doing the usual mind numbing mail outs. It is good to do a crossword at the same time or read The Bookseller, but unfortunately my conscience generally tells me to sit there like a mindless, unconscious zombie, trying as hard as possible to wear a smile on my face.
I think a lot of people conceive of me as being scary or having some sort of unspoken superiority complex. Angry arrogance is another description people seem to associate with me. Doesn’t matter, don’t care. (Damn, maybe it is all true after all?)
Wednesday was quite interesting I have to say. I helped Julie from the marketing department complete her Excel spreadsheet of books to be submitted to The Bookseller Buyer’s Guide. The Buyer’s Guide is a supplement of the regular magazine that appears twice a year. It contains the highlights of the spring/autumn list for publishers, chosen by The Bookseller and based on a variety of factors like saleability, originality, etc. This entailed entering ‘Biblio’ database and once again looking up Title Information on specific books (about 50 of them). This information then had to be entered into Excel and included ISBN, price, publication date, author and a general description. I did it quite quickly and most of the book descriptions could be taken directly from the Title Information on the system. Julie did recommend changes but as time ran out and I don’t feel like giving them a second of my own free time she had to do it herself the next day.
This was in some paradoxical way probably the best week I had spent at Ebury.
M.M.
If my memory proves me right I spent about 90% of those three days making more showcards; sometimes as many as 16 a day, only to spend the remaining time doing the usual mind numbing mail outs. It is good to do a crossword at the same time or read The Bookseller, but unfortunately my conscience generally tells me to sit there like a mindless, unconscious zombie, trying as hard as possible to wear a smile on my face.
I think a lot of people conceive of me as being scary or having some sort of unspoken superiority complex. Angry arrogance is another description people seem to associate with me. Doesn’t matter, don’t care. (Damn, maybe it is all true after all?)
Wednesday was quite interesting I have to say. I helped Julie from the marketing department complete her Excel spreadsheet of books to be submitted to The Bookseller Buyer’s Guide. The Buyer’s Guide is a supplement of the regular magazine that appears twice a year. It contains the highlights of the spring/autumn list for publishers, chosen by The Bookseller and based on a variety of factors like saleability, originality, etc. This entailed entering ‘Biblio’ database and once again looking up Title Information on specific books (about 50 of them). This information then had to be entered into Excel and included ISBN, price, publication date, author and a general description. I did it quite quickly and most of the book descriptions could be taken directly from the Title Information on the system. Julie did recommend changes but as time ran out and I don’t feel like giving them a second of my own free time she had to do it herself the next day.
This was in some paradoxical way probably the best week I had spent at Ebury.
M.M.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Week 2: The Life of an Intern
The second week is easy to summarize and doesn't deserve the detail of a daily analysis. I almost only work on what is referred to as "slots", which is looking through all newspapers (monday to sunday) and picking out anything that has the potential for author or book publicity. This could be the 60 second interview in the Metro, or any other celebrity snippet to be found in a newspaper. Potential for interviews, profiles, articles, reviews, etc. all has to be taken into account. Although it has been beneficial to learn about papers and specific journalists, it can feel very soul destroying when the only other thing to be done in between is mailing out hundreds of books, press releases and book jackets.
On friday I had to do something slightly different, which in this case felt incredibly exciting, only because it was that little bit of variety that can make all the difference in staying positive and resigning one's self to extreme cynicsm and pessimism. The task required that I make some show cards for a book called "The Hike" by Don Shaw, for his local library where he will be due to give a talk and sign his book. This involved taking big poster boards and putting all the neccessary information on it, such as the date, an attending fee, time, etc. I also had to find a creative way to use the jacket (front and back) to make the board look attractive and interesting. My visual creativity is usually non-existent but I guess as a reaction to course of the week I surprised myself. Maybe a stifling, boring, soul destroying environment really is the ultimate creative catalyst? Then again, maybe it is only the routine of the life of an intern.
M.M.
On friday I had to do something slightly different, which in this case felt incredibly exciting, only because it was that little bit of variety that can make all the difference in staying positive and resigning one's self to extreme cynicsm and pessimism. The task required that I make some show cards for a book called "The Hike" by Don Shaw, for his local library where he will be due to give a talk and sign his book. This involved taking big poster boards and putting all the neccessary information on it, such as the date, an attending fee, time, etc. I also had to find a creative way to use the jacket (front and back) to make the board look attractive and interesting. My visual creativity is usually non-existent but I guess as a reaction to course of the week I surprised myself. Maybe a stifling, boring, soul destroying environment really is the ultimate creative catalyst? Then again, maybe it is only the routine of the life of an intern.
M.M.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Day 5: The Beginning of the End
Today is the last day before I will be relocated to a new table without a computer. That means a lot of the same old thing I fear. Probably doing a lot of mail outs, photocopying and all the usual stuff associated with a placement. It remains to be seen.
Using the computer and the in-house database system I complete my Da Vinci Code mailing list. Once I compiled the list of about 120 addresses I print it out on the official press release paper. All this is of course after Caroline checked it and gave me some useful advice. Since there are no jackets to send out all there is to send is a photocopy of the jacket along with the Title Information sheet from the system written by the editors. Because Fodor's guides are written and produced in the U.S., there will be no proofs and proper jackets to mail out until a couple of weeks before publication. This doesn't really seem to be a problem though as Fodor's guides are aimed at more up-market people and can in a way guarantee to be sold by bookshops, as they don't really have to compete with Lonely Planet, Rough Guides or DK. They are a category of their own really, almost like Zagat guides.
Other than that there are random mail outs to be done throughout the day. A regular friday I guess and to be honest there isn't much to say. All in all I would have to say I have enjoyed the first week and look forward to next week. I doubt I can handle all the socializing and 'lovely voiced' phone conversations. Wait and see I guess and hope its not the beginning of the end.
M.M.
Using the computer and the in-house database system I complete my Da Vinci Code mailing list. Once I compiled the list of about 120 addresses I print it out on the official press release paper. All this is of course after Caroline checked it and gave me some useful advice. Since there are no jackets to send out all there is to send is a photocopy of the jacket along with the Title Information sheet from the system written by the editors. Because Fodor's guides are written and produced in the U.S., there will be no proofs and proper jackets to mail out until a couple of weeks before publication. This doesn't really seem to be a problem though as Fodor's guides are aimed at more up-market people and can in a way guarantee to be sold by bookshops, as they don't really have to compete with Lonely Planet, Rough Guides or DK. They are a category of their own really, almost like Zagat guides.
Other than that there are random mail outs to be done throughout the day. A regular friday I guess and to be honest there isn't much to say. All in all I would have to say I have enjoyed the first week and look forward to next week. I doubt I can handle all the socializing and 'lovely voiced' phone conversations. Wait and see I guess and hope its not the beginning of the end.
M.M.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Day 4: Entering the UK
The routine continues. Separate and deliver the papers in the morning. Ideally try to alternate who gets what although most people don’t really seem to read them. I guess they don’t have the time. This doesn’t really take long and after this I get to work on my second mailing list. This one is also a Fodor’s guide but the mailing list needs to be a lot more specific. The title is “The Travelling Marathoner” and as the name suggests it is about marathon running and sightseeing (simultaneously?) in the United States. I cannot imagine that many people are waiting for this book but there is some crazy stuff out there. Loads of running, marathon and specifically American tourism magazines exist that I would have never imagined. I also did not send a press release to the normal travel editors or literary supplements, as it is important not to swamp someone regularly with everything you are going to publish. They will just disregard it in the end or even worse associate you with one of your weaker titles. God knows how many titles and press releases they are send every day.
