Browse GalleyCat December 2011 archives - GalleyCat

Facebook Timeline Tips & Free eBooks: Top Stories of December

Jason Boog — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:23:03 +0000

Our Facebook tips for writers and the cancellation of Bored to Death led our literary headlines in December.

We are collecting the major stories of each 2011 in our annual year-end roundup of publishing headlines. It’s a chance to celebrate our good news and reflect on the bad news. Visit our Year in Review link as the series unfolds.

1. Make a Book Christmas Tree
2. 7 Free eBooks Neil deGrasse Tyson Thinks Everybody Should Read
3. How to Make a Secret Door in Your Bookcase
4. ‘Bored to Death’ Cancelled by HBO
5. Facebook Timeline Tips for Writers

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Bookish Bunny in Our Pet Parade

Jason Boog — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:23:27 +0000

Quirk Books marketing and social media coordinator Eric Smith wrote us about our annual Pet Parade: “Seeing puppies and cats, but where are the other furry critters? Here is a photo of my bunny, Rory (named after Rorschach in Alan Moore’s Watchmen) posing disapprovingly with my stuffed Kraken. She’s great at flashing me disapproving looks when my pitch letters get too long.”

GalleyCat readers around the globe have joined our annual Pet Parade, sending photos of their literary pets.

More photos follow below–we will collect all the entries at this link.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Is Literary Coverage Gender Balanced?

Jason Boog — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:47:01 +0000

Last night literary blogger Edward Champion looked back at The Bat Segundo Show archives for 2011, revealing that he had 28 male guests and 27 female guests on his literary podcast last year.

What do you think–does the literary world have a gender imbalance? Last year VIDA released a report about the gender balance among writers at literary magazines.

For comparison, Champion also counted the gender balance at other literary outlets. Among the sites he studied were The Nervous Breakdown, Bookworm and the Washington Post. We’ve collected the results in a Storify post below…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

‘Steve Jobs’ Was Amazon’s Most Popular Book

Dianna Dilworth — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:23:26 +0000

Walter Isaacson‘s biography Steve Jobs was the bestselling, most wished for and most gifted book from Amazon this holiday season. Amazon released its bestselling products of 2011 lists today and revealed that the biography was also the most gifted Kindle eBook of the season. The most “wished for” Kindle book was The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

The “most loved” book of 2011 for Amazon was Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. The “most loved” Kindle book was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

eBookNewser has more: “Angry Birds Rio was the bestselling app in the Amazon Appstore for Android in 2011. It was also the most wished for. The Kindle Fire was the bestselling, most wished for, most gifted and most loved product for Amazon in 2011.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

5 Literary Adaptations to Look Forward to Next Year

Maryann Yin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:07:59 +0000

Hollywood has lots of new literary movies scheduled for 2012. Here are five upcoming literary movies to look forward to in the new year.

Walt Disney Animation Studios will rerelease Beauty and the Beast in 3D. The film’s story comes from Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont‘s version of the fairy tale called La Belle et la Bête. It arrives in theaters on January 13th.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the sequel to the 2007 film, once again stars Oscar winner Nicholas Cage as the Marvel Comics antihero. The movie comes out on February 17th.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

30 NaNoWriMo Writing Tips & OWS Library Eviction: Top Stories of November

Jason Boog — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:47:04 +0000

In October, the sad news broke that Anne McCaffrey had died and that the Occupy Wall Street library was evicted.

1 Anne McCaffrey Has Died
2. Occupy Wall Street Library Evicted
3. Book Cover of the Future?
4. 30 Tips for National Novel Writing Month
5. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to Restructure

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Literary Parrots & Royal Pugs in Our Pet Parade

Jason Boog — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:23:25 +0000

GalleyCat readers around the globe have joined our annual Pet Parade, sending photos of their literary pets.

Boxing Day Books editor Paula Morrow sent that picture of a literary bird: “No pet parade is complete without a parrot! Harley is a Congo African grey parrot who lives (and serves as occasional guest editor) with small press Boxing Day Books. Here’s Harley during some down time, pondering the existence of cats.”

More photos follow below–we will collect all the entries at this link.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Former Kardashian Nanny Shopping Book

Dianna Dilworth — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:23:43 +0000

Pam Behan, a woman who worked for the Kardashian family as a nanny, is shopping a book about her experiences.

TMZ has more: “in the book, Pam makes it clear — she couldn’t stand Bruce’s sons … calling the two kids, ‘extremely spoiled and disrespectful.’ In the book, we’re told Pam also claims she almost lost her job after slapping Brandon one day.”

