no cure for curiosity.

infoneer-pulse:

For years, it was a schedule as predictable as a calendar: novelists who specialized in mysteries, thrillers and romance would write one book a year, output that was considered not only sufficient, but productive.

But the e-book age has accelerated the metabolism of book publishing. Authors are now pulling the literary equivalent of a double shift, churning out short stories, novellas or even an extra full-length book each year.

They are trying to satisfy impatient readers who have become used to downloading any e-book they want at the touch of a button, and the publishers who are nudging them toward greater productivity in the belief that the more their authors’ names are out in public, the bigger stars they will become.

“It used to be that once a year was a big deal,” said Lisa Scottoline, a best-selling author of thrillers. “You could saturate the market. But today the culture is a great big hungry maw, and you have to feed it.”

» via The New York Times (Subscription may be required for some content)

libraryjournal:

booksinthekitchen:

fsgbooks:

“Someone worked really hard to make the language just right, just the way they wanted it. They were so sure of it that they printed it in ink, on paper. A screen always feels like we could delete that, change that, move it around. So for a literature-crazed person like me, it’s just not permanent enough.”

-Jonathan Franzen in his first-ever press conference.

This is literally how a 90-year-old person talks about computers.

“But it’ll just disappear! How do I know it’s still there when I turn the page? Get my grandson on the phone—he knows about these things.”

Grandpa Franzen strikes again.

“We’re allowing libraries to be better connected with their communities,” OverDrive CEO Steve Potash said during a recent interview. “Right now, we have librarians who are trying to add books to the e-catalog but don’t always know what to add. Now, by exposing a publisher’s entire list, it becomes like crowdsourcing, where patrons can offer their suggestions.”

Potash said he expects the program to begin within a couple of weeks, in a handful of library systems, including New York City, Boston and Cuyahoga County in Ohio.

(Source: thelifeguardlibrarian)

thelittlethingsarelove:

I know it can be done, but how… someone help?

Do you have to do the kindle e-mail thing? Or can I just put them on a flashdrive and use my micro connector and put them on that way?

And can they be PDFs or do I have to convert them into something else?

Thank you!

Angry Birds on the way to work, or half an hour with Helen Dunmore, Julian Barnes or Emma Donoghue? A slew of short, digital-only reads is hitting the market this Christmas as publishers look to tempt the time-poor back to books.