The rest of the day was spent doing some random mailings and working on my Da Vinci Code mailing list. There are now two of my press releases going around the UK.
The rest of the day was spent doing some random mailings and working on my Da Vinci Code mailing list. There are now two of my press releases going around the UK.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Day 3: Getting There
I continue dividing up the newspapers at the beginning of each morning. Caroline has taken some time in the morning to sit down properly with me and look over the Press Releases I have come up with. She likes them and tells me I have done a good job. I was worried that too much of the information had either come straight from her sample or the title information sheets but she seems to have thought that it was ok. (I made sure I couldn’t be done for plagiarism.)
The next thing that Caroline showed me was a program called Mediadisk, which is a database containing very in depth media information. From regional Scottish newspapers, to local radio programs, freelance journalist and broadsheet editors. This program is used to compile a mailing list and can be adapted depending on the book in question. It is therefore relatively simple to get into niche interests, as well as mainstream consumer ones. The program is impressive and I began making a mailing list for the press releases I made of the Fodor’s guides.
The normal amount of mail outs were done throughout the day, as well as odd favours for Sara like sending individual proof copies to specific individuals. I ended the day helping the editorial department out again. This time I was looking at three of the major picture libraries to find black and white illustrations for a book pitch that the illustrated book department is doing for Marks & Spencers. It was short term but unfortunately there wasn’t much out there. I can’t remember the actual names of the libraries but will try to find out for future reference.
The next thing that Caroline showed me was a program called Mediadisk, which is a database containing very in depth media information. From regional Scottish newspapers, to local radio programs, freelance journalist and broadsheet editors. This program is used to compile a mailing list and can be adapted depending on the book in question. It is therefore relatively simple to get into niche interests, as well as mainstream consumer ones. The program is impressive and I began making a mailing list for the press releases I made of the Fodor’s guides.
The normal amount of mail outs were done throughout the day, as well as odd favours for Sara like sending individual proof copies to specific individuals. I ended the day helping the editorial department out again. This time I was looking at three of the major picture libraries to find black and white illustrations for a book pitch that the illustrated book department is doing for Marks & Spencers. It was short term but unfortunately there wasn’t much out there. I can’t remember the actual names of the libraries but will try to find out for future reference.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Day 2: Same Thing
Day 2:
I have been told that every morning I have to ‘do the papers’. This involves taking the bundle that gets delivered every morning (Telegraph, Times, Guardian, Daily Express, Mirror, Mirror and the Independent) and dividing it between the publicity department. As two copies of all papers are delivered, one of each has to go to the editor Joy. I enjoy doing this, as it gives me a chance to look over the headlines and how differently they are portrayed by the different papers. Some famous publisher once said that he could find at least one story worthy of being turned into a book by scrutinizing over the papers on a daily basis. Not sure about that but there are many reasons why one should be doing it I guess.
After that I was given the assignment of writing some press releases for upcoming travel guides from Fodor’s. They are up-market and very American, but the hope is that after they have been repacked and re-branded for greater commercial viability they should be a success. I had an example to help me from Caroline and I used the system to access ‘title information sheets’ to get specific product descriptions. This was slightly intimidating but also very fun, as it was an assignment that involved responsibility.
Other than that I did some general mail outs, which have to be done pretty much every day, at least now when summer is just around the corner and a lot of books tend to get published. I also did a bit of work for the editorial department, which was linking pictures with texts. It was tedious but necessary. A lot of big publishing depends on a lot of small details.
I have been told that every morning I have to ‘do the papers’. This involves taking the bundle that gets delivered every morning (Telegraph, Times, Guardian, Daily Express, Mirror, Mirror and the Independent) and dividing it between the publicity department. As two copies of all papers are delivered, one of each has to go to the editor Joy. I enjoy doing this, as it gives me a chance to look over the headlines and how differently they are portrayed by the different papers. Some famous publisher once said that he could find at least one story worthy of being turned into a book by scrutinizing over the papers on a daily basis. Not sure about that but there are many reasons why one should be doing it I guess.
After that I was given the assignment of writing some press releases for upcoming travel guides from Fodor’s. They are up-market and very American, but the hope is that after they have been repacked and re-branded for greater commercial viability they should be a success. I had an example to help me from Caroline and I used the system to access ‘title information sheets’ to get specific product descriptions. This was slightly intimidating but also very fun, as it was an assignment that involved responsibility.
Other than that I did some general mail outs, which have to be done pretty much every day, at least now when summer is just around the corner and a lot of books tend to get published. I also did a bit of work for the editorial department, which was linking pictures with texts. It was tedious but necessary. A lot of big publishing depends on a lot of small details.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Placement
Day One with Ebury (Random House)
I start at 10 this once to let everybody settle in after the weekend and actually get a chance to assign me tasks. It seems that Emma, Sarah and Caroline will be my main contacts throughout this stage. For now I will be working on publicity related material, especially as Edward Griffiths will be on holiday this week and I can use his desk.
My first assignments included photocopying some Press Releases and Book Jackets to send out to Caroline’s mailing list, which was helpful as it gave me an idea who to send what to. In this case it seems to have been the main newspapers, as well as some regional ones and magazines. I also send out some proofs along with press releases, this was a smaller number and I imagine is based on positive feedback from the mailings or a similar point of contact. I spend a few hours filing spare jackets and went through some of the weekend and Monday newspapers looking for Ebury related material. My last task was to find out information on a book due to be published after the summer some time. The book was the biography of Kevin Pietersen, one of England’s recent Ashes heroes, currently playing against India.
I really enjoyed the first day but unfortunately I did not get to meet everybody at Ebury first. I did meet the head of Rights where I hope to spend some time while I am here. I like the fact that I was given various tasks by the three above mentioned members of the publicity team and was left to get on with stuff by myself.
M.M.
I start at 10 this once to let everybody settle in after the weekend and actually get a chance to assign me tasks. It seems that Emma, Sarah and Caroline will be my main contacts throughout this stage. For now I will be working on publicity related material, especially as Edward Griffiths will be on holiday this week and I can use his desk.
My first assignments included photocopying some Press Releases and Book Jackets to send out to Caroline’s mailing list, which was helpful as it gave me an idea who to send what to. In this case it seems to have been the main newspapers, as well as some regional ones and magazines. I also send out some proofs along with press releases, this was a smaller number and I imagine is based on positive feedback from the mailings or a similar point of contact. I spend a few hours filing spare jackets and went through some of the weekend and Monday newspapers looking for Ebury related material. My last task was to find out information on a book due to be published after the summer some time. The book was the biography of Kevin Pietersen, one of England’s recent Ashes heroes, currently playing against India.
I really enjoyed the first day but unfortunately I did not get to meet everybody at Ebury first. I did meet the head of Rights where I hope to spend some time while I am here. I like the fact that I was given various tasks by the three above mentioned members of the publicity team and was left to get on with stuff by myself.
M.M.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Technology, Publishing and Guiness
At last a sunny day, it does indeed feel positive. Can't help but think about two things: lots of beer in a nice outside pub and sweaty bike rides. I guess the positives do really outweigh the negatives and I am secretly looking forward to summer. A lot of things will happen before then I am sure.
