Your Twitter and Facebook Headers - Are Using This Free Real-Estate In The Best Way Possible?

It's a question brought on by this roundup "Authors on Twitter: 55 Stunning Header Image Examples" by Diana Urban at BookBub.

Both Facebook and Twitter allow you to upload your own custom headers... are you making the most of that space?

Check out the examples in the article, and also consider who are your colleague authors - those whose books your readers love, too - and go to their pages on social media to see what they're doing with that space.

Be aspirational - check out what the best-sellers in your category are doing.

Be strategic - Diana's roundup gives some handy design categories these fall into, including:

Promote a single book

Promote a series

Display multiple books

Showcase art from a book or cover

Focus on author branding

Be creative - use a free tool like canva.com, or a more robust designer tool, or consider hiring an actual designer to help make you look like the professional you are.

Some inspiration:

Have fun with it, and know you can change it up over time!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

How would it impact publishers (and authors and illustrators) if Facebook ditches the Like count?

This article by Monojoy Bhattacharjee in What's New In Publishing, How would it impact publishers if Facebook ditches the Like count?, gives us a glimpse of the experiments happening with hiding like counts on Instagram and Facebook.

Why are these platforms looking at hiding the like count?

A spokesperson for Facebook, Instagram’s owner, told BBC that “This test only makes your like count private to others, so that you’re able to focus less on likes and more on telling your story.”

Monojoy predicts,

"With Likes possibly becoming less of a determinant of content popularity, focus on community building and content quality will increase."

This raises so many interesting questions!

Consider: How would your social media efforts change if no one but you could see how many "likes" something you post gets?

And if no one else could see, would you come to a point where even you stopped looking at the like count of what you post?

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Some Excellent Advice for Kid Lit Writers and Illustrators On Where To Draw The Private/Public Line On Facebook, Twitter and in all Social Media

Jennifer Laughran, an Agent at Andrea Brown Literary, has a fantastic blog post at her "Jennifer Represents..." blog that you need to read: The Fine Art of Zipping it, or XYZ PDQ.  It's about what you should and probably shouldn't share in our new facebook/twitter/online world of social media.   Go read it and pop back so we can chat about it.

I'll wait.


Okay, now that you're back, let's do some self-examination.  Jennifer writes,

"...the tone of my social media reflects the tone of my work."

What's the tone of your facebook posts?  Your tweets?  Your blog?

What about the photos you post on facebook and your profile pictures across social media?  If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what does your profile pic say?

When I get a friend request from someone I don't know, if they're not wearing a shirt in their profile pic (guys or girls), I do not friend them back or accept the request.  No offense meant, but clearly, they're not there for the same reasons I am.

(An extension of this is that in places where you can, send a message with your friending request, explaining the connection, and showing your professional intent.  It's certainly something I appreciate.)

I'm online to be my public, professional self.  To have and contribute to great discussions about kid lit and diversity and ending bullying and GLBTQ equality ...and to gather with like-minded tribe members - writers, illustrators, agents, editors, publishers, art directors, librarians, teachers, parents and teens.

Why are you online?  Who's your audience?

As Jennifer writes with her inimitable wit,

...if you have a public account on which you are promoting your work for children, and you are friending/following readers, teachers, librarians and publishing professionals, use your dang noodle. And not THAT noodle, mister.

Think about it in terms of what Alexandra Penfold, Editor at Paula Wiseman Books at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, suggested in her panel at #NY12SCBWI:

"Google yourself and make sure it's what you want agents and editors to see with your submission."

Wise words.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

In the News This Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun.



This week's news includes PW's coverage of SCBWI 40th Annual Summer Conference (which is technically last week's news, but I didn't want you to miss it); Little, Brown and Holiday house entering the leveled reader realm; magazine editors reaching out to the young and wired; syncing posts on multiple social networks; some e-reader-related news; Twitter contest tips; indie bookstore coverage including some fun from The Daily Show's John Hodgman; and more.

