Author Archives: Laura

• Bronte church in Haworth sees repair bill jump £50,000 – BBC

  Posted at 1:07 pm by Laura, on January 21, 2012

  Bronte church in Haworth sees repair bill jump £50,000 – BBC

  St Michael and All Angels Parish Church in Haworth, West Yorkshire, had raised the £65,000 needed to secure £100,000 in funding from English Heritage.

  But rising costs of building work now means it requires up to £50,000 more.

  …

  John Huxley, secretary at Haworth church, said: “We were overjoyed to learn we had reached the total, then knocked sideways by finding out building costs had gone up by so much.

  “The reaction from the public to help raise funds has been absolutely phenomenal.”

  The church said a meeting would be held on Tuesday to discuss further fundraising options.

  I was thrilled to hear they met their goal yesterday! But how are they going to get the rest of the money?

  Posted in Link, Update Post | 0 Comments | Tagged authors, history, news

• Enhanced E-Books: Blowing Up the Book – WSJ

  Posted at 6:26 pm by Laura, on January 20, 2012

  Enhanced E-Books: Blowing Up the Book – The Wall Street Journal – Alexandra Alter

  The new novel “Chopsticks” tells the story of a troubled young piano prodigy—using family photos, letters, documents, instant messages and YouTube videos. It’s a love story, a mystery and a parable about creativity and madness.

  It’s also an experiment, one that could have far-reaching implications for the book industry, as publishers stretch the definition of what constitutes a book. “Chopsticks” straddles the digital divide that is transforming the publishing world—it’s both a novel and a digital app.

  My mind is screaming “no!” We already have videos and apps and ads and media bombardment everywhere else. I can see this becoming a useful tool to children, possibly, but not for adults in my opinion. Even with children, there’s still a need for touch – to feel the fuzzy sheep, to touch the rough sandpaper – when they’re reading (or being read to). That’s something an ebook cannot provide. But, to continue…

  “The consumer is not asking for this,” said Jane Friedman, CEO of Open Road Media, an e-book publisher that is experimenting with enhanced titles. “It takes it from being a reading experience to something else, and we are publishers.“

  Thank you, Friedman! Let’s be friends.

  Posted in books, Link, publishing | 0 Comments | Tagged books, ebooks, ereaders, news, newspaper, publishing, technology

• Where have all the book illustrators gone? – The Independent

  Posted at 6:19 pm by Laura, on January 20, 2012

  Where have all the book illustrators gone? – The Independent – Melanie McDonagh

  Charles Dickens enjoyed close collaborative relationships with the illustrators of his novels, but now it’s rare to find a picture outside the world of children’s books. Is drawing a lost art, or could we be on the brink of a new golden age?

  McDonagh talks about trends in art culture and the desires of authors and publishers. It’s pretty interesting to see the trends in publishing and illustrating.

  Posted in Link, publishing | 0 Comments | Tagged art, books, news, newspaper, publishing

• Unexpected Inspirations Behind Beloved Children’s Books – Atlantic

  Posted at 6:12 pm by Laura, on January 20, 2012

  

  The Unexpected Inspirations Behind Beloved Children’s Books – The Atlantic – Tom Hawking

  The acid trips, war wounds, and survival stories that led to your treasured childhood fantasies…

  What was the story behind Harry Potter, Where the Wild Things Are, Watership Down, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia? Take a look and find out about 10 of your favorite children’s books. Really neat and fun to read!

  Posted in books | 1 Comment | Tagged authors, books, genre: children, genre: classics, genre: fiction, newspaper

• Will the Tablet Kill the Novel? – Huffington Post

  Posted at 4:26 pm by Laura, on January 19, 2012

  Will the Tablet Kill the Novel? – Huffington Post – Warren Adler

  Technological advances have enhanced our ability to create a moving record of our lives through video and still photography, helped us connect to people, locally, nationally and internationally, and have improved our research skills and medical diagnosis abilities. It has enhanced our ability to react to events, bring people swiftly together to enlist their cooperation in various causes, air our grievances, and accomplish a thousand other tasks that might have taken past generations days, weeks or months longer to realize.