The technology buzz seems to be as strong as ever, if not more so. The BBC have been granted some sort of licensing fee, which they will use to improve their interactive media. The Guardian has launched the first ever "collective comment blog by a British Newspaper." Today they even had a contribution by Noam Chomsky. Not many comments yet but will be interesting to watch it develop.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/index.html
Google also continues to make its usual news appearances. A few years ago estimated worth was around $27 billion I think. They have now been taking the publishing world by storm. Their so called "Google Print" has been renamed as "Google Book Search" and is a plan to have all books in the world available, for free, on the internet. Besides that it also plans to become the worlds "informational grid", containing everyone's information. Scary.
That's enough small talk for now. Shit Stories will probably from a lengthy delay. Excitement generally remains minimal but Guiness will be flowing come Friday.
Enjoy the light.
M.M.
The technology buzz seems to be as strong as ever, if not more so. The BBC have been granted some sort of licensing fee, which they will use to improve their interactive media. The Guardian has launched the first ever "collective comment blog by a British Newspaper." Today they even had a contribution by Noam Chomsky. Not many comments yet but will be interesting to watch it develop.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/index.html
Google also continues to make its usual news appearances. A few years ago estimated worth was around $27 billion I think. They have now been taking the publishing world by storm. Their so called "Google Print" has been renamed as "Google Book Search" and is a plan to have all books in the world available, for free, on the internet. Besides that it also plans to become the worlds "informational grid", containing everyone's information. Scary.
That's enough small talk for now. Shit Stories will probably from a lengthy delay. Excitement generally remains minimal but Guiness will be flowing come Friday.
Enjoy the light.
M.M.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Shit Stories: Part 1 Introduction
First and foremost I would like to thank my W T C Dowling for his worthy contributions and I must say that I look forward to hearing something of a weekly unkown, useless but highly amusing word definition. That's the stuff we like to see. Maybe you can actually teach me a thing or two about my blog because I did not realize that you would be able to post blogs on my page.
It's all good though, I am glad.
I must say that your little series of 'shit' poetry has really inspired me and so here is a little Shit Introduction to a shit little story that hasn't really been thought through and is very likely to not develop into anything other than...yes, shit.
So thank you Will for your inspiration and I don't really mind if this shit makes anyone cry, laugh, twitch or whatever. I found it and decided to share. This is for all those anonyms to tear into. What a beautiful sunny day, I will drop the blinds now and hide in a corner.
A Tale of Vast and Promising Proportions: Part 1 Introduction by: M.M. Ayala
It all started a long time ago. I don’t know exactly when but I am quite sure that it was a long time ago. Back then things were different. Not wholly different from the way things are today, but quite different nonetheless. It reminded one of another world somehow; of something long gone and irrevocably lost. But not forgotten and that’s the important part. At least that’s what I always thought. In reality, what one remembers is what one chooses not to forget. That’s what he always said back in the days when things still seemed to matter, to contain some kind of meaning.
I can’t afford to be late again; it would be the second time this week and today is only Tuesday. Mr. W. already ridiculed me in front of the entire class last week for having the worst attendance imaginable. University. I didn’t think they took attendance or cared for what you did.
The bell rings. Damn. This university was different. I should have known. I should have known that this university has one course and one professor whose rules would be completely different. And I should have known that I would find myself in that class as the one student Mr. W. hated. The one professor that everybody loves.
“Mr. T. How nice of you to join us. I am gratefully put at ease that everything is in order and that you are unpunctual.”
I wince and force a sarcastic smile, looking at the floor the entire time. Never challenge Mr. W. Never. He will leave you reeling in self pity. To this day I will never forget how he embarrassed me in only the second week of the course.
“Thomas I don’t understand how you have managed to arrive late every day of this semester. If you have more important matter to attend to, which is hardly imaginable, then I suggest you don’t bother showing up at all.”
I start to answer, “At least four times I was late” by less than a minute and class hasn’t even…” but almost immediately I realized it was a mistake.
“I decide when class starts! You will hardly be successful in life if you can’t adhere to a simple schedule. Everybody else seems to manage just fine. Do you think you are special? Tell Mr. T. why did you join my writing class?”
I never got a real chance to explain myself and I don’t really remember the ensuing conversation. My face had gone bright red and I was facing the floor. I am not good at eye contact. He explained to the whole class why I would never succeed and why my first assignment – observing and describing a stationary object and making it the protagonist of a 250 word short short story – had so miserably failed.
My object had been a lamp. An omniscient observer able to turn night into day and day into night. Not only could it see everything at all times but it could decide who could see what when.
I had liked the idea at the time but have since developed something that might be considered a chronic fear of lamps and would revert to candles if my eye sight weren’t already terrible enough.
I took my seat towards the back of the class. Ever since that day I always sat in the back. “Only the rebels, and rebels without a cause I may add, willingly sit in the back of the class Mr. W. proudly declared to the class.”
Giggles ensued.
I hate hate this class. I despise these students. How did I end up here?
Only five guys in a class of thirty. One gay, two nerds, one zombie and me. The girls worshipped Mr. W. and he knew it. That fat ass. That over eaten gravy stuffed fatsoe.
The sun was shining, the leaves were wet. Reflections danced on the windows and even the trees that rustled in the soft breeze seemed amused by misery. “Today we will discuss what I refer to as pre post-modernism and narratives traces of the self in…”
M.M.
It's all good though, I am glad.
I must say that your little series of 'shit' poetry has really inspired me and so here is a little Shit Introduction to a shit little story that hasn't really been thought through and is very likely to not develop into anything other than...yes, shit.
So thank you Will for your inspiration and I don't really mind if this shit makes anyone cry, laugh, twitch or whatever. I found it and decided to share. This is for all those anonyms to tear into. What a beautiful sunny day, I will drop the blinds now and hide in a corner.
A Tale of Vast and Promising Proportions: Part 1 Introduction by: M.M. Ayala
It all started a long time ago. I don’t know exactly when but I am quite sure that it was a long time ago. Back then things were different. Not wholly different from the way things are today, but quite different nonetheless. It reminded one of another world somehow; of something long gone and irrevocably lost. But not forgotten and that’s the important part. At least that’s what I always thought. In reality, what one remembers is what one chooses not to forget. That’s what he always said back in the days when things still seemed to matter, to contain some kind of meaning.
I can’t afford to be late again; it would be the second time this week and today is only Tuesday. Mr. W. already ridiculed me in front of the entire class last week for having the worst attendance imaginable. University. I didn’t think they took attendance or cared for what you did.
The bell rings. Damn. This university was different. I should have known. I should have known that this university has one course and one professor whose rules would be completely different. And I should have known that I would find myself in that class as the one student Mr. W. hated. The one professor that everybody loves.
“Mr. T. How nice of you to join us. I am gratefully put at ease that everything is in order and that you are unpunctual.”
I wince and force a sarcastic smile, looking at the floor the entire time. Never challenge Mr. W. Never. He will leave you reeling in self pity. To this day I will never forget how he embarrassed me in only the second week of the course.
“Thomas I don’t understand how you have managed to arrive late every day of this semester. If you have more important matter to attend to, which is hardly imaginable, then I suggest you don’t bother showing up at all.”
I start to answer, “At least four times I was late” by less than a minute and class hasn’t even…” but almost immediately I realized it was a mistake.
