How To Submit Your Work To Random House’s New Digital Imprints

By Jason Boog on Galley Cat, November 29, 2012 

Random House has released writer guidelines for four digital imprints, seeking submissions from romance, new adult, mystery, thriller, science fiction, fantasy and horror writers.
Follow these individual imprint links to submit your manuscript: Loveswept (romance & women’s fiction), Alibi (mystery & suspense), Hydra (sci-fi, fantasy & horror), Flirt (new adult). There is no official word count, but the editors are looking for both shorter submissions that range between 15,000 and 30,000 words and longer works that range between 40,000 and 60,000 words. Here’s more from the publisher:

You may present any manuscript in which you control exclusive copyright. We are open to previously-published manuscripts as long as the submitting author now controls all electronic and print publishing rights. Please submit the entire query form at the link below. If we are interested in considering your full manuscript, you will be contacted with further submission instructions. We make every effort to respond to submission inquiries within 2-4 weeks after submission of the submission query form; please do not resubmit previously submitted queries, as this may create delays.

NZ Post Children's Book Award Judges

Publisher/writer Renee Lang is filling in for a bit for Jillian Ewart, who writes for The Read (part of Booksellers News online) and she has just written a piece about the NZP CBA judges, which readers of the blog may be interested in. 

Here's the link:

http://www.booksellers.co.nz/book-news/meet-judges-new-zealand-post-book-awards

Saturday Morning with Kim Hill: 1 December 2012 - Radio New Zealand National

 8:15 Uma Kothari: aid, celebrities and military

9:05 James Russell: rat management

9:45 Gordon Parker: 7 vs 4

10:05 Jimmy Cliff: reggae pioneer

11:05 Farah DeJohnette: training horses

11:30 Richard Simpson: streams, places and big data

8:15 Uma Kothari

Uma Kothari is a Professor in Postcolonial Studies in the School of Environment and Development and Associate Director of the Brookes World Poverty Institute, University of Manchester. She is a keynote speaker at the International Development Conference at The University of Auckland (3-5 December), and will talk about her study of the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement for aid programmes in third world countries, and the rebuilding of countries run by militaries, drawing on her experience in South Sudan http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/Uma.kothari/personaldetails

http://www.idc2012.org.nz/

9:05 James Russell

Dr James Russell is a lecturer at The University of Auckland who has been internationally recognised for his conservation work, which combines ecology, statistics and genetics to manage rats and other mammalian pests invading predator-free islands. This week he received the Prime Minister’s 2012 MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize of $200,000, with $150,000 of the money to be used for further research.

http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~jrussell/

9:45 Gordon Parker

Gordon Parker is Scientia Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales, and the founder and former executive director of the Black Dog Institute. His analysis of the highly cited 1956 paper by American psychologist George Miller challenges the long-held view that the mind can cope with only seven chunks of information. Professor Parker says the number is more likely to be four.

http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/psychweb.nsf

http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/aboutus/whoswho.cfm

10:05 Jimmy Cliff

Pioneering Jamaican reggae artist Jimmy Cliff has been performing for over 50 years, and recorded over 30 albums. He became internationally known with his lead performance in the 1972 film The Harder They Come, also writing and singing songs for its hugely successful soundtrack. Jimmy Cliff will perform next year at WOMAD in Taranaki (15-17 March).

http://www.jimmycliff.com/

http://www.taft.co.nz/womad/womad-home.html

11:05 Farah DeJohnette

American horsewoman Farah DeJohnette is a certified trainer who uses the waterhole rituals technique of Carolyn Resnick. She is visiting New Zealand to hold a clinic at Taralee Stables in Carterton (30 November to 2 December).

http://www.fdhorsemanship.com/

christin.schetter@gmail.com

11:30 Richard Simpson

Richard Simpson is the director of Metabola, an international consultancy firm providing technology and management services to governments and industry. He was an early pioneer in New Zealand’s 3D computer graphics industry, and currently serves on the executive committee of the International Society of Digital Earth (ISDE). He is the chair of the ISDE working group on Digital Cities and recently co-authored a book on this subject that is coming out in print early in 2013. Richard is the curator of Big Data / Changing Place, the inaugural programme of exhibitions, seminars and workshops at the National Library, which reopened this week (to April 30, 2013).