SCBWI Conference Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Record Turnout (PW)
A surprise guest appearance by Judy Blume at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators annual summer conference in Los Angeles made the 40th anniversary of the organization even more meaningful to the record-breaking number of attendees, which included writers, illustrators, publishers, editors, and agents. Nearly 1,350 people were on hand for the conference, which was held August 4-8 at the Century Plaza Hotel.

Two Leveled Reader Programs Debut This Fall (PW)
A phone call from a librarian friend at the Boston Public Library allegedly prompted Ursula Nordstrom in the mid-1950s to launch Harper & Row’s I Can Read! line of beginning readers. After the librarian told the legendary editor that there was a dearth of simple books that new readers were able to tackle on their own, Nordstrom set out to fill that void. The first I Can Read! title, Else Holmelund Minarik’s Little Bear, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, was released in 1957. That same year, Random House debuted Beginner Books with Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat. In subsequent years, many other early reader programs entered the marketplace, including Random House’s Step into Reading, Scholastic Readers, HMH Books’ Green Light Readers, and most recently Square Fish’s My Readers, which launched this spring. This fall, two new leveled reader lines join their ranks: Little, Brown’s Passport to Reading and I Like to Read Books from Holiday House.
 

Liberty Buys Barnes & Noble Stake (MCN)
Liberty Media said it has agreed to purchase $204 million of Barnes & Noble preferred stock, a deal which would eventually give it a 16.6 % stake and trumps a $1 billion bid the media  giant had made for the troubled book retailer in May.

iPad Killer: Amazon Goes Razor Blades On Tablet Landscape (PWxyz)
This October is likely going to be a defining moment for tablets. That’s if, as expected, Amazon drops its tablet into the increasingly crowded fray, which at the moment is only slightly more organized than the Wild West. Many are expecting Amazon to set things straight, eliminating the pretenders and giving us a better idea of what exactly buyers want out of a tablet. But before we get to what might happen, let’s get caught up on what already has happened.

Easily And Automatically Sync Posts Between Twitter, Google+ And Facebook (AllTwitter)
We’ve written before about how to tweet your Google+ posts to Twitter, and now we’ve got an even more robust way to sync up your various social media profiles.

4 Things To Remember When Running A Twitter Contest (AllTwitter)
Twitter is a fantastic place to host a contest. You have a direct line to your customers and fans, you can easily set a time limit, and you can even use a hashtag to track it easily. However, there are some things you’ve got to consider when setting up your Twitter contest, or else the scammers, hackers, and otherwise deceptive people will start coming out of the woodwork and ruin all your best intentions.

HARRY POTTER CHAINED to new Sony reader (Register)
Sony will bundle its next generation e-reader with the entire series of Harry Potter stories from November, The Register has learnt. The bespectacled wizard debuts in digital format in October – the same time as the Sony-sponsored Pottermore "online reading experience" goes live – according to well-placed sources in the vendor's retail channel.

Editors Face Teen Angst (WWD)
Magazine newsstand sales were revealed last week by the Audit Bureau of Circulations and the numbers were bleak. Editors are desperate to engage the younger generation — those tweeters, Facebookers, text messagers and Web surfers who will ensure that titles have a future beyond the Baby Boomers. But what do they have to offer this prized demographic? More pictures of Lady Gaga or Kim Kardashian?

Independent bookstores add a new chapter (WaPo)

The brick-and-mortar bookstore is, like most of the economy, dead or close to it. See: Amazon, growth of. See: Borders, tanking of. Everybody knows this. So here’s Eileen McGervey, owner of One More Page bookstore in Arlington, standing next to her gourmet chocolates and a nice little wine selection, right across from the food and travel section, and she . . . opened in January of this year?

  
John Hodgman Shares Tips for Indie Bookstores (GalleyCat)
Author John Hodgman poked fun at the demise of Borders in a Daily Show appearance (video embedded above) this week,  urging booksellers to “replace their old-fashioned bookshelves with beautiful, well-appointed downloading pods.”