“I decide when class starts! You will hardly be successful in life if you can’t adhere to a simple schedule. Everybody else seems to manage just fine. Do you think you are special? Tell Mr. T. why did you join my writing class?”
I never got a real chance to explain myself and I don’t really remember the ensuing conversation. My face had gone bright red and I was facing the floor. I am not good at eye contact. He explained to the whole class why I would never succeed and why my first assignment – observing and describing a stationary object and making it the protagonist of a 250 word short short story – had so miserably failed.
My object had been a lamp. An omniscient observer able to turn night into day and day into night. Not only could it see everything at all times but it could decide who could see what when.
I had liked the idea at the time but have since developed something that might be considered a chronic fear of lamps and would revert to candles if my eye sight weren’t already terrible enough.
I took my seat towards the back of the class. Ever since that day I always sat in the back. “Only the rebels, and rebels without a cause I may add, willingly sit in the back of the class Mr. W. proudly declared to the class.”
Giggles ensued.
I hate hate this class. I despise these students. How did I end up here?
Only five guys in a class of thirty. One gay, two nerds, one zombie and me. The girls worshipped Mr. W. and he knew it. That fat ass. That over eaten gravy stuffed fatsoe.
The sun was shining, the leaves were wet. Reflections danced on the windows and even the trees that rustled in the soft breeze seemed amused by misery. “Today we will discuss what I refer to as pre post-modernism and narratives traces of the self in…”
M.M.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Bloggy Hell: Discombobulate
Weird Word of the Week: DISCOMBOBULATE
OED definition: "disconcert or confuse"
How to use it:
Try throwing this puppy in at cocktail parties, or when conversing with drunks on the street. For example, a sex-on-the-beach slurping bimbo approaches you, asks for your thoughts on the Iran situation; you could respond with: "I don't know. The world is a discombobulating place. This is a discombobulating party. Your eyes, they discombobulate me." She will, of course, make her excuses and mingle elsewhere. But remember this: you discombobulated that bimbo, and you did it with the weirdness of a word. Be proud. When it comes to chatting with alcoholics on the street, it always helps to speak loudly, with confidence. For example, a fellow approaches you clutching a half empty bottle of Frosty Jack's Extra Strong White Cider. He asks you for some money. What he doesn't know is, you're penniless yourself; you've spent your last £3.50 on half a lager in some West End toss-hole and you're in no mood for doling out charity. Try this: "I'm sorry my good man," and then, with vigour; "DISCOMBOBULATE!" He won't ask you anything ever again. You deflected his advances by the skilful wielding of a weird word. Be proud. But remember: if you do have extra money to dole out to drunks, don't be tight; get them in.
NEXT WEEK (or when I can be bothered): TRANSMOGRIFICATION
OED definition: "disconcert or confuse"
How to use it:
Try throwing this puppy in at cocktail parties, or when conversing with drunks on the street. For example, a sex-on-the-beach slurping bimbo approaches you, asks for your thoughts on the Iran situation; you could respond with: "I don't know. The world is a discombobulating place. This is a discombobulating party. Your eyes, they discombobulate me." She will, of course, make her excuses and mingle elsewhere. But remember this: you discombobulated that bimbo, and you did it with the weirdness of a word. Be proud. When it comes to chatting with alcoholics on the street, it always helps to speak loudly, with confidence. For example, a fellow approaches you clutching a half empty bottle of Frosty Jack's Extra Strong White Cider. He asks you for some money. What he doesn't know is, you're penniless yourself; you've spent your last £3.50 on half a lager in some West End toss-hole and you're in no mood for doling out charity. Try this: "I'm sorry my good man," and then, with vigour; "DISCOMBOBULATE!" He won't ask you anything ever again. You deflected his advances by the skilful wielding of a weird word. Be proud. But remember: if you do have extra money to dole out to drunks, don't be tight; get them in.
NEXT WEEK (or when I can be bothered): TRANSMOGRIFICATION
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Spiked Books
The London Book fair is a great place to visit. Today on its last day it was open to the public and that could be noticed in the increased amount of people wearing jeans and hovering around stands in the hope of getting a freebie. I was of course in the throngs of things as I managed to get DBC Pierre’s latest book. Having said that, the manic people interaction had shown no sign of giving up.
Apparently Canongate had their famous party last night and an empty Canongate stand at around 9.30 am seems to have suggested that the party was successful. Later on, glimpsing at the Best Stand Shell Award 2006, which yes was Canongate, the crowd of publishers, agents and god know who else, were queuing to chat with Jamie Byng (known for his revival of the company.)
I however was just roaming through this place. It would easily take almost 20 minutes to go from one end of the hall to the other. Over 450 over some of the rarest publishers you could ever imagine. The only reason I go on about Canongate is because I think they are coming out with some of the best stuff at the moment. And they are independent. I might add some of their homepages actually.
In terms of adding links. You can read some of the finest blogs from Ronaldinho to Owen. Michael Owen the great. Yup. I have not for a second, considered these guys to be actually writing their own stuff. It could be a good lesson in ghost writing though.
A picture of the Canongate stand, complete with pierced books to follow.
M.M.
Apparently Canongate had their famous party last night and an empty Canongate stand at around 9.30 am seems to have suggested that the party was successful. Later on, glimpsing at the Best Stand Shell Award 2006, which yes was Canongate, the crowd of publishers, agents and god know who else, were queuing to chat with Jamie Byng (known for his revival of the company.)
I however was just roaming through this place. It would easily take almost 20 minutes to go from one end of the hall to the other. Over 450 over some of the rarest publishers you could ever imagine. The only reason I go on about Canongate is because I think they are coming out with some of the best stuff at the moment. And they are independent. I might add some of their homepages actually.
In terms of adding links. You can read some of the finest blogs from Ronaldinho to Owen. Michael Owen the great. Yup. I have not for a second, considered these guys to be actually writing their own stuff. It could be a good lesson in ghost writing though.
A picture of the Canongate stand, complete with pierced books to follow.
M.M.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
The Sixth Borough - JSF
The weekend is over once again. I have promised some Jonathan Safran Foer to ease the pain so here it is. I was midway through posting another, probably more interesting article of his but it was too long. So this will have to do instead.
Still think its good.
The Sixth Borough
By JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER
Published: September 17, 2004
Once upon a time, New York City had a Sixth Borough. You won't read about it in any of the history books, because there's nothing - save for the circumstantial evidence in Central Park - to prove that it was there at all. Which makes its existence very easy to dismiss. Especially in a time like this one, when the world is so unpredictable, and it takes all of one's resources just to get by in the present tense. But even though most people will say they have no time or reason to believe in the Sixth Borough, and don't believe in the Sixth Borough, they will still use the word "believe.''
The Sixth Borough was an island, separated from Manhattan by a thin body of water, whose narrowest crossing happened to equal the world's long jump record, such that exactly one person on earth could go from Manhattan to the Sixth Borough without getting wet. A huge party was made of the yearly leap. Bagels were strung from island to island on special spaghetti, samosas were bowled at baguettes, Greek salads were thrown like confetti. The children of New York captured fireflies in glass jars, which they floated between the boroughs. The bugs would slowly asphyxiate, flickering rapidly for their last few minutes of life. If it was timed right, the river shimmered as the jumper crossed it.