http://www.metabola.co.nz/

http://dcitynetwork.net/manifesto/

http://www.digitalearth-isde.org/

http://natlib.govt.nz/visiting/wellington/big-data

Producer: Mark Cubey

Wellington engineer: Carol Jones

Auckland engineer: Ian Gordon

Email: Saturday@radionz.co.nz

Web page: http://radionz.co.nz/saturday

Twitter: http://twitter.com/RNZ_SatMorning

***********

On Saturday 1 December 2012 during Great Encounters between 6:06pm and 7:00pm on Radio New Zealand National, you can hear a repeat broadcast of Kim Hill’s interview from 24 November with TV troubleshooter Robert Thirkell.

Preview: Saturday 8 December

Next week, Kim Hill’s guests will include Kathleen Sharp, the Pipi Pickers and Richie McCaw. 

Amelia Bedelia Turns 50

PW

By Sally Lodge - Nov 29, 2012

It’s been a half-century since Amelia Bedelia first bumbled into the Rogers’ household and dusted the furniture with dusting powder, put the lights out on the clothesline, and dressed the chicken in overalls. Published by Harper & Row in September 1963, Peggy Parish’s Amelia Bedelia, illustrated by Fritz Siebel, was the first in a series of picture books and I Can Read! titles that have entertained multiple generations of children and sold more than 35 million copies in the U.S. alone. In January, Greenwillow launches its celebration of the literal-minded housekeeper’s golden anniversary with four Amelia Bedelia releases.

The new books include Amelia Bedelia: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, a facsimile of the 1963 volume, which has an announced first printing of 100,000 copies. The picture book features Siebel’s original four-color jacket art and green-and-black interior illustrations. Back matter reproduces archival photos; spreads from Siebel’s dummy, with handwritten editorial notes from the book’s editor, Susan Hirschman; and pages from the Harper & Row catalogue announcing the book. Also due is a new edition of the I Can Read! version of that first book, featuring a foil cover; and the two inaugural Amelia Bedelia Chapter Books: Amelia Bedelia Means Business and Amelia Bedelia Unleashed, written by Herman Parish (Peggy’s nephew) and illustrated by Lynne Avril.

The 50th anniversary facsimile edition of the original Amelia Bedelia.

A third-grade teacher at Manhattan’s Dalton School, Peggy Parish had earlier written several books for children, including Let’s Be Indians, which Harper & Row published in 1962. Amelia Bedelia grew out of conversations the author had with Hirschman, during which Parish shared anecdotes about her students and their sometimes hilarious vocabulary mix-ups. “Susan knew that Peggy had an absolutely wonderful sense of humor, and the two of them came up with a fabulous book idea, inspired by things these third graders were saying in the classroom –– and Amelia Bedelia was born,” says Virginia Duncan, v-p and publisher of Greenwillow Books, which Hirschman started in 1974.

Duncan, who has edited the Amelia Bedelia books since she arrived at Greenwillow in 1997, points to the books’ unfailing humor when asked about their enduring appeal. “The way that Amelia Bedelia always does exactly what she’s told, literally, is very funny,” she says. “And the other thing I love about her is that she is so positive. She has this can-do approach to whatever situation she finds herself in, which is very appealing. She barges in, handles things, and everything works out. Amelia Bedelia just loves life. She never grows old.”

