The Joss Group

Like Mystery Novels? Check Out the Edgar Award Nominee List for Best in 2012

I like reading mystery novels and have read many of them. Might write one myself one day...so I was gleeful when I got this MediaBistro blog post about the Edgar Award 2013 Nominee list as the post has not only the names but links to free samples of the books. So cool.

Here's the link to the list and the sample links:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/best-mystery-novels-of-2012_b63842

The Font of Truth

I was reading one of those mainstream espionage thrillers the other day, a potboiler without a doubt. I like potboilers because you can read along and get the fun of seeing text and not really have to pay attention. I tripped over one line, though, in which a character described a source as not exactly a "font of truth."

Of course, this is an example of where book publishers have cut back on proofreading and so mistakes like this are not caught often enough (careful, Molly, glass houses and all that). The author must have meant "fount of truth," a phrase tortured enough as is. But, that aside, the phrase "font of truth" has amused me ever since.

I found myself musing what an actual font of truth would look like. Would it have serifs, I wondered? Or would sans serif be more in keeping with the idea of verity? Would it be available only in bold? Etc. Etc.

Next on my reading list is Just My Type by Simon Garfield, a book I am reviewing for the next issue of the Seybold Report. I wonder if I will find tales of fonts of truth and deception inside the covers of that book.

Barnes & Noble--Sells More, But Profits Down

Barnes & Noble Inc. has reported a record $7 billion in gross sales in FY2011, a 20% increase from FY 2010. The increase was driven by inclusion of a full year of sales from Barnes & Noble College Booksellers and a 50% sales increase at BN.com. The company reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $163 million and a consolidated full-year net loss of $74 million, or $1.31 per share. The company did not issue projections for sales or earnings for FY 2012 pending a decision on the acquisition proposal from Liberty Media.

 

 

Barnes & Noble on the Ropes?

Down, but not out, at least not yet, Barnes & Noble needs to find an innovative group of angel investors and soon. The stock price keeps slipping, and I would not like to see B&N go the same way as Borders. Yet, what do with the brick and mortar stores B&N has everywhere? Can Chairman Leonard Riggio save the company? What do you think? What would you said to Riggio?

What's Going on With Borders?

The New York Times and several other media outlets are reporting Borders is seeking to delay payments or rework payment schedules with several major publishers. I read that and thought, "Uh-oh!" Borders, like Barnes & Noble, has a lot of bookstores and not as many paying customers as the two chains need to do well financially. There has been talk of B&N buying Borders, but that would just B&N more bookstores and still not enough customers. I hope Borders can work out a deal it can live with or figure out a way to reinvent itself.

Changing Publishing Models

Why do we have to keep doing publishing the same way? Why business as usual? Here's an idea that I can see having merit: a literary agent decides to publish some of the work of his clients as e-books. A quote from the article sums it up for me: “There has to be an adjustment of what the print publishers are willing to do,” Mr. Wylie said.

Sir Harold Evans Has the Right Idea

"As I said in My Paper Chase, what matters to me isn't the vehicle, it is the journalism. I don't care whether it is delivered electronically or by camel. I want to know what the journalism is."

Read the entire interview by clicking here.

Two Million iPads and Counting

And I still have not bought one. I have tried to buy one, but none of the local Apple stores or other outlets have them when I get there. "First come, first served," said one salesman. No waiting lists, just luck of the draw. At this point, I may wait for Rev. 2. I have read, though, that the Wired app remains very popular on the paid app bestseller list in the iTunes App Store. One of my friends who bought her iPad within days of its U.S. release, is an avid Wired reader and has nothing but good things to say about all things iPad.

Garrison Keillor and I Disagree about the Future of Book Publishing

Never thought I would live to see the day when Garrison Keillor, author and NPR main man, and I would disagree about anything. But, he made a statement recently with which I disagree. He said, "Call me a pessimist, call me Ishmael, but I think that book publishing is about to slide into the sea." I again presume he meant this statement figuratively. Either way, I do not believe it is true. Yes, there is a lot of free information out there and there are a lot of information aggregators on the Web, but the world still needs books and thus the world still needs book publishers.

Why? Simply because the Internet and other places where information may be found just piles all the data/words/figures and so forth in one great big pile. Editors and publishers are people who dive into the pile, start sorting, evaluating, discarding and arranging. The content they feel is relevant to their point, to their reader, to their goal is what they package into a book. There is a lot of bad information floating around out there, in cyberspace and around the water cooler. We need, the world needs, book publishing and because we need it, it will go on and on.

Sorry, Garrison, have to disagree with you on this one. Respectfully, of course.