When the time finally came, the long jumper would run the entire width of Manhattan. New Yorkers rooted him on from opposite sides of the street, from the windows of their apartments and offices, from the branches of the trees. And when he leapt, New Yorkers cheered from the banks of both Manhattan and the Sixth Borough, cheering on the jumper, and cheering on each other. For those few moments that the jumper was in the air, every New Yorker felt capable of flight. Or perhaps "suspension" is a better word. Because what was so inspiring about the leap was not how the jumper got from one borough to the other, but how he stayed between them for so long.
One year - many, many years ago - the end of the jumper's big toe touched the surface of the water and caused a little ripple. People gasped, as the ripple traveled out from the Sixth Borough back toward Manhattan, knocking the jars of fireflies against one another like wind chimes.
"You must have gotten a bad start!" a Manhattan councilman hollered from across the water.
The jumper nodded no, more confused than ashamed.
"You had the wind in your face," a Sixth Borough councilman suggested, offering a towel for the jumper's foot.
The jumper shook his head.
"Perhaps he ate too much for lunch," said one onlooker to another.
"Or maybe he's past his prime," said another, who'd brought his kids to watch the leap.
"I bet his heart wasn't in it," said another. "You just can't expect to jump that far without some serious feeling."
"No," the jumper said to all of the speculation. "None of that's right. I jumped just fine."
The revelation traveled across the onlookers like the ripple caused by the toe, and when the mayor of New York City spoke it aloud, everyone sighed in agreement: "The Sixth Borough is moving."
Each year after, a few inches at a time, the Sixth Borough receded from New York. One year, the long jumper's entire foot got wet, and after a number of years, his shin, and after many, many years - so many years that no one could even remember what it was like to celebrate without anxiety - the jumper had to reach out his arms and grab at the Sixth Borough fully extended, and then, sadly, he couldn't touch it at all. The eight bridges between Manhattan and the Sixth Borough strained and finally crumbled, one at a time, into the water. The tunnels were pulled too thin to hold anything at all.
The phone and electrical lines snapped, requiring Sixth Boroughers to revert to old-fashioned technologies, most of which resembled children's toys: they used magnifying glasses to reheat their carry-out; they folded important documents into paper airplanes and threw them from one office building window into another; those fireflies in glass jars, which had once been used merely for decorative purposes during the festivals of the leap, were now found in every room of every apartment, taking the place of artificial light.
The very same engineers who dealt with the Leaning Tower of Pisa were brought over to assess the situation.
"It wants to go," they said.
"Well, what can you say about that?" the mayor of New York asked.
To which they replied, "There's nothing to say about that."
Still think its good.
The Sixth Borough
By JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER
Published: September 17, 2004
Once upon a time, New York City had a Sixth Borough. You won't read about it in any of the history books, because there's nothing - save for the circumstantial evidence in Central Park - to prove that it was there at all. Which makes its existence very easy to dismiss. Especially in a time like this one, when the world is so unpredictable, and it takes all of one's resources just to get by in the present tense. But even though most people will say they have no time or reason to believe in the Sixth Borough, and don't believe in the Sixth Borough, they will still use the word "believe.''
The Sixth Borough was an island, separated from Manhattan by a thin body of water, whose narrowest crossing happened to equal the world's long jump record, such that exactly one person on earth could go from Manhattan to the Sixth Borough without getting wet. A huge party was made of the yearly leap. Bagels were strung from island to island on special spaghetti, samosas were bowled at baguettes, Greek salads were thrown like confetti. The children of New York captured fireflies in glass jars, which they floated between the boroughs. The bugs would slowly asphyxiate, flickering rapidly for their last few minutes of life. If it was timed right, the river shimmered as the jumper crossed it.
When the time finally came, the long jumper would run the entire width of Manhattan. New Yorkers rooted him on from opposite sides of the street, from the windows of their apartments and offices, from the branches of the trees. And when he leapt, New Yorkers cheered from the banks of both Manhattan and the Sixth Borough, cheering on the jumper, and cheering on each other. For those few moments that the jumper was in the air, every New Yorker felt capable of flight. Or perhaps "suspension" is a better word. Because what was so inspiring about the leap was not how the jumper got from one borough to the other, but how he stayed between them for so long.
One year - many, many years ago - the end of the jumper's big toe touched the surface of the water and caused a little ripple. People gasped, as the ripple traveled out from the Sixth Borough back toward Manhattan, knocking the jars of fireflies against one another like wind chimes.
"You must have gotten a bad start!" a Manhattan councilman hollered from across the water.
The jumper nodded no, more confused than ashamed.
"You had the wind in your face," a Sixth Borough councilman suggested, offering a towel for the jumper's foot.
The jumper shook his head.
"Perhaps he ate too much for lunch," said one onlooker to another.
"Or maybe he's past his prime," said another, who'd brought his kids to watch the leap.
"I bet his heart wasn't in it," said another. "You just can't expect to jump that far without some serious feeling."
"No," the jumper said to all of the speculation. "None of that's right. I jumped just fine."
The revelation traveled across the onlookers like the ripple caused by the toe, and when the mayor of New York City spoke it aloud, everyone sighed in agreement: "The Sixth Borough is moving."
Each year after, a few inches at a time, the Sixth Borough receded from New York. One year, the long jumper's entire foot got wet, and after a number of years, his shin, and after many, many years - so many years that no one could even remember what it was like to celebrate without anxiety - the jumper had to reach out his arms and grab at the Sixth Borough fully extended, and then, sadly, he couldn't touch it at all. The eight bridges between Manhattan and the Sixth Borough strained and finally crumbled, one at a time, into the water. The tunnels were pulled too thin to hold anything at all.
The phone and electrical lines snapped, requiring Sixth Boroughers to revert to old-fashioned technologies, most of which resembled children's toys: they used magnifying glasses to reheat their carry-out; they folded important documents into paper airplanes and threw them from one office building window into another; those fireflies in glass jars, which had once been used merely for decorative purposes during the festivals of the leap, were now found in every room of every apartment, taking the place of artificial light.
The very same engineers who dealt with the Leaning Tower of Pisa were brought over to assess the situation.
"It wants to go," they said.
"Well, what can you say about that?" the mayor of New York asked.
To which they replied, "There's nothing to say about that."
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Blue Nights
So maybe its not over yet, but probably yes.
Doesn't it feel nice to feel blue. Calls for introspection, reflection, some contemplation and all other words related to melancholic thinking.
We feel better now though, at home, in familiar surroundings.
What I want to do is list some of the best beginnings of books. Those first sentences that just refuse to leave one's head even once the book has been completed and is back on the shelf.
Like Mersault: "My maman died yesterday, or the day before. I can't remember."
I can't really remember the exact words either but they penetrated that innermost, unspoken, undiscribable self.
As I am reading Capote I will begin with this.
"The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call 'out there'."
Possibly not the most memorable opening, but in my humble opinion I would say there is definitely some darkness coming our way.
People read books all the time but are too lazy to talk about them, review them or give their opinion. Maybe because there is none and a book has been read so that having read it is a topic of conversation. So, come on. If anybody that reads this has actually read a book lately: for Christ's sake, say something.
More busy times ahead so even less of me. Mr. Foer will make his appearance shortly.
M.M.
Doesn't it feel nice to feel blue. Calls for introspection, reflection, some contemplation and all other words related to melancholic thinking.
We feel better now though, at home, in familiar surroundings.