More at PW

Mystery Author Peter James US Tour for "Not Dead Yet"

Author Promotes Best Selling Celebrity Stalker Thriller

Starting December 4, 2012, author Peter James will present a rare six-city US tour for his latest Detective Superintendent Roy Grace novel Not Dead Yet.  The author will sign copies of his latest novel, which hit US bookstore shelves this week and earned the #1 spot on the UK Sunday Times best seller list in both hardcover and paperback.  The popular Roy Grace novels have sold over thirteen million copies worldwide and have been translated into thirty-five languages.  For additional information, please visit www.PeterJames.com. Not Dead Yet tells the story of rock superstar, Gaia, desperate to be taken seriously as an actress.  She returns to her hometown of Brighton, England from the U.S. to take the starring role in a major Hollywood film about the city's greatest love story, George IV and Maria Fitzherbert, being shot on location in the grounds of Brighton's Royal Pavilion. For Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, it is a nightmare unfolding before his eyes as he tries to stop a celebrity stalker who will stop at nothing to see her dead.

Tuesday, December 4 7:00-8:00pm PST Barnes & Noble 1201 3rd Street Promenade Santa Monica, CA 90401 310-260-9110 Thursday, December 6 7:00-8:00pm MST Poisoned Pen 4014 N. Goldwater #101 Scottsdale, AZ 85251 480-947-2974 PoisonedPen.com Saturday, December 8 2:00-3:00pm PST Book Carnival/Anne's Bookends 348 South Tustin Street Orange, CA 92866 714-538-3210 AnnesBookCarnival.com

Wednesday, December 5 6:30-8:30pm CST Murder by the Book 2342 Bissonnet Street Houston, TX 77005 713-524-8597 MurderBooks.com Friday, December 7 7:30-9:00pm PST Mysterious Galaxy 2810 Arestia Blvd. Redondo Beach, CA 90278 310-542-6000 MysteriousGalaxy.com Saturday, December 8 5:00-6:00pm PST Book 'Em Mysteries 1118 Mission St. S. Pasadena, CA 626-799-9600 BookEm.com

ABOUT PETER JAMES Peter James is one of the world's best selling crime and thriller novelists.  The mystery writer has developed a close working relationship with the Sussex, UK police over many years, spending an average of one day a week with them.  His writing reveals a unique insight into the reality of modern day police work and forensic science.  He has also carried out extensive research with police in Moscow, Munich, Paris, Melbourne, Sweden, New York and Romania, and regularly attends international police conferences to ensure he is at the cutting edge of investigative police work.  Notably, the author will also be presenting a rare mystery bookstore tour in early December in Los Angeles, Houston and Phoenix. Peter, an established film producer and scriptwriter, was educated at Charterhouse then at film school. He lived in North America for a number of years working as a screenwriter and film producer before returning to England. He has produced numerous films, including The Merchant Of Venice, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. A film adaptation of the author's first Roy Grace novel, Dead Simple, is currently in development, Director John Duigan (Careless Love, The Engagement, Head in the Clouds and more than 20 other films) has been attached to the film project, and Peter James is overseeing all aspects, including the scriptwriting.

QUOTABLE NEW ZEALAND QUOTES

Compiled by Jim Weir - New Holland - November 2012 RRP: $27.99

 Helen Brown, James Belich, Joe Bennett, Steve Braunias, Dan Carter, Helen Clark, Joy Cowley, Max Cryer, Karl du Fresne, Marc Ellis, Dai Henwood, Sam Hunt, Kevin Ireland, Lloyd Jones, Sir Bob Jones, Hamish Keith, John Key, Dame Fiona Kidman, Chris Laidlaw, Nigel Latta, Michael Laws, Sarah-Kate Lynch, Richie McCaw, Bill Manhire, Peta Mathias, Paula Morris, Sam Neill, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Hekia Parata, Bill Ralston, Sir Anand Satyanand, Tom Scott, CK Stead, Philip Temple, Brian Turner, Hone Tuwhare, Ian Wedde, Peter Wells, and Spiro Zavos …

… are just a selection of the noted and notorious whose words feature in this hand-picked and up-to-date smorgasbord of New Zealand quotations. Compiler Jim Weir has a magpie’s eye for the bon mot, whether from a celebrated humorist (‘Every party you have ever attended: dull people talking about the weather and thinking about sex’ —Joe Bennett) or a post-quake Christchurch resident (‘I now have a nervous pee every hour’ —Trevor Evans).

