Archive for the ‘ Author News ’ Category

Neil Gaiman writing short story on Twitter – with a big twist!

Oct 12 2009

Science fiction and fantasy author Neil Gaiman is going to write a short story using Twitter. To be more precise, his going to write the first 140 characters of a short story, then let other Twitterers write the rest of the story. The crowd-sourced piece of fiction, once complete, will be compiled by BBC Audiobooks and will be made available on the BBC Audiobooks website as well as iTunes as a free download.

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Why is Barnes & Noble dictating what authors should have on their websites?

Sep 26 2009

In today’s technology-driven, social online world, authors need a website to promote themselves and their books. Without an online presence, an author risks being thrown into obscurity. An author website should be primarily of an author’s own making (except for the design, that should be left to professionals). Their publisher (unless they are an indie author) might help them optimize their site to promote their books – that never hurts.

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Are critics being too harsh on Dan Brown just because he’s popular?

Sep 19 2009

I’ve been reading Dan Brown’s newest book The Lost Symbol (aff link) since it was released on Tuesday. When I bought the book at my local bookstore, I knew it wasn’t going to be a great literary achievement and I had no expectations of being enlightened. I bought the book to be entertained.

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Various groups seek to lift injunction in Salinger sequel case of ‘Catcher in the Rye’

Aug 08 2009

I’m no fan of JD Salinger. I’m talking about the man, not his writing. You can read my reasoning in this earlier post What do authors owe their readers. Mr. Salinger is not helping his case in an ongoing legal battle where he wants to prevent publication of a ’sequel’ to his infamous novel Catcher in the Rye.

You might recall that on July 1, an injunction was ordered by a judge that prevented the publication of the sequel by Swedish author Fredrik Colting called 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye. Since that ruling, groups ranging from free speech advocates, librarians, the Associated Press and others have been filing briefs with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to get the injunction lifted. The appeals court will start hearing arguments on September 3.

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Scribner releases modified version of Hemingway novel ‘A Moveable Feast’

Aug 06 2009

I first read about Scribner’s plans to release a modified version of Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast (aff link) in this New York Times OpEd back in July, but have only now gotten around to writing about it. This story brings up a lot of questions about what publishers owe to the authors and novels they publish, especially after the author has long been deceased and can no longer speak for himself.

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2 comments - Latest by: Brad Vertrees : Hi Teri! Thank you for your comment. I agree, only the author should be allowed to make such drastic changes to ... More

Who should decide literary awards: ‘Experts’ or the reading public?

Jul 29 2009

I never really know what to think of most literary awards. Usually, the prestigious awards are voted on by a small committee of experts. And most of the time, they tend to pick obscure works with little mass market appeal. But at the other end of the spectrum, we have the science fiction Hugo award, where the finalists were decided by letting sci-fi fans vote for their favorite novels. The results were a little more mainstream, maybe too mainstream, according to one author.

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Interview with Wayne C. Long from LongShortStories

Jul 20 2009

Today we have a special treat – an exclusive interview with author Wayne C. Long, who owns and operates LongShortStories, a website where he sells his short fiction as a subscription-based service. I first met Wayne back in 2008 after he sent me a message advertising his site – which I first wrote about in this post.

I’m going to keep this introduction short because I think the interview speaks for itself, and I hope you find Wayne’s answers as inspiring as I do. And when you get to the end of the interview, you might find a surprise!

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4 comments - Latest by: Laurel Towndsen : Advantageously, the piece is really the best on this valuable topic. I concur with your conclusions and will eagerly look ... More

New ‘Free’ book by Chris Anderson to be released July 7

Jun 24 2009

I’m really excited about the release of the new book by Chris Anderson, from The Long Tail blog, and plan to pre-order my copy soon. For those of you who don’t know, Chris has been leading the way in promoting ‘free’ as a new kind of business model. I advocate it here on this blog as well by encouraging and supporting authors who give away free ebooks to help promote a current title (for example).

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Ray Bradbury: Loathes the internet, loves libraries

Jun 20 2009

Iconic science fiction writer Ray Bradbury is still going strong. He writes for several hours a day, reads, mingles with visitors and still supports one of his biggest passions: Libraries. And given the recent economic meltdown, public libraries need all the help they can get. Because of high-unemployment and lower wages, libraries are seeing a bit of a comeback. But as local governments try to trim their budgets, libraries are usually the first to get the ax.

That’s where Ray Bradbury comes in.

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What do authors owe their readers?

Jun 03 2009

Whenever I read news stories about reclusive authors, like the famous J.D. Salinger, I usually just shake my head. Salinger is again in the news because another author wants to publish a sequel to the classic The Catcher in the Rye (aff link).  So, in typical Salinger fashion, he’s suing to prevent the book from being published.

However, that’s not what I’m really worried about. I have no problems with an author trying to protect his work (even though sometimes they go too far). What I do have a problem with, however, is iconic authors like J.D. Salinger, who have obviously had a huge impact on the American literary scene, shun their own fans.

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2 comments - Latest by: VAnne : I completely agree with Lindsey. J. D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon are two authors that I admire and respect and ... More


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