What I want to do is list some of the best beginnings of books. Those first sentences that just refuse to leave one's head even once the book has been completed and is back on the shelf.
Like Mersault: "My maman died yesterday, or the day before. I can't remember."
I can't really remember the exact words either but they penetrated that innermost, unspoken, undiscribable self.
As I am reading Capote I will begin with this.
"The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call 'out there'."
Possibly not the most memorable opening, but in my humble opinion I would say there is definitely some darkness coming our way.
People read books all the time but are too lazy to talk about them, review them or give their opinion. Maybe because there is none and a book has been read so that having read it is a topic of conversation. So, come on. If anybody that reads this has actually read a book lately: for Christ's sake, say something.
More busy times ahead so even less of me. Mr. Foer will make his appearance shortly.
M.M.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Night-blogging
Here I am. Music in one ear mixing with the wine in the head. The other side suffers from a left eye-lid that is permanently asleep. I don't know much about what happens on the other side.
Night-blogging. And thinking about publishing in China. The future, i keep saying it.
As my blogs get worse and my right side (of the head) is giving in to the jazz I will try to rectify the problem of 'the present.'
To make the present a little more worthwhile - at least to those of you that don't have a choice but to read it - I promise to put some unofficial blogs of Jonathan Safran Foer.
I will of course choose their exact and precise timing of publication with great precision, as they are my only real source of quality. The blogs will actually only be publications of his that are freely available on the Internet. Reading it should therefore not necessarily endanger you.
Night-blogging. Yeah.
The beat has changed and that kind of thing just happens to be possible. Next on my reading list will probably have to be "In Cold Blood: A True Account of Multiple Murder and its Consequences" by Truman Capote. The hype around the film is inevitable. Philip Seymour Hoffman is old time classic at the invisible/instrumental, often geek, loser, etc. character. And so I have been swayed. Explore another narrative: that of the murderer. Pioneer Capote. I am sure something will be discovered.
The next blog promises to be of greater quality as it won't be written by me.
The night reckons.
M.M.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Friday, February 17, 2006
A Contribution
At long last I will post the first contribution. It probably shouldn't be called 'a contribution, considering that I threatened to pour endless amounts of black sambucca(?) down Will's throat, if he wouldn't let me post his story.
The end of another week, which means even less time.
Here it is.
The Worst News Drove Him Round the Beyond
By Will Dowling
Mirror, signal, manoeuvre and the car moved off easily in first gear. Rodney shifted in the passenger seat, adjusted his instructor’s mirror and said:
“Good.”
I drove on.
Rodney said, “Ok, now just follow the road ahead and take a left at the end.”
I followed the road ahead and took a left at the end. We drove past a chip shop, a newsagents, a post office, three fat women pushing prams in a procession of obese poverty, a gang of idiots standing on the pavement in baggy clothes and hooded tops smoking and gesticulating and proving nothing to themselves and the world. The sky spread grey carpet behind black tower blocks. Rodney said something about the weather.
“Yes, miserable,” I murmured.
We approached a roundabout.
“Turn right at the roundabout taking the third exit; the third exit.” said Rodney.
I turned right at the roundabout taking the third exit; the third exit. I didn’t really want to drive. It angered me.
“Yes, my wife’s six months pregnant now,” said Rodney, continuing a conversation that had never started.
“Really? That’s great,” I said, not interested, but pretending to be.
I drove past a nun, a homeless girl and two policemen. The rain started. I flicked on the windscreen wipers on slow to middling. I approached traffic lights and braked the car. We drove slowly up behind a builder’s white van. Written in big black letters over the big back doors of the van were the words: Allan Poe and Sons, Builders and Plumbers. Life felt dead.
The lights turned orange, green and I continued. I slipped the car into second, into third. The builder’s white van turned left and disappeared down another sad street. Ahead of me lay straight, characterless road.
“Now use your fourth gear; it’s an economical gear,” said Rodney.
I used my fourth gear; it’s an economical gear. I drove past a thin man holding a small tree, past a group of depressed school children, past an old lady in a wheelchair being pushed by a hairy youth, past a weathered busker playing a beaten guitar, past two men in suits walking in synchronicity and talking to each other without looking at each other. My head ached.
Then Rodney’s phone rang.
“Hello?” answered Rodney.
Silence hung in the car, in the sealed in air.
“No,” said Rodney in a small voice.
Quiet returned. I drove on. The car trundled in the slick falling rain.
“No,” repeated Rodney in his tiny voice.
I coughed and stared at the road ahead, the white lines just rolling on, rolling on.
“Pull over. Pull the car over,” said Rodney.
I pulled over. I pulled the car over. Rodney got out of the car. He stood on the edge of the pavement in front of the bonnet. His expression looked strange. He gazed up at the sky and smiled. A huge red lorry thundered along and he stepped out in front of it and exploded all over the road.
The end of another week, which means even less time.
Here it is.
The Worst News Drove Him Round the Beyond
By Will Dowling
Mirror, signal, manoeuvre and the car moved off easily in first gear. Rodney shifted in the passenger seat, adjusted his instructor’s mirror and said:
“Good.”
I drove on.
Rodney said, “Ok, now just follow the road ahead and take a left at the end.”
I followed the road ahead and took a left at the end. We drove past a chip shop, a newsagents, a post office, three fat women pushing prams in a procession of obese poverty, a gang of idiots standing on the pavement in baggy clothes and hooded tops smoking and gesticulating and proving nothing to themselves and the world. The sky spread grey carpet behind black tower blocks. Rodney said something about the weather.
“Yes, miserable,” I murmured.
We approached a roundabout.
“Turn right at the roundabout taking the third exit; the third exit.” said Rodney.
I turned right at the roundabout taking the third exit; the third exit. I didn’t really want to drive. It angered me.
“Yes, my wife’s six months pregnant now,” said Rodney, continuing a conversation that had never started.
“Really? That’s great,” I said, not interested, but pretending to be.
I drove past a nun, a homeless girl and two policemen. The rain started. I flicked on the windscreen wipers on slow to middling. I approached traffic lights and braked the car. We drove slowly up behind a builder’s white van. Written in big black letters over the big back doors of the van were the words: Allan Poe and Sons, Builders and Plumbers. Life felt dead.
The lights turned orange, green and I continued. I slipped the car into second, into third. The builder’s white van turned left and disappeared down another sad street. Ahead of me lay straight, characterless road.
“Now use your fourth gear; it’s an economical gear,” said Rodney.
I used my fourth gear; it’s an economical gear. I drove past a thin man holding a small tree, past a group of depressed school children, past an old lady in a wheelchair being pushed by a hairy youth, past a weathered busker playing a beaten guitar, past two men in suits walking in synchronicity and talking to each other without looking at each other. My head ached.
Then Rodney’s phone rang.
“Hello?” answered Rodney.
Silence hung in the car, in the sealed in air.
“No,” said Rodney in a small voice.
Quiet returned. I drove on. The car trundled in the slick falling rain.
“No,” repeated Rodney in his tiny voice.
I coughed and stared at the road ahead, the white lines just rolling on, rolling on.
“Pull over. Pull the car over,” said Rodney.
I pulled over. I pulled the car over. Rodney got out of the car. He stood on the edge of the pavement in front of the bonnet. His expression looked strange. He gazed up at the sky and smiled. A huge red lorry thundered along and he stepped out in front of it and exploded all over the road.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Time
It has been a while. Time has flown by.
