The “University of Google”

originally posted January 14, 2008
May 2021: reformatted; text revised as noted

An interesting article appeared just this morning in The Economic Times—interesting and particularly appropriate for the primary election season that is evolving here in the States, as well as for writers in general. In the article, “Google, Wikipedia are white bread  … continue reading

New Best of Young American Novelists list announced

originally posted April 16, 2007
May 2021: reformatted; most links updated; text revised as noted

Granta magazine has just published its second Best of Young American Novelists list (see the right sidebar for author names). The first list, in 1996 (the summer issue, no. 54), helped launch the careers of Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections … continue reading

Audio from National Book Awards ceremony

originally posted February 28, 2007
May 2021: reformatted; all links adjusted; text revised to reflect changes in names and websites

Several recordings from the November 2006 National Book Awards sessions in New York City are now available online.  Among the podcast recordings are five sets of nominated authors reading from their nominated works and the  … continue reading

What makes a best seller?

originally posted February 10, 2007
May 2021: revised text is noted

The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents, and Booksellers Behind Them --by Brian Hill and Dee Power-- is still a valuable resource for authors

Brian Hill and Dee Power wanted to know what makes a book successful. So they researched the concept and published their answers in The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories From Authors and the Editors, Agents and Booksellers Behind Them. They talked with  … continue reading