New York Times - GalleyCat

NYT Creates Separate Middle Grade & YA Bestsellers Lists

Maryann Yin — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:23:26 +0000

The New York Times will divide its Children’s Bestsellers list for chapter books, creating separate middle grade and YA lists. NYT editor Pamela Paul announced the news last night on Twitter. We’ve embedded her three tweets below.

The newly formed middle grade and young adult lists will account for both eBook and print book sales. However, the picture books list will continue to exclusively spotlight on hardcover titles. What do you think?

The Fault in Our Stars author John Green offered this comment on his tumblr page: “In news that only matters to publishing nerds, the New York Times has changed its bestseller lists to become format neutral (so it counts e-book sales and doesn’t distinguish between hardcover and paperback)…Those of you who follow my tumblr closely may know that for many weeks, I have been chasing Bill O’Reilly and promising to destroy him. But now we have been placed on DIFFERENT LISTS.” (via Publishers Weekly)

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Best Way To Kickstart Creativity? Just Write.

Ji Hyun Park — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:47:44 +0000

We all hope the words we spin are genius right from the first draft, but let’s be honest: You can revise a draft easier than you can craft perfection from the start. So instead of pining over every sentence, just write, write write.

“When I find I can’t get the gumption to work on an assignment of some sort, it’s because my perfectionist nature is getting in the way and won’t let me actually start, or continue if I’ve already gotten the ball rolling,” says Denene Millner, author of 19 books, including three New York Times bestsellers.

“I’ve read several interviews and articles in the past that had suggested giving yourself permission to write a crappy draft, even going as far as suggesting that you ask your muse to help you write the worst sentence you possibly can,” she advised. “Once you do that, not only do you see that said crap draft or sentence isn’t the end of the world, but then you’ve officially started. So you might as well keep going.”

Still stuck? Check out How to Conquer Writer’s Burnout and Get More Creative.

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Janny Scott Writes Biography of Barack Obama’s Mother

Maryann Yin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:07:58 +0000

This spring journalist Janny Scott will publish a biography of Stanley Ann Dunham entitled A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother. Penguin has embargoed the book until its release.

Scott traveled to the locations where Dunham had lived (Indonesia, Kansas, and Hawaii) and interviewed almost 200 subjects. Both President Obama and his half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng gave interviews for the book.

The project began in 2008 when Scott wrote a New York Times article about Dunham. Here’s an excerpt from that piece: “As a mother, Ms. Soetoro was both idealistic and exacting. Friends describe her as variously informal and intense, humorous and hardheaded. She preached to her young son the importance of honesty, straight talk, independent judgment. When he balked at her early-morning home schooling, she retorted, ‘This is no picnic for me either, buster.’” (via The New York Times)

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