Wry, wrenching, inspiring, scurrilous, scatological, laugh-out-loud funny: Quotable New Zealand Quotes is compulsively readable and a treat throughout.

§   Bang up-to-date quotes from some of New Zealand’s best-known writers, film-makers, sportspeople, personalities, politicians and journalists.

§   The perfect stocking stuffer and holiday read for anyone who enjoys wit and humour, popular culture and the media.

§   Ideal source material for public speakers and speech-writers.

My favourite of the many that made me chortle is from Patrick Evans:
The publishing world lives on a different planet.

Jim Weir is a former New Zealand ambassador to Moscow, Rome, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. He is the author of Letters from Moscow (1989), an account of his time in Russia, and Eat, Drink and Be Wary (2011), a memoir of his diplomat days. He has compiled two previous books of quotations: New Zealand Wit & Wisdom (Tandem Press, 1998) and Strong Language (New Holland, 2007).

Footnote:

It is with regret that New Holland Publishers announce the recent passing of cherished author Jim Weir. In his last weeks’ Jim finalised the index details for his new book, published this month. With a keen eye for detail and a sharp wit, Quotable New Zealand Quotes is Jim’s third collection of quotes, and serves as a lasting tribute to his full and varied life.

New photographic book dedicated to the graffiti artists of Auckland

Excerpted from graf/AK, photography by Fraser Munro, Beatnik Publishing, 2012.

Publisher’s Note

For me, graf/AK is as much about the skill of Fraser Munro as it is about that of the featured graffiti artists and writers. Fraser is terribly modest about it, but I can see and appreciate the time and effort that went into capturing these brilliant images. It’s not a simple matter of holding up the camera, facing the wall and clicking. He has considered the light sources, time of day, composition, environment, colour and the messages in the work. Where it makes sense to give the graffiti pieces their context, he opens up the space, widens the lens, and shows us their surroundings. When he wants us to concentrate on the devilish details, he closes in.

By giving them context, Fraser has given the amazing vibrant artworks a story that leaves the viewer more curious and intrigued. Many Beatnik visitors have come into our studios, picked up Fraser’s project portfolio and become lost in a world of captured light and colour. graf/AK is a book that reveals something new every time you sit down with it.

First and foremost, graf/AK is a catalogue of admiration. Fraser’s photography documents the constant evolution of Auckland’s world-renowned graffiti walls and their artists’ internationally-lauded innovative styles. Many of the artists whose names you see in this book are feted in Florida, New York and Los Angeles and further afield – and the photographs here show why. graf/AK is a celebration of the creativity Auckland has to offer and we’re 
grateful to Fraser for bringing this project to Beatnik, and proud to take it to the world.

Thanks to all the clever people who have been involved in graf/AK. No book project is straight-forward and this one has been no exception. Special 
thanks to the team - George Mitchell, Ande Kuric, Blake Wood, Kitki Tong, Jenny Thompson and Janet McAllister - for the time and energy you have given to the publication and Beatnik.

– Sally Greer

Title: graf/AK
Photographer: Fraser Munro
Publisher: Beatnik Publishing
RRP: $39.99 NZD
Softcover: 144 pages
Dimensions: 186 x 234 mm
ISBN: 978-0-473-22122-5

Images from the book below - photography by Fraser Munro

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey overcomes setbacks for premiere

'Frame envy' as Peter Jackson brings first film in latest JRR Tolkien Middle-earth trilogy to screen in Wellington

• Ben Child
• The Guardian, Wednesday 28 November 2012 

Fans wait for Peter Jackson and the cast to arrive ahead of the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Wellington. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

They trooped to Wellington in their tens of thousands, from all over the globe, dressed as dwarves, goblins, hobbits, elves – and other, less easily identifiable Middle-earth creatures.