  Such alleged progress cannot be ignored, but neither can the concept of deep, personal reflection, thoughtful concentration, philosophical cogitation, creative imagination and aspects of insight that one can glean from literature which can only be conveyed through the privacy of immersion into a parallel world best dramatized in the imagination through storytelling.

  Not quite an ebook v traditional book debate as it’s technology v novel, but he does bring up some good points. Would you rather read classics by flipping paper, or punching buttons? As an owner of a Nook, I still prefer paper to technology, so I can see each side of the argument Adler proposes. Read this – what do you think about the future of the novel?

  Posted in books, Link | 2 Comments | Tagged books, ebooks, news, publishing, technology

• 2012 Edgar Award Nominees Announced – PW

  Posted at 4:17 pm by Laura, on January 19, 2012

  2012 Edgar Award Nominees Announced – Publisher’s Weekly

  Mystery Writers of America has announced the nominees for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction. The winners will be announced at a gala banquet on April 26 in New York.

  Big news! There are roughly five nominees per category. Categories include:

  • Best Novel
  • Best Fact Crime
  • Best Young Adult
  • Best Short Story

  …to name a few. Authors such as Diane Gabaldon, Maureen Johnson, and Neil Gaiman are nominated! Plenty of new names and faces as well. Check it out!

  Posted in books, Link | 1 Comment | Tagged authors, books, genre: fiction, genre: mystery, genre: nonfiction, magazine, news

• TFiOS is #1 on the NYTimes Best Seller List!

  Posted at 7:29 pm by Laura, on January 18, 2012

  John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars is #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list!

  If you have not seen it, read it, heard of it, been living under a rock – check out my review of the book.

  Source: Twitter’s @realjohngreen, @PWKidsBookshelf, @PublishersWkly, @jodipicoult, @sarahdessen

  Posted in books, publishing, Update Post | 0 Comments | Tagged authors, books, news, newspaper, publishing

• OverDrive Adds Foreign Language Titles – PW

  Posted at 2:39 pm by Laura, on January 18, 2012

  OverDrive Adds Foreign Language Titles – Publisher’s Weekly

  Are you aware of that handy little app? It just got better.

  Digital library distributor OverDrive has added “thousands” of foreign language titles to its catalog by signing a number of new publishing clients. The company’s online catalog has books in over 50 languages and the new titles include ones in Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Italian, and Turkish with Spanish titles coming. The addition of the foreign titles brings OverDrive e-book catalog to 700,000.

  Posted in books, library, Link | 0 Comments | Tagged books, ebooks, library, magazine, news, technology

• Adding updates to new publications

  Posted at 8:58 am by Laura, on January 18, 2012

  What I find most interesting about the publishing industry is the choice of publications debuting each day, each week, and each month. While news on trends is interesting and fun to follow (especially with the ebook v traditional book debate), I think I’ll also add to my blog a list of updates about new publications!

  This will include fiction (adult, YA, children’s, sci-fi/fantasy, mystery/crime) and nonfiction (advice, cooking, general). I of course won’t include everything, but maybe the top five most interesting in my opinion for fiction and nonfiction.

  Posted in Update Post | 0 Comments | Tagged genre: fiction, genre: nonfiction

• Germany Joins World Book Night – PW

  Posted at 5:38 pm by Laura, on January 17, 2012

  Germany Joins World Book Night 2012 – Publisher’s Weekly

  World Book Night has announced that Germany is the second international partner alongside the United States to stage a national one million book giveaway for adults on April 23rd, the Unesco International Day of the Book.

  Fantastic news! Be a giver.

  Posted in Link | 0 Comments | Tagged books, magazine, news, world book night

• 

• Hello, I’m Laura!

  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to travel, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm always down for chips-and-queso nights. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!

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