21st-century editors should keep their hands off of 20th-century books
A number of beloved novels, for both children and adults, are being "retouched"— updated to remove overtly racist, sexist or otherwise offensive language. Publishers and literary estates — including...
View ArticleE.U. approves Vivendi purchase of Lagardère
After a nine-month investigation, the European Commission has approved the purchase of Lagardère, owner of Hachette, France's largest publisher, by Vivendi, with several conditions. Vivendi must sell...
View ArticleCormac McCarthy, celebrated US novelist, dies aged 89
Cormac McCarthy has died at the age of 89, the American author's publisher has announced. He died in his home of natural causes. His son John McCarthy confirmed the death. McCarthy was best known for...
View ArticleEdwidge Danticat wins the 2023 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short...
Edwidge Danticat won the 2023 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, which recognizes writers "who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in the short story form." She will be honored...
View ArticleTexas's new 'book sexual rating' law denounced
Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law HB900, which requires suppliers of books to school libraries, librarians, and teachers to rate the books, both on future sales and retroactively....
View ArticleTikTok sells a lot of books, now it wants to publish them too
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, began courting self-published romance writers earlier this year. The company has already radically changed the way books are discovered online. And while...
View ArticleGoodreads was the future of book reviews. Then Amazon bought it
Goodreads, an Amazon-owned review site beloved by the bookish, has grown beleaguered. The site is built on outdated technological infrastructure, which made the cost of overhauling and updating it a...
View ArticleUkrainian writer Victoria Amelina dies after Kramatorsk strike
Victoria Amelina, one of Ukraine's best-known young writers, has died from injuries sustained in a Russian missile strike on a crowded restaurant in eastern Ukraine. She was 37. Her death brought to...
View ArticleMoveOn launches Banned Bookmobile
This month, the progressive advocacy group MoveOn is launching a Banned Bookmobile. It's a school bus tricked out with bookshelves containing frequently challenged titles, such as Toni Morrison's "The...
View ArticleMilan Kundera, reclusive literary giant, dies
Milan Kundera, the Czech writer who became one of the 20th century's most influential novelists but spent much of his life in seclusion, rarely engaging with the public, died in Paris on Tuesday,...
View ArticleBooksellers, industry groups file suit to block Texas book rating law
A coalition of booksellers and book industry advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit this week seeking to strike down a controversial new Texas law. Among the law's provisions is one mandating...
View ArticleThe wrath of Goodreads
When Megan Nolan published her first novel, fellow authors warned her in "ominous tones" about the website Goodreads. The young Irish writer looked at the book's listing there in the winter of 2020,...
View ArticlePaperback or hardcover? Used or new? Let's talk about our book habits
Book critic Michael Dirda shares 29 of his rules for reading. They are not hard and fast. Over time, all readers acquire an array of personal, often bizarrely eccentric rules and routines that govern...
View Article2023 Booker Prize longlist announced
The longlist for the 2023 Booker Prize was announced on August 1. Among the 13 authors to make the list, 10, including four debut novelists, were longlisted for the first time, and four are from...
View ArticleDeal for Simon & Schuster said to be near
Three major news outlets are reporting that the sale of Simon & Schuster will likely be announced as soon as next week. A Reuters report said that the final three bidders are HarperCollins, the...
View ArticleThe sales numbers on books by Supreme Court justices
A recent New York Times article put a spotlight on the book deals made by sitting justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. The focus was largely on how much the judges were being paid for those agreements,...
View ArticlePrivate equity firm wins Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion
Simon & Schuster has officially been purchased by private equity firm KKR for a cool $1.62 billion, with parent company Paramount Global surely relieved to offload the publisher that it's been...
View ArticleA view from the trenches by Ukrainian novelist, Artem Chekh
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I was writing a novel. It took place in America in 1863, and followed a Ukrainian man as he traveled from Virginia to Missouri, meeting on his...
View ArticleAs new law looms, Follett asks publishers to help 'rate' their own books for...
In their recently filed lawsuit to block HB 900, the controversial new Texas law that will require vendors to rate books sold to schools for sexual content, a coalition of booksellers and publishing...
View ArticlePublishers, Internet Archive submit proposed judgment in copyright case
More than four months after a federal judge found the Internet Archive liable for copyright infringement for its program to scan and lend library books, the parties have delivered a negotiated...
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