1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2. Production year: 2011
3. Country: Rest of the world
4. Directors: Peter Jackson
5. Cast: Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Sir Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry
6. More on this film

Almost a decade after Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings triptych of films set the global box office on fire to the tune of $2.9bn (£1.8bn), the director was back in New Zealand to premiere the first part of his wildly (in some quarters) anticipated adaptation of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit.
There was scant wriggle-room on either side of the 500-metre-long red carpet snaking towards the Embassy theatre where the first part of a planned trilogy The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was screened for the first time to the public. An Air New Zealand plane decked out in Middle-earth livery flew low overhead, to roars of approval.
Cast members Martin Freeman (who plays hobbit Bilbo Baggins), Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Sylvester McCoy, Barry Humphries and Elijah Wood were among those who had been jetted in for the event, with fans divided over which star they were keenest to glimpse. "I came here to see the stars but also Peter [Jackson]," said Samantha Cooper, a student. "I loved The Lord of the Rings and that made me want to be here. Without him none of it would be here."
Fellow New Zealander Sam Rashidmardani, 12, said he had come to see Britain's Serkis, who returns as Gollum. "It was amazing," he said of the event, adding his own impression of his hero's character: "My precious."
Serkis, who also acted as second unit director on the project, told reporters he had enjoyed getting back under Gollum's slimy skin after nearly a decade. "I was reminded on a daily basis he's truly never left me," he said.
The Hobbit is set 60 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings films and was originally intended as two movies. Tolkien published the novel – subtitled There and Back Again – in 1937, 18 years before his later, much longer work. However, Jackson said the new trilogy had benefited from arriving in prequel form. "I'm glad that we established the style and the look of Middle-earth by adapting The Lord of the Rings before we did The Hobbit," he said on the red carpet.
An Unexpected Journey, which is in 3D, is also being screened at selected cinemas at 48 frames per second, compared with the 24fps that has been the industry standard since the 1920s.
Jackson admitted that only about 1,000 of the 25,000 theatres that will show the film worldwide are equipped to show the higher rate format, but said he hoped people would make the effort where possible
Full story at The Guardian

George Elliott Clarke appointed Toronto’s fourth poet laureate

QUILLBLOG

By Sue Carter Flinn - November 28, 2012

Given all the political hoopla happening in Hogtown, it would have been easy to miss news that poet, playwright, activist, and critic George Elliott Clarke has been appointed Toronto’s fourth poet laureate. He takes over from Dionne Brand, who has held the position since 2009.
Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Clarke’s East Coast roots are a driver for much of his work around black identity. Clarke, who refers to his African-Canadian and Mi’qmak heritage as “Africadian,” is recognized as one of the top scholars of black-Canadian literature.
Clarke moved to Toronto in 1999, and in 2003 was named the E.J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Toronto. He brings a shelf full of prizes to the position, including the 2001 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry for Execution Poems (Gaspereau Press). In 2008 he received Toronto’s William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations and was made an officer of the Order of Canada.

French prizewinner Deville to Little, Brown

29.11.12 | Benedicte Page - The Bookseller

Little, Brown commissioning editor Rowan Cope has acquired an acclaimed French novel about the life of scientist Alexandre Yersin.

Plague and Cholera by Patrick Deville came out in France in September and has already been the runner-up for the Prix Goncourt, and won the Prix FNAC (voted for by booksellers and readers) and the Prix Fémina.
Cope acquired world English language rights from Jennie Dorny, rights manager at Editions du Seuil, France. Auctions are said to be underway in several territories worldwide.

Yersin was a protégé of Louis Pasteur and the first to identify the deadly bubonic plague virus and develop a vaccine. He also travelled the world, embraced emerging technology, revolutionised agriculture and medicine, and even invented a tonic syrup that was the progenitor of a world-famous branded fizzy soft drink.
Plague and Cholera is described as a "brilliant, absorbing, multi-layered novel" which relates Yersin’s story "but it is also a haunting rumination on the difficult birth of the twentieth century; on science, literature and art; on nationalism, colonialism and war; on the demands of progress and the pursuit of adventure."
Translator J A Underwood will translate for publication in the Little, Brown imprint and in e-book in spring 2014. 