In the News This Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

Today's news bits include virtual book clubs (or critique groups?) made easy, more on the WSJ YA story, e-readers print habits, some love for publishers, a digital deal for Harper, and more.


Host A Virtual Book Club Using Facebook, Skype Or Google (eBookNewser)
Having a virtual book club has never been easier thanks to new tools from Facebook, Skype and Google. Today Facebook announced new updates that make it easier to chat with multiple people and to hold one-on-one video calls.

YA Author Apologizes To 'Wall Street Journal' Critic (NPR)
Debates over what material is appropriate for teen readers have been raging ever since the young adult--or "YA"--genre first emerged.But the argument took on new life in June, when Wall Street Journal children's book critic Meghan Cox Gurdon suggested that teen fiction had gone from dark to lurid.

Comics And Kids Book Apps Lead Top Grossing iPad Book Apps (eBookNewser)
To prepare for Mediabistro’s upcoming Publishing App Expo on December 7-8, we will be spotlighting the top grossing book apps every week–helping our readers discover and analyze successful content.
 
Twitter Tip: Don’t Auto-Connect Your Facebook And Twitter Accounts (AllTwitter)

Twitter has made it deceptively easy to connect your Twitter account to your Facebook account, but don’t be fooled. It’s usually not a good idea.  

Why You Should Own Your Domain Name (GalleyCat)
Having an online presence is critical for writers to market their work. In a recent blog post, author John Scalzi urged writers to purchase their own domain name online.

Tablet, E-reader Owners Also Print Junkies (MediaPost)
People who are heavy print magazine and newspaper readers might seem like the last ones to embrace gadgets like tablets and e-readers. But new research from Gfk MRI shows tablet owners are 66% more likely than the average U.S. adult to be big print magazine consumers and 54% more likely to be heavy print newspaper readers. Similarly, e-reader owners are 23% more likely to be print magazine enthusiasts and 63% more likely to get newsprint on their hands.  

Cherish the Book Publishers—You'll Miss Them When They're Gone (WSJ)
The Klondikers of digital publishing are rushing to stake their claims, inspired by tales of the gold to be found in the Kindle hills. A few pioneering prospectors have indeed struck it rich with light entertainments, most famously Amanda Hocking, who is a sort of Tolkien for our times (if Tolkien had been an avid fan of "Star Wars" instead of an eminent scholar of "Beowulf"). Her self-published e-books racked up so many sales over the past year that St. Martin's Press recently signed her for some $2 million.

Harper Children's Books Debuts Digital 'I Can Read' Series (PW)
HarperCollins Children’s Books is teaming with both the Apple iBookstore and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Bookstore to launch digital editions of its popular I Can Read early reader picture book series. Harper will set up I Can Read digital boutiques at each online store, launching with 80 titles with plans for more to come.

In the News The Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

This week's tidbits include an announcement of a new literary agency, stats on the best times to tweet, J.K. Rowling's Pottermore unveiled, a (possibly controversial or maybe just a little annoying) piece on writing YA, e-book price points, new words added to the OED, and a NY Times magazine feature on Amanda Hocking.


Red Fox Literary Opens for Business (PW)
This week agent Karen Grencik and editor Abigail Samoun officially launched their new venture, Red Fox Literary, an agency representing children’s book authors and illustrators and based out of Shell Beach, Calif. The agency currently represents more than 30 authors and illustrators, including Diane Browning, Adam Gustavson, Ginger Rue, Teri Sloat, and Jan Wahl.

Infographic Reveals The Best Times To Post To Twitter & Facebook (Social Times)
What is the best time to share content on social networks for maximum exposure? Should you post first thing in the morning? During lunch? At the end of the workday when people are getting ready to head home? And how do you account for the fact that you may have potential customers living in different time zones? A new infographic from KISSmetrics answers these questions and more with a new infographic called ‘The Science of Social Timing.’

