A recent article by British publisher Colin Robinson in The Nation has raised many issues about Amazon. Almost always in the news, the company has also just made an announcement about its e-book sales outpacing hardback sales. Read more
The excitement surrounding the arrival of the i-Pad in countries outside the US has caught the attention of the media, reinforcing the idea that a mass audience is waiting to buy one and start using it to read e-books. The arrival of the Kindle aroused similar expectations and many articles presaging the end of the printed book. Read more
'It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world - it's going to be a game changer', said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. 'iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad'. Read more
This has been one of those weeks when there’s been so much happening that it’s difficult to cover it in a single column. Apple has broken the news of its iPad and, amidst the focus on that, Amazon has already started to fight back. This could be a turning-point and how publishing, books and authors come out of all this is hard to predict. Read more
Linked items...
'Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.'
‘Poetry is definitely having a renaissance.There's been a real sea-change in terms of how it's seen, especially in lockdown. Poetry is the perfectly transportable art form. Owning a book is all you need to experience it. Poetry doesn't necessarily give us the answers, but it does give us the tools to think with and helps us process issues. Read more
'It is all for the taking. All the manuals by frustrated fictioneers on how to write can't give you the first syllable of reality, at any cost, that any common conversation can.
The Amazon founder's relentless quest for ‘customer ecstasy' made him one of the world's richest people - now he's looking to the unlimited resources of space. Is he the genius our age of consumerism deserves?
This week, Amazon announced that Jeff Bezos will no longer be chief executive of the corporation but will instead take the position of "executive chairman". Andy Jassy, who runs the highly profitable Amazon Web Services cloud computing division, will take the title. What will Amazon founder Jeff Bezos do next? Read more Read more
Cards on the table: I think the decision to leave the European Union was a catastrophe for Britain, a setback for the EU, a challenge to democracy, a threat to Western values of human rights, and an example of political expediency over moral governance. Read more
A bitter feud pitting thousands of movie and television screenwriters against the major Hollywood talent agencies came to an end on Friday, nearly two years after it had begun.
William Morris Endeavor became the last of the major agencies to reach a new franchise agreement with the two Writers Guild of AmericaAssociation of writers in motion picture, broadcast, cable and new media. http://www.wga.org unions, saying it had done so on Friday afternoon.
Delusional poetry aside, I ended up having to supply the author photo for my first book. My friend Dave, who considered himself a pretty good nature photographer, volunteered to give it a whirl. I wore no makeup. He had no special lighting. I didn't know whether I should look at the camera, or look away as if dreaming up my next brilliant story. Read more
Stephen Phillips was doing dishes and listening to the podcast "A Life in Biography" one evening last fall when he learned why some people were not responding to his emails. Read more
Hemingway, a three-part, six-hour documentary series to run on PBS April 5-7, will examine Ernest Hemingway's life and death and the myth that surrounded both. Jeff Daniels will provide the voice of Hemingway, while Patricia Clarkson, Mary-Louise Parker, Keri Russell, and Meryl Streep will each voice one of his four wives. Read more
The first ever mention of Sherlock Holmes came in A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton's Christmas Annual of 1887. Dr Watson is looking for lodgings, and meets an old acquaintance who knows of someone he could share with, but does not recommend. Read more
'Poetry is definitely having a renaissance'
‘Poetry is definitely having a renaissance.There's been a real sea-change in terms of how it's seen, especially in lockdown. Poetry is the perfectly transportable art form. Owning a book is all you need to experience it. Poetry doesn't necessarily give us the answers, but it does give us the tools to think with and helps us process issues. Read more