• RELATED STORIES

• Headline's Byrne moves to Cornerstone, Ronan promotedHeadline's UK and inter...
• Two Roads buys Kirsty Wark novelsHodder imprint Two Roads ha...
• Pluto launches online Christmas campaignPluto Press has joined the ...
• Four more from Matthews for SphereLittle, Brown imprint Spher...
• Comma's Blasim makes UK visitIraq-born author and film-m...

In China, 25 Million People Use Only Their Cell Phones to Read Books

By Peter Osnos - The Atlantic -  Nov 27 2012, 

Mobile reading may revive entire genres of literature, such as mid-length novels and poems, which have fallen out of favor.

Reuters

On vacation in China earlier this month, I stopped by Shanghai's seven-story downtown "Book City," bustling with activity on a weekday afternoon that, as a publisher, I found exceptionally gratifying. Perusing the ground floor front tables I saw stacks of copies in Chinese reflecting the multiple interests Chinese readers have in American themes. Days after the U.S. elections, books about Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were featured. I noted a translation of George W. Bush's presidential memoir, Decision Points, and Henry Kissinger's recent bestseller, On China. Whether any of these were "adapted" (i.e., censored) for the Chinese audience, I can't say, but they were certainly prominently available. Basketball biographies are clearly big sellers, including Linsanity, about Jeremy Lin, last season's Taiwanese-American star for the New York Knicks. And a book by Harvard medical school professors, Positive Psychology, was billed as "cracking the secret of happiness."
Among the fiction books, Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling's adult novel, Casual Vacancy,is evidently so recognizable that the Chinese version carries its name in English and has the same jacket as the American edition. 
Full article at The Atlantic

From books to brewing

Powell's Books has created an ale of their own in collaboration with Rogue Ales and Spirits. Their White Whale Ale is "infused with the seafaring spirit of Moby-Dick"--literally. They say that "Michael and Emily Powell took sheets from the book and, along with Rogue Brewmaster John Maier, placed them into the brew kettle."

PublishersLunch

 

Autobiographical Suzanne Collins Picture Book Slated for Fall 2013

PW
Bestselling author Suzanne Collins will examine the effects of war for a much younger readership than that of her Hunger Games series with the autobiographical picture book Year of the Jungle, which Scholastic will publish on September 10, 2013. 
The book, to be illustrated by Collins's longtime friend (and Hunger Games dedicatee) James Proimos, follows the struggles of a girl named Suzy while her father is serving in Vietnam. more »

Random House Launches New Digital-Only Imprints

PW
Random House moved to expand its digital publishing program with plans to launch three new digital-only imprints: Alibi, a mystery-thriller line, Flirt, a YA/New Adult list and Hydra, a new digital-only science fiction line; in addition to expanding the reach of the Loveswept digital romance imprint. 
The digital-only imprints will be directed by Allison Dodson, v-p, digital publishing director, Scott Shannon, senior v-p, publisher, digital content, and Matt Schwartz, v-p, director of digital strategy.

more »

Librarians or Baristas?

November 26, 2012 - Matthew Reisz for Times Higher Education

Large bright badges offering help to customers may have become a common sight in coffee shops.
But the wearing of them by librarians at the University of Oxford has been seen as the latest insult in a row over changes taking place among the dreaming spires' famous research collections.
Anger has been growing in the past few months over developments at the Bodleian Libraries that have led to vast humanities collections being rehoused, including the History Faculty Library being incorporated into the main collections. Matters came to a head last week with a discussion in Congregation -- Oxford's academic "parliament" -- about "the libraries and their future."
Sarah Thomas, Bodley's librarian, described how "since 2000 six new libraries have been constructed and 19 libraries have been merged into larger units." But Hugh Doherty, a fellow in history at Jesus College, Oxford, worried that current trends threatened to turn "a multiplicity of integrated libraries, specialized, browsable and staffed, into a series of flagship book depositories, clean, cheap and faceless."