Pottermore: Interesting But Not a Game Changer (PW)
When J.K. Rowling revealed Thursday that her previously announced Pottermore Web site would be a portal to get additional stories and information about the Harry Potter universe, as well as the sole place to buy heretofore unavailable e-book editions of the Potter titles, the media started churning out stories not only about Rowling’s marketing prowess but how her move might have larger ramifications for the publishing business. But many people who work in publishing think that as interesting as Pottermore is, the endeavor says less about the future of book publishing than about the singular status of a very wealthy author who has the inclination and means to build her own brand.

Ten iPad Apps Based On Classic Children’s Book (eBookNewser)
Kids are growing up reading on iPads today. In hopes that they’ll still read classic books, we’ve made a list of ten iPad books apps based on classic children’s books. This list is not comprehensive. Help us expand it by adding your favorite kids book apps in the comments.

Writing Young-Adult Fiction: It's better than going to the prom. (Slate)
Young-adult books are being sold to an audience that can't vote, yet they're being written by people commonly referred to on the Internet as "the olds." We should know. We're two of them. Both of us have made our living writing. One of us in journalism (Grady) and the other in literary fiction (Katie). But then Katie's publisher pitched her on doing a Y.A. series, mostly because she's somewhat immature and teenager-ish anyway, so why not turn that weakness into a strength?

Come Meet the Author, but Open Your Wallet (NY Times)
Independent bookstores, squeezed by competition from Internet retailers like Amazon, have long done something their online brethren cannot emulate: author events. And now many bookstores say they have no choice but to capitalize on this grand tradition. They are charging admission.

 7 eBook Price Points Defended (GalleyCat)
How much should an eBook cost? To give publishers and authors some guidance, we’ve collected spirited defenses of seven different eBook prices–choose the price that works best for your writing. According to a new and unscientific poll, Nathan Bransford found that 51 percent of his readers thought eBooks should be priced between $5 and $9.99. What is your favorite price point?

Oxford English Dictionary Adds Auto-Complete, Brain Candy & Gender Reassignment (GalleyCat)
The Oxford English Dictionary has revealed 1,840 newly revised and updated words in its online edition.In all, the famous dictionary has added 98,000 revised and new entries since building an online edition in March 2000. The update added entries for everything from crystal methamphetamine to network neutrality.

Storyseller (NYT Mag)
Amanda Hocking, the star of self-publishing, was sitting in the front seat of her Ford Escape earlier this spring when she spotted a messenger delivering flowers to her home in Austin, Minn. She watched her best friend and roommate, Eric Goldman, get the door. “They’re probably from, like, my mom,” she said as she walked up to her porch. “Or my dad. He always sends flowers.” Inside, Goldman had set the assortment of gerbera daisies and roses on the coffee table. “Who are they from?” Hocking asked. “St. Martin’s Press,” Goldman said. “That’s your new publisher.” That morning, Hocking’s deal with St. Martin’s was announced: $2 million for her next four books, a series she’s calling “Watersong.”

In the News This Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

This week's news includes PW's coverage of NBA winner Kathryn Erskine's acceptance speech, goodbye to Tricycle Press, a pair of some studies on the teens' dating habits and buying habits (including books), MySpace/Facebook partnership, help with e-reader holiday shopping, and more.


Erskine Wins NBA in Young People's Literature (PW)
Kathryn Erskine was filled with gratitude as she stepped up to the podium on Wednesday night to claim the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, for her novel Mockingbird (Philomel), about a 10-year-old girl with Asperger’s syndrome. She thanked the National Book Awards "for supporting reading and our culture," as well as the judges, her publishing house Penguin, and "readers and friends and supporters and family." She also thanked educators, for teaching children "to think critically and deeply, and think for themselves." And she saved special thanks for her mother, for teaching her not only the "what" of the world, "but also the 'why.'"