I don't really have the time for this, which probably has something to do with it. Yet I don't really do anything particularly productive. I am not saying that I am unproductive, but rather that unless I put all my efforts in, I tend steam along like a lethargic, lazy train.
This is an abrupt eruption of creativity. Don't know how it will end. It feels like I have finally managed to actually pick up the phone and attempt to make a call, after having been meaning to all night. Tuttt...This here, now, this place, this time, this moment: this is me dialing.
The outcome determines who or what answers.
This is what I call communication.
Ask me not what I am talking about.
Stuart: A life backwards was quite good. Finished it a while ago but obviously haven't thought about it a great deal. I mean I have in a way, whilst walking down the road, or maybe while washing my feet in the shower and eating my dinner. But I haven't really analyzed it the way Dr.Z probably would have. (Who by the way won't post until I do so first.)
I liked the book a lot. It is innovative and very original. The narrative and humour make it a particularly exciting and funny experience, which gradually leads you to the already known, inevitable end. It is moving, of course. What interests me more is the slightest glimpse of what may be described as a new wave of young English writers. It is undoubtedly overstimated, pretentious and unable to provide proof for the reference to a wave. Yet Richard Benson's book The Farm, whose fame sky rocketed thanks to Richard & Judy, also belongs to this 'wave'. It is about something pure, about something systematic trying to destroy that. That also goes for Alexander Masters and Stuart. It is greatly encouraging I think, especially as both of them are attempting to fight in their own ways.
Listen to an interview on Guardian podcast of both these authors discussing their particular books. I am considering reading The Farm. But like I said, I have no time.
No answer. Gonna go home.
M.M.
I don't really have the time for this, which probably has something to do with it. Yet I don't really do anything particularly productive. I am not saying that I am unproductive, but rather that unless I put all my efforts in, I tend steam along like a lethargic, lazy train.
This is an abrupt eruption of creativity. Don't know how it will end. It feels like I have finally managed to actually pick up the phone and attempt to make a call, after having been meaning to all night. Tuttt...This here, now, this place, this time, this moment: this is me dialing.
The outcome determines who or what answers.
This is what I call communication.
Ask me not what I am talking about.
Stuart: A life backwards was quite good. Finished it a while ago but obviously haven't thought about it a great deal. I mean I have in a way, whilst walking down the road, or maybe while washing my feet in the shower and eating my dinner. But I haven't really analyzed it the way Dr.Z probably would have. (Who by the way won't post until I do so first.)
I liked the book a lot. It is innovative and very original. The narrative and humour make it a particularly exciting and funny experience, which gradually leads you to the already known, inevitable end. It is moving, of course. What interests me more is the slightest glimpse of what may be described as a new wave of young English writers. It is undoubtedly overstimated, pretentious and unable to provide proof for the reference to a wave. Yet Richard Benson's book The Farm, whose fame sky rocketed thanks to Richard & Judy, also belongs to this 'wave'. It is about something pure, about something systematic trying to destroy that. That also goes for Alexander Masters and Stuart. It is greatly encouraging I think, especially as both of them are attempting to fight in their own ways.
Listen to an interview on Guardian podcast of both these authors discussing their particular books. I am considering reading The Farm. But like I said, I have no time.
No answer. Gonna go home.
M.M.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Music To My Ears
So I finally get the chance to get involved with this project or rather "voyage", as my partner in crime would no doubt refer to it. (I shall ask him if he has a quote to give me from his dearest Holden Whatever.) It has taken me nearly two weeks of endless e-mails to not only get his attention but to get him to contribute to this poor site. I am Dr. Z. and we had originally decided to this together. It was meant to be an 'online book club', as I still remember us meeting in a random chat room for Lovers, Worshippers and Admireres of All Kinds of Written Words. Granted it was a strange place to meet in the first place, but in those days I was still under the impression we were of similar opinions on various matters. That belief has since given way to doubt.
I had told him about Blognet and so he goes and starts without further consultation. It quickly became his solo project of ramblings and non-sense. It was only in the last blog that he started to somewhat write a book review the way we had originally agreed to. Review books and start discussions. Every week we change so we would have more time to read. But this M.M. is unreliable, unfriendly and if I may say so, more than a little pretentious. I have yet to see him but we are meant to meet sometime next week for a cup of coffee and maybe start discussing the details that could add some real weight to this project. (Podcasts: live readings, discussions, music, etc.) But I wouldn't be surprised if he will want to run the show completely and do my head in.
On a different note I just wanted to express my deep dissappointment with The Music of Chance by Paul Auster. While I could see some elements of originality in his other works, particularly The New York Trilogy, I felt that this story completely failed in engaging the reader. If it would have been read as a manuscript without knowledge of the writer then I believe my friend M.M. would have dismissed it immediately. It is utterly confusing and never directs the reader to any possible themes. I think comparing him to Kafka is one hell of a daring statement to make. The language and style is simple and while it allows the reader to establish a comfortable flow, it doesn't offer anything to me that I would not be able to get from say a newspaper article. I also feel that the characters are not developed fully and failed miserably in winning the reader's sympathy. If you want my advice: STAY CLEAR OF AUSTER and even better yet, STAY CLEAR OF FICTION ALTOGETHER. It is vain and pretentious and incredibly boring if there is no skill from the writer.
You probably won't be surprised to learn that Stuart was my choice and that it will be infinitely better. I should also add that the title from my esteemed M.M. is actually a line from the book. So don't be fooled by his (lack of) imagination.
Dear reader, fear not indeed because Dr. Z. will make a regular appearance from now on and try to keep the other culprit under vigilant control.
Away we go!
Music To My Ears.
Dr.Z.
I had told him about Blognet and so he goes and starts without further consultation. It quickly became his solo project of ramblings and non-sense. It was only in the last blog that he started to somewhat write a book review the way we had originally agreed to. Review books and start discussions. Every week we change so we would have more time to read. But this M.M. is unreliable, unfriendly and if I may say so, more than a little pretentious. I have yet to see him but we are meant to meet sometime next week for a cup of coffee and maybe start discussing the details that could add some real weight to this project. (Podcasts: live readings, discussions, music, etc.) But I wouldn't be surprised if he will want to run the show completely and do my head in.
On a different note I just wanted to express my deep dissappointment with The Music of Chance by Paul Auster. While I could see some elements of originality in his other works, particularly The New York Trilogy, I felt that this story completely failed in engaging the reader. If it would have been read as a manuscript without knowledge of the writer then I believe my friend M.M. would have dismissed it immediately. It is utterly confusing and never directs the reader to any possible themes. I think comparing him to Kafka is one hell of a daring statement to make. The language and style is simple and while it allows the reader to establish a comfortable flow, it doesn't offer anything to me that I would not be able to get from say a newspaper article. I also feel that the characters are not developed fully and failed miserably in winning the reader's sympathy. If you want my advice: STAY CLEAR OF AUSTER and even better yet, STAY CLEAR OF FICTION ALTOGETHER. It is vain and pretentious and incredibly boring if there is no skill from the writer.
You probably won't be surprised to learn that Stuart was my choice and that it will be infinitely better. I should also add that the title from my esteemed M.M. is actually a line from the book. So don't be fooled by his (lack of) imagination.
Dear reader, fear not indeed because Dr. Z. will make a regular appearance from now on and try to keep the other culprit under vigilant control.