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/11/26/oxford-debates-role-its-librarians-and-libraries#ixzz2DdF24uQB

Inside Higher Ed 

The creepiness of software that monitors students’ e-reading.

In Soviet Russia, Book Reads You

By Evgeny Morozov|Posted Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, Slate

• 41
• 

Students use iPads during an English class in 2011 Photo by Lex Van Lieshout/AFP/Getty Images.

There are good reasons to be excited about the immense potential of digital technologies to help spread knowledge. For instance, “massive open online courses” (or MOOCs) have rightly been the center of much media attention. Thanks to for-profit ventures like Coursera and Udacity and nonprofit initiatives like edX (a collaboration of Harvard and MIT that now also includes the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Texas), thousands of lectures have become available at no cost—and soon, some students might even be able to get academic credit.

The learning experience it delivers may not match the thrill of being in the classroom with a virtuoso instructor but, in the absence of other options in much of the developing world, this is good enough. MOOCs look so appealing because they add heaps of curated content to the millions of YouTube clips and lecture texts that already circulate online but in a mostly chaotic manner. They take away the risk of watching a professor on YouTube only to discover that he is a disreputable crank. But to focus on the content alone would be to miss the other, less obvious side to the ongoing digitization of formal education: The very infrastructure of learning is changing as well—and in ways that are less unambiguously positive.

Full article at Slate

John Lewis snowman remodelled as children's book

TV advertisement with 'a real adventure' inspires publisher Nosy Crow to rush out illustrated tale for Christmas

• Alison Flood
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 November 2012 

Never knowingly under-told ... The Snowman's Journey into print

A loving snowman, concerned his beloved snowlady might be feeling the winter chill, is daunted by nothing in his quest to find her a scarf, hat and gloves. We have all – well, more than two million of us, anyway – seen John Lewis's latest Christmas ad, and now we can read the children's book as well.
Independent publisher Nosy Crow pulled out all the stops to create a children's book based on the story – snowman is made, snowman realises lady love is cold, snowman crosses hill and dale to make sure she's wrapped up warm – in the days after the ad was first aired on 9 November. Told using images from the advert and a story in verse written by the publisher's managing director Kate Wilson, The Snowman's Journey will hit John Lewis stores on Saturday.

Wilson decided to do the book the day after the ad was released. "We created a dummy version literally over the weekend, and John Lewis went for it straight away," she said. "Obviously there are people who don't respond to the ad, but it was really remarkable to me to see how many people chose to go to YouTube to look at it again. Lots of people have really responded to the story – I think John Lewis is genius at creating these narrative advertisements. This one had a real adventure, lots of different scenes, and a protagonist in the form of a snowman, which as we all know from Raymond Briggs is a very powerful, child-centred sort of character."

The story opens: "Once upon a Christmas time / two children woke up with a plan – / they'd use the sparkling snow / to build a snow girl and snowman. // The children worked hard all day long / Until their mother called them home. / The winter day grew colder still. / The snowpeople were left alone."
Wilson did not seem perturbed by what some are likely to see as a nakedly commercial cash-in. "The thing about the ads is they are very narrative-driven. John Lewis never appears in the ad – you never see the snowman go into John Lewis and buy a scarf so I felt it had a generalness," said Wilson. "I didn't feel like I was having to crowbar in references to specific retailers. I did think very hard about that, and I felt that one of the things I rather liked was that he doesn't buy her a Rolex watch, he buys her a scarf, hat and gloves, which is perfect for a snowperson. It's quite modest, and I felt that was OK. I didn't want anything which would give a spend, spend, spend message, and this had a message I didn't feel uncomfortable with putting into a book."