Random House to Shutter Tricycle Press (PW)

As of January 31st Random House Children’s Books is discontinuing the frontlist publishing program of Berkeley-based Tricycle Press, the 18-year-old children’s book imprint. As part of the change, v-p and publisher Nicole Geiger and her four-person editorial team will leave the company on the 31st as well. Tricycle marketing and publicity manager Laura Mancuso will stay on in the same capacity at RHCB.

A study confirms every suspicion you ever had about high-school dating (Slate)
In the Darwinian world of high-school dating, freshman girls and senior boys have the highest chances of successfully partnering up. Senior girls (too picky!) and freshman boys (pond scum!) have the least. These are truisms known to anyone who has watched 10 minutes of a teen movie or spent 10 minutes in a high school cafeteria. Now, however, social scientists have examined them exhaustively and empirically. And they have found that for the most part, they're accurate. So are some other old prom-era chestnuts: Teen boys are primarily—obsessively?—interested in sex, whereas girls, no matter how boy-crazy, tend to focus on relationships. Young men frequently fib about their sexual experience, whereas young women tend to be more truthful. Once a student has sex, it becomes less of an issue in future relationships.

Teen Girls as Avid Shoppers (AdWeek)
 Don't blame teenage girls for the sluggishness of consumer spending. In a survey just released by Varsity Brands (which sells cheerleading apparel) and Ketchum Global Research Network, girls age 13-18 identified shopping as their favorite pastime. And the list of purchases they've recently made confirms this isn't just talk. But other parts of the survey may leave you wondering how the girls' immersion in new media leaves them with time to buy things.

You Can Now Log in to MySpace with Facebook (Mashable)
In a move that has been rumored for nearly a year, MySpace users can now log in to the once dominant social network using Facebook. At a press event this afternoon, the two companies announced an expansion of their existing partnership that puts a connect with Facebook button on the MySpace homepage and enables a wide range of personalization and sharing features on MySpace.

Closing the book on Harry Potter (NYT)
A LOT has happened since the screenwriter Steve Kloves began working on his adaptation of the very first Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” in the late 1990s.
The three central characters — Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) — have grown up on screen, enduring the twin horrors of Voldemort and adolescence before our very eyes. The stories have become progressively darker and more complicated. And Mr. Kloves has immersed himself so deeply in the world of Harry Potter that by the time J. K. Rowling’s seventh and final volume, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” came out in 2007, he said, he knew the characters almost as thoroughly as she did herself.

Holiday Gift Guide To eReaders (eBook Newser)
The holiday shopping season is here and eReaders and tablets are poised to be the hot items of the season. To help you navigate through all of the devices out there, we have compiled a Holiday Gift Guide To eReaders featuring the latest eReaders on the market. The below list includes eReaders that have come out over the last year and will be hot this season:

Great Holiday Expectations for E-Readers (NYT)
E-readers will be widely available at stores like Target, Best Buy and Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, and offered at prices that make sense for Christmas gifts—less than $150. Publishers and booksellers are expecting that instead of giving your mother a new Nicholas Sparks novel or your father a David Baldacci thriller in the hardcovers that traditionally fly off the shelves and into wrapping paper at this time of year, you might elect to convert them to e-reading.

In the News This WeeK

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

Among this week's news: two pieces in the Huffington Post offer (yet more) reactions to the NYT picture book piece; kids and screen time; National Book Award finalists (in case you missed it); a new Seuss manuscript and new book from Hilary Duff (did I just mention them both in the same sentence?); Facebook vs. Twitter for content creators, children's comics; iPad news, authors who wrote in their birthday suits; Grover spoofs the Old Spice Guy (video below); and more.


There's Good News and Good News about Picture Books (HuffPo)
The recent New York Times article, "Picture Books no Longer a Staple for Children" set off understandable ripples of concern, anger, worry, and dismay. But I have to say it didn't bother me because what I see in my little corner of the reading world has me certain that the picture book is alive and well. What I do see as changing is a broadening (not narrowing) of the age of the audience and a wonderful extending of the concept and form of the book itself.