Away we go!
Music To My Ears.
Dr.Z.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Homogeneous mood of reflectiveness - up in smoke.
Your narrator is pleased to inform you that he has landed back in London. I am home so worry not, the words will continue to flow and their meaning surely falter. But fear not for all is not lost. Most of it but not all.
Buyabook, readabook,learnabook, knowabook, loveabook, worshipbooks, admireauthors. create. That's phony as hell as our beloved narrator Holden C. would say. Enough of that then.
American Psycho is a distant memory that is, to be fair, awoken by every third or fourth random person I encounter on the street, and sadly enough by approximately every second person I ecounter in University. Bad news indeed. But to keep the trouble low I won't reveal the exactitude or extent of my stirred emotions.
Paul Auster has come and gone since. Music of Chance. Like all his book they require patients, awareness and a willingness to think! Tough, I know. How can you read slowly, to take it all in and recognize what is happening when the book hurls you from word to word, chapter to chapter with the inevitable end constantly coming nearer while always remaining unclear. It is Sysiphus indeed, the endless struggle against the absurd. Push that boulder over the cliff knowning full well you well never manage and will have to start all over again at that one point when everything seems suspended, time momentarily stops and you think 'now, surely, it will fall. I have done it and am free.' No. The end is there but your still at the beginning. That's Auster. The absurd=existence. Very dark and brooding. Beckett and Kafka thrown together just to see what happens. Nobody thought about their dear readers though did they.
A very slow moving book that does pick up midway through. The story makes perfect sense but nobody would ever think of it. Infinitely simple. I recommend it if you are patient. Auster explores the depth of the human mind, its feebleness and strength when faced with the incomprehensible. Like the title suggests everything depends on fate, chance, coincidence, etc. It asks the common unanswerable questions that we all like to ask ourselves but nobody cares to answer anymore. (Not even try to.) It confronts the reader with the stark realities of life. Is there a purpose? Auster is ingenious and I cannot get enough of him. Nobody explores and adequately represents isolation, solitude and intelligence the way he does.
Although I have not even settled yet, still wearing my shoes and sweating in all sorts of places. That's enough stop that now. Ok.
The journey continues backwards from now on with a homeless guy called Stuart. A brief idea of its contents is revealed in the title.
Stay tuned.
M.M.
Buyabook, readabook,learnabook, knowabook, loveabook, worshipbooks, admireauthors. create. That's phony as hell as our beloved narrator Holden C. would say. Enough of that then.
American Psycho is a distant memory that is, to be fair, awoken by every third or fourth random person I encounter on the street, and sadly enough by approximately every second person I ecounter in University. Bad news indeed. But to keep the trouble low I won't reveal the exactitude or extent of my stirred emotions.
Paul Auster has come and gone since. Music of Chance. Like all his book they require patients, awareness and a willingness to think! Tough, I know. How can you read slowly, to take it all in and recognize what is happening when the book hurls you from word to word, chapter to chapter with the inevitable end constantly coming nearer while always remaining unclear. It is Sysiphus indeed, the endless struggle against the absurd. Push that boulder over the cliff knowning full well you well never manage and will have to start all over again at that one point when everything seems suspended, time momentarily stops and you think 'now, surely, it will fall. I have done it and am free.' No. The end is there but your still at the beginning. That's Auster. The absurd=existence. Very dark and brooding. Beckett and Kafka thrown together just to see what happens. Nobody thought about their dear readers though did they.
A very slow moving book that does pick up midway through. The story makes perfect sense but nobody would ever think of it. Infinitely simple. I recommend it if you are patient. Auster explores the depth of the human mind, its feebleness and strength when faced with the incomprehensible. Like the title suggests everything depends on fate, chance, coincidence, etc. It asks the common unanswerable questions that we all like to ask ourselves but nobody cares to answer anymore. (Not even try to.) It confronts the reader with the stark realities of life. Is there a purpose? Auster is ingenious and I cannot get enough of him. Nobody explores and adequately represents isolation, solitude and intelligence the way he does.
Although I have not even settled yet, still wearing my shoes and sweating in all sorts of places. That's enough stop that now. Ok.
The journey continues backwards from now on with a homeless guy called Stuart. A brief idea of its contents is revealed in the title.
Stay tuned.
M.M.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Psycho
Interesting day today. Reading some manuscripts and trying to politely say they were not what was being looked for. Never done that before. Power. Everything seems to be related to it, leads up to it.
I would probably agree with Mr. Huxley. It is hard not to. I don't think his 'artistic values' are meant to be a means for survival, at least not in the physical sense. In reference to spiritualism it is absolutely essential, spiritualism in the sense of a realm analyzing the material one we live in. Truth. The truth or whatever that may be. And I think he probably also believes that spiritualism is neccessary to live in a world that is otherwise, as he describes. Lack of meaning, sinister and hopeless? >David<
Probably not. I dont think so.
A quote. Brilliant. (dark)
"This was was I could understand, this was how I lived my life, what I constructed my movement around, how I dealt with the tangible. This was the geography around which my reality revolved: it did not occur to me, ever, that people were good or that a man was capable of change or that the world could be a better place through one's taking pleasure in a feeling or a look or a gesture, of receiving another person's love or kindness. Nothing wa affirmative, the term "generosity of spirit" applied to nothing, was a cliche, was some kind of bad joke. Sex is mathematics. Individuality no longer an issue. What does intelligence signify? Define reason. Desire - meaningless. Intellect is not a cure. Justice is dead. Fear, recrimination, innocence, that no one really felt anymore. Reflection is uselles, the world is senseless. Evil is its only permanence. God is not alive. Love cannot be trusted. Surface, surface, surface was all that anyone found meaning in...this was civilization as I saw it, collosal and jagged..."
American Psycho
Bateman's view not mine. (Listening to the Talking Heads for him.)
More reading follows at work morrow. Psycho is finished.
The journey continues.
M.M.
I would probably agree with Mr. Huxley. It is hard not to. I don't think his 'artistic values' are meant to be a means for survival, at least not in the physical sense. In reference to spiritualism it is absolutely essential, spiritualism in the sense of a realm analyzing the material one we live in. Truth. The truth or whatever that may be. And I think he probably also believes that spiritualism is neccessary to live in a world that is otherwise, as he describes. Lack of meaning, sinister and hopeless? >David<
Probably not. I dont think so.
A quote. Brilliant. (dark)
"This was was I could understand, this was how I lived my life, what I constructed my movement around, how I dealt with the tangible. This was the geography around which my reality revolved: it did not occur to me, ever, that people were good or that a man was capable of change or that the world could be a better place through one's taking pleasure in a feeling or a look or a gesture, of receiving another person's love or kindness. Nothing wa affirmative, the term "generosity of spirit" applied to nothing, was a cliche, was some kind of bad joke. Sex is mathematics. Individuality no longer an issue. What does intelligence signify? Define reason. Desire - meaningless. Intellect is not a cure. Justice is dead. Fear, recrimination, innocence, that no one really felt anymore. Reflection is uselles, the world is senseless. Evil is its only permanence. God is not alive. Love cannot be trusted. Surface, surface, surface was all that anyone found meaning in...this was civilization as I saw it, collosal and jagged..."
American Psycho
Bateman's view not mine. (Listening to the Talking Heads for him.)
More reading follows at work morrow. Psycho is finished.
The journey continues.
M.M.
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