Amazon Publishing To Expand In Europe

Book2BookThursday 29 Nov 2012

Amazon will add a staff of editors and marketers and will be focusing on expanding the English-language audience through its English-language bookstores in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

Paid Content

PW

Publishing Perspectives

Peruvian Publishing Enjoying Peak Production Peruvian publishing is enjoying record growth thanks to zero VAT on books, increased exports and investment, more government purchases and a rising literary profile. Read more »
Discussion:
Why Publishers Need to Collaborate with Tech Companies At the Guadalajara Book Fair, Bill McCoy of the IDPF and Pablo Defendini of Safari Books encouraged publishers to work with tech companies, abandon DRM, and set their own prices. Read more »
More News from Publishing Perspectives:
McGraw-Hill Education Sold for $2.5 Billion to Investor McGraw-Hill has signed an agreement to sell its education business, McGraw-Hill Education, to investment firm Apollo Global Management for $2.5 billion. Read more »	PublishNews Brazil: Kobo on Sale, $200k Rights Sales in Mexico From Brazil: legal issues surrounding biographies may soon end, Objectiva launches digital imprint, Kobo goes on sale, $200k rights sales expected in Guadalajara. Read more »
From the Archives:
Asymmetry in the Spanish Book World: Spain vs. Latin America In 2010 Latin America produced nearly as many books as Spain yet absorbed 20% of Spain’s overall production, while Spain took in just 2% of Latin America’s. Read more »

New York’s 100 Most Important Living Writers

by Flavorwire Staff. Posted on Flavorpill - Wednesday Nov 28, 2012

New York has ever been the center of the American literary universe — the city of Whitman, of Edith Wharton, of every bar in Greenwich village — and though the legendary metropolis has lost a little edge and a lot of grime since Henry Miller lived here, it is still home to and creative fodder for countless contemporary writers, each vying for their own place in its robust literary history.

As you may have heard, one of New York’s most legendary contemporary writers, Philip Roth, recently announced his retirement, which has left us thinking about the state of the city’s literary landscape — and where it might go from here. To that end, we’ve taken a look at some of New York City’s most important writers, from Roth’s contemporaries to his possible successors, from those who have already been established by the passage of many years of excellence to younger writers of note who may still either cement or demolish their reputations. In making our list, we’ve chosen writers and journalists in the NYC area with serious literary merit, taking into consideration their legacy, their publishing history, and their cultural relevance across the board. Find our ranked top 100 list, as well as interviews with many of these distinguished authors, after the jump, and get to quibbling (as we know you will) in the comments.



Click through for Flavorwire’s list of New York’s 100 Most Important Living Writers

Judges for New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards unveiled

27 Nov 2012

Entries are pouring in for the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards and the judges are already excited at the prospect of reading so many fresh new books for young people.

Children’s literature expert and author Eirlys Hunter and presenter of Radio New Zealand’s Arts on Sunday programme, Lynn Freeman, will join Chief Judge, author Bernard Beckett, on the judging panel for 2013.

Mr Beckett, who writes children’s and young adult fiction, said he was looking forward to having “an excuse for such a concentrated burst of reading”.

	Children’s literature expert and author Eirlys Hunter.
	Presenter of Radio New Zealand’s Arts on Sunday programme, Lynn Freeman.
	Chief Judge, and author Bernard Beckett.

Judges will deliberate on as many as 150 books as they whittle down the selection to find the best children’s books across four categories: Young Adult Fiction, Junior Fiction, Non-fiction and Picture Books.
“I’m also looking forward to just getting a sense of the collective obsessions of our children's writers, which I think is always a pretty interesting thing to ponder,” he said.
The number of entries so far has already passed the total number of books entered in last year’s awards.
The Chair of the Book Awards Governance Group, Sam Elworthy, said: “There’s certainly no shortage of amazing children’s authors in New Zealand and the sheer volume of entries we’ve received so far will make sure this year’s judges face a very hard task choosing the winners.”
Once the finalists have been selected, young readers of all ages will get the chance to celebrate the country’s best children’s books as part of a nationwide festival.
The colourful festival will bring books alive for young readers and provide inspiration for New Zealand’s future writers and illustrators. The celebration will feature a nationwide tour of the finalist authors and illustrators, who will visit schools and libraries around the country.
School-aged children and young adults will also be able to vote for their favourite books from among the finalists. Each year tens of thousands of votes are received for the Children’s Choice Award.