Adults Take the Fun Out of Reading, Again (HuffPo)
The big story on The New York Times today is that parents are again urging children to ditch children's books. Sure, Where the Wild Things Are and Green Eggs and Ham may be beloved by generations of kids, but many parents are concerned that colorful pictures and imaginative stories aren't going to give their 5-year-old a leg-up on their SATs. According to the Times:

Screen Time May Consume Nearly 1/3 of Day for U.S. Kids (Yahoo)
Children and teens in the United States spend an average of seven hours a day using television, computers, phones and other electronic devices for entertainment, compared to an average of three hours a day watching TV in 1999, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).  Parents, physicians and educators need to understand the effects of this increasing exposure to media and educate youngsters about media use, the academy said in an updated AAP policy statement released online in advance of publication in the November print issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Patti Smith, Peter Carey Among National Book Award Finalists (PW)
Today, writer Pat Conroy announced the finalists for the 2010 National Book Award from the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home in Savannah, Georgia. The finalists include rock legend and poet Patti Smith, whose memoir Just Kids (Ecco) is a nonfiction finalist, and Man Booker finalist Peter Carey, for his novel Parrot and Olivier in America (Knopf).

Dr. Seuss Manuscript Surfaces (GalleyCat)
Would you pay $1,000 for a handwritten Dr. Seuss book? That’s the current bid for a long lost Dr. Seuss manuscript up for auction at Nate D. Sanders. The collection is pictured above, via the auction site (click to enlarge).

Someone alert the Pulitzer board! Hilary Duff turns author as she debuts her new novel (Mail Online)

It's not enough to just be an actress these days... or a singer... or a fashion designer...or a model.... or a combination of all five as Hilary Duff is. Today's young stars seem to feel the need to try their hand at absolutely everything, especially crafting their words of wisdom into the novel form. 23-year-old Duff is the latest celebrity to join the ranks of author, with the release of her new book, Elixir.

Kids' Comics Everywhere at New York Comic Con (PW)

While sales of graphic novels are down, comics for children and teens seem to be a bright spot, and they were attracting plenty of attention at New York Comic Con last weekend.

Traditional children's publisher Archie Comics had some of the biggest news of the show with the announcement of a new line of Mega Man comics, based on the character from Capcom's video game. The comics will be written by Ian Flynn and drawn by Patrick "Spaz" Spaziante, who both currently work on Sonic the Hedgehog. The new series will debut in spring 2011.

Open Road Media in Deal with Albert Whitman; Adds More Mysteries (PW)
Children’s book publisher Albert Whitman & Co. has reached an agreement with Open Road Integrated Media to publish all 150 titles of Whitman’s Boxcar Children Mysteries series in e-book format. The first 19 e-titles in the series will be released in time for Christmas 2010. Originally written by Gertrude Chandler Warner, who wrote the first 19 books, the popular series has sold more than 50 million copies across the 150 titles.

Children’s Story Apps Dominate Top 10 Paid Apps (eBook Newser)
Oceanhouse Media’s The Berenstain Bears app tops the Top Paid apps in the book category this afternoon. Disney Publishing Worldwide’s Winnie the Pooh app follows this $2.99 children’s story app at No. 2.

Facebook Vs Twitter: Which Performs Better? (AllFacebook)
Which has more value to content producers – a tweet or a Facebook share? New data from SocialTwist throws up some interesting answers. The company’s Social Media Sharing Trends 2010 Report is based on the social media sharing analysis of millions of referral messages sent using the Tell-a-Friend widget from August 2009 to July 2010. It suggests that Facebook is the dominant social networking site for sharing links but Twitter might be better for click-throughs.

Apple’s iPad Is Coming To Walmart (eBook Newser)
Apple is gearing up to push iPads this holiday season by stocking up on the