It seems to be high season for Kardashian books. Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian have a novel out called Dollhouse, which even has a special edition cover decorated in Swarovski crystal. Kris Jenner, mother to reality stars Kim, Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian, has a new memoir out called …And All Things Kardashian from Gallery Books.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Write Like Haruki Murakami & National Book Award Samples: Top Stories of October

Jason Boog — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:23:54 +0000

A controversial video of a baby trying to read a magazine like an iPad (embedded above) topped our headlines in October–raising some important questions about the future of reading.

1. How a Modern Baby Thinks about Reading
2. Literary Halloween Costume Ideas
3. How to Write Like Haruki Murakami
4. National Book Award Finalists: Free Samples
5. When to Stop Working on Your Book

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

‘Fading Ads Of New York City’ Chronicles Ghost Signs

Dianna Dilworth — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:19:27 +0000

New York photographer Frank Jump has a new book out that chronicles “ghost signs,” the fading street ads around New York City.

In Fading Ads of New York City, Jump documents these ads and points out the fake fading signs. For example, one fading ad for Planters Nuts on a brick wall in Ridgewood, Queens may look like its from the 1930s, but it is probably not.

The Daily News has more: “First, it faces the rising sun but still seems remarkably colorful. And Mr. Peanut doesn’t look as lanky as in other early Planters ads. Conclusion: The ad probably dates back only to the 1980s, when it was created, some believe, for the movie ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs.’”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Muppets Take Stieg Larsson & Borders Frustration: Top Stories of September 2011

Jason Boog — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:23:21 +0000

Welcome to GalleyCat’s annual year-end roundup of publishing headlines. It’s a chance to celebrate our good news and reflect on the bad news. Visit our Year in Review link as the series unfolds.

In September, frustrated Borders employees and a steampunk documentary dominated our headlines.

1. Borders Employees Vent Frustration
2. The Muppets Take Stieg Larsson
3. What Is Steampunk?
4. 20 Companies Use Computer-Generated Stories to Save Money on Writers
5. Adult Paperback Revenues Down Nearly 64% in June

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Amazon Sold a Million Kindles A Week In December

Dianna Dilworth — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:27:28 +0000

Amazon announced today that 2011 was the best selling year ever for the Kindle. While they didn’t say exactly how many Kindles they sold, the company revealed that throughout December, they sold more than 1 million Kindle devices per week.

Kindle eBook sales were up too. According to the Amazon press release: “Gifting of Kindle books was up 175 percent between this Black Friday and Christmas Day compared to the same period in 2010.” As in the past, Christmas Day was biggest day for Kindle book downloads.

This news extended to Amazon’s international sites as well. eBookNewser has more: “And Amazon’s good news extends to their other sites, as well. The Kindle is also the best-selling product on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es and Amazon.it this holiday season.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

L.A. Banks Has Died: Major Stories of August 2011

Jason Boog — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:23:41 +0000

In August 2011, novelist L.A. Banks (pictured) died after a battle with late stage adrenal cancer.

1. L.A. Banks Has Died
2. Haruki Murakami Yanked from School District Reading List
3. How Much Do Book Editors Earn?
4. NaNoWriMo Author Lands 6-Figure Deal After 30 Rejections
5. Authors Who Visit Book Clubs

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Abe Books Made $220K from 10 Rare Books

Dianna Dilworth — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:07:20 +0000

eBook sales may be cutting in on paperback sales, but digital hasn’t given way for print’s demise. In fact, rare books had a great year.

Book dealer AbeBooks brought in $220,330 from the sales of 10 books alone. The bookseller sold Karl Marx’s Das Kapital in November for $51,739. A signed first edition of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird fetched $25,000.

The retailer explained more on its blog: “Our third largest sale was a complete set of all 10 issues of Aspen Magazine, a multimedia publication that ran from 1965 to 1971. Many leading figures in contemporary art, both British and North American, were contributors to Aspen including Andy Warhol, John Lennon, Timothy Leary and Susan Sontag.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Real Life Galley Cat in Our Pet Parade

Jason Boog — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:23:04 +0000

GalleyCat readers around the globe have joined our annual Pet Parade, sending photos of their literary pets.

Author Joanne Levy shared a picture of her real life Galley Cat: “Recently, I got a copy of Caroline Starr Rose’s MAY B., which my cat Chester did not want to give up. I forced the issue and was finally able to read the book, but not before it received a lot of kitty love (well deserved – the book is awesome!).”

More photos follow below–we will collect all the entries at this link.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.