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Watch a Book Being Born

By Emily Temple on

We don’t know about you, but we never really think about how physical books get put together — and as e-readers become more and more prominent, the art of book-binding will probably become even more forgotten. This short film of a book being assembled with traditional printing methods, created for the UK’s Daily Telegraph, is a beautiful little snapshot of the printing process, so simple and lovely it seems almost like a dance, and reminded us how much we like the smell of book glue. We were surprised at how much delicate human labor goes into each book — painting, pressing, scrubbing — and imagined how sticky the glue-painters’ fingers might be after a long day of work. The good kind of sticky, though. Click through to watch the video, and let us know what you think in the comments! … Read More

Books

Bingo Battle: Traditional Publishing vs. Epublishing

By Judy Berman on

The worlds of traditional and electronic (and/or self-) publishing have been at war ever since the latter reared its technologically advanced head. And it looks like the next battle will be fought in an unexpected but entirely appropriate venue: viral Bingo cards. Over the weekend, John Scalzi posted Electronic Publishing Bingo, a card filled with tiresome and naïve arguments from that format’s supporters, including such chestnuts as: “All art should be free” and “Printing is the most costly part of publishing.” Now, a copyeditor and Boing Boing reader who goes by the Flickr handle Shmuel 510 has fired back with Traditional Publishing Bingo, a similar collection featuring gems like: “Wikipedia cannot possibly work” and “Nobody wants to read on a screen.”  Both sides make excellent points, so which Bingo card will you be staking your hard-earned book money on? … Read More

Books

Publishing’s Not Dead: The Industry Responds to Garrison Keillor

By Judy Berman on

Stop us if you’ve heard this “news” before: Publishing is dead. We know, we know. You’ve read variations on this theme in the mainstream media for decades. But now, Garrison Keillor is saying it! Which means the New York Times is listening. In his op ed, timed to coincide with annual publishing industry mega-conference Book Expo America, the Prairie Home Companion star forecasts a bleak future comprised of “18 million authors in America, each with an average of 14 readers, eight of whom are blood relatives. Average annual earnings: $1.75.”

While he’s free to correct us if we’re wrong, we’re pretty sure Keillor is no expert on the industry. And, call us crazy, but when we want to know about the future of publishing, we’d prefer to hear from people who know what they’re talking about. That’s why we’ve gotten in touch with some of our favorite book editors, publicists, critics, and agents to see what they thought of Keillor’s piece. Read their insightful, funny, and sometimes scathing responses after the jump. … Read More

Books

Is Carrie Kania’s It Books the Future of Publishing?

By Caroline Stanley on

Meet Carrie Kania. According to Variety she’s publishing’s new It girl. The former Harper Perennial helmer is the creative force behind HarperCollins’ new imprint, It Books, which will publish Nick Douglas’ Twitter Wit and a book called The Style Strategy by New York Times best-selling author/Project Runway judge Nina Garcia, among 19 other new hardcover and paperback original titles this fall. … Read More