"If the only reason we disapprove of something people are saying 'these days' is that we just find it off-putting, then we should consider a test: Could we defend our disapproval 100 years from now, to people who never knew an English without it?" - The New York Times
“They didn’t feel they were the right house to do this book right now. I don’t think they have any interest in trying to cancel Norman Mailer. You can’t cancel Norman Mailer.” - The Guardian
For five years, someone has been impersonating various publishing industry figures (dozens of them) in order to obtain not-yet-published manuscripts — which were never posted online or held for ransom, baffling people in the field. The suspect is Filippo Bernardini, a young employee of Simon & Schuster. - Vulture
A book nowadays is likely to have left its author’s computer to become a bunch of digital assets in Adobe InDesign. These digital assets are then published to e-book formats and onto paper in a globe-spanning process that might involve a specialized logistics firm, designer, and distributor. - PublicBooks
"The Objective editor Gabe Schneider talked to Whetstone founder Stephen Satterfield about U.S. food media, what values and frameworks define Satterfield and Whetstone's writing, and what it meant to be the only Black-owned food media company in print." - Nieman Lab
Mailer's longtime publisher, Random House denies that it has dropped his work entirely (it continues to maintain his backlist), but passed the planned Mailer centennial collection to Skyhorse Publishing, which has picked up titles by Woody Allen, Blake Bailey, and Garrison Keillor abandoned by major houses. - AP
He had a difficult personality, an unseemly personal life, and a late-life plunge in the quality of his work, writes editor Robert Gottlieb, but at his best — the 1920s novels that earned him a Nobel Prize — he captured what made the U.S. tick. - The New York Times
Sir Leonard Blavatnik, the American-British-Ukrainian petrochemical-finance-entertainment mogul, put up half the money to buy it for the public a few weeks ago — with a little help from Prince Charles and thousands of small donations. - Washington Post
The entire Canadian Oxford research staff was laid off in 2008 due to declining sales, and responsibility for identifying our country's words was placed largely in the hands of researchers in the United States and Britain (though Canadian researchers continue to add Canadian influence). - CBC
McFall enjoyed duties and perks not given to any other Strand employee. For much of his tenure, he was the only person in charge of an entire section. Not only that, the fief he governed — the fiction shelves — provides the Strand with the core of its business in used books. - The New York Times
These picture/word puzzles, sort of like charades on paper, were very popular in the mid-20th century and even had a game show (Concentration) based on them. A.J. Jacobs offers an explanation, along with a history of the Great Rebus Craze of 1937. - Mental Floss
Under Senate Bill 1142, if just one parent objects to a book it must be removed within 30 days. If it is not, the librarian must be fired and cannot work for any public school for two years. Parents can also collect at least $10,000 per day from school districts if the book is not removed as requested. -...
"A federal judge has issued a default judgment against a major overseas e-book piracy operation known as the KISS Library after its operators failed to answer a lawsuit filed in July, 2020 by the Authors Guild, Amazon Publishing, Penguin Random House, and a number of authors." - Publishers Weekly
And the authors of those books — who, not long ago, couldn't get a single look from publishers — can thank social media: Booksgram, BookTube, and BookTok. - The Guardian
How the pulp nonfiction devoured by the public during Tsar Alexander II's reign led to Crime and Punishment — and how Dostoevsky used the hunger for true crime stories to get his political message into the public's hands. - The New Republic
