EMILY DICKINSON’S SINGULAR SCRAP POETRY – A lovely meditation on Emily Dickinson’s habit of writing poems and pieces of poems on all sorts of paper items, including chocolate wrappers (genius). There is still a good deal of curiosity and speculation around Dickinson, and thinking about the relationship between the writing and ... more >
New Study Finds Low Levels of Digital Library Borrowing – According to this summary of the latest Book Industry Study Group findings, libraries are not doing a great job of appealing to patrons who read digital books (you can download the executive summary for free here). Of library patrons surveyed, more ... more >
I’m a little late putting this together. The holidays rushed through October and was here before I realized it. I can’t believe I’m thirty one days away from 2015. 2014 sped by faster than any year in recent memory. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad. I’m leaning toward ... more >
Kohn Appeals Penguin, Macmillan E-book Settlements – Despite a warning from Judge Cote that his arguments were unlikely to prevail, RoyaltyShare founder Bob Kohn has formally appealed the approved e-book settlements with Penguin and Macmillan. As I noted earlier, Kohn’s argument is especially interesting, because he doesn’t assert that the ... more >
Smashwords Website Revamp And Scribd Deal – Not only did Smashwords dramatically update and revise its website, but it has also entered into a distribution deal with Scribd, including Scribd’s new $8.99/month subscription service. According to Smashwords founder Mark Coker: “For Scribd’s subscription ebook service, authors will earn 60% of the list ... more >
How I Write: James McBride, The New National Book Award Winner For Fiction – This is a really interesting interview with National Book Award winner James McBride (for his novel, The Good Lord Bird), about his writing process. Because McBride is a musician, he finds it “work” to listen to ... more >