YouTube

It was Christopher Hitchens, the much-celebrated author and critic, who claimed, "everybody does have a book in them but, in most cases, that's where it should stay."  Read more

The Society of AuthorsThe British authors’ organization, with a membership of over 7,000 writers. Membership is open to those who have had a book published, or who have an offer to publish (without subsidy by the author). Offers individual specialist advice and a range of publications to its members. Has also campaigned successfully on behalf of authors in general for improved terms and established a minimum terms agreement with many publishers. Recently campaigned to get the Public Lending Right fund increased from £5 million to £7 million for the year 2002/2003. Regularly uses input from members to produce comparative surveys of publishers’ royalty payment systems. http://www.societyofauthors.org/ (SoA) and a number of writers have criticised YouTube for emailing its users saying Article 13, part of the EU's proposed copyright directive, would prevent them from uploading videos onto online platforms.  Read more

Ten years ago, the idea that any old Joe could become famous from the comfort of their own room seemed ridiculous. Today it's a very different story. Vloggers are not just well-known figures to a select few fans - they're global stars in their own right.  Read more

I don't understand why anyone would want to be an Olympic diver. Why would you choose to throw yourself head-first into a flat surface thirty feet below - not just throw yourself but try to look good while you're going down, with somersaults and twists, while people you can't see judge every second of your drop? Sounds horrible. But then again, so does writing.  Read more

What's the impact of social media on book sales? Yesterday, The Bookseller co-hosted an event at YouTube looking at the ways the channel is influencing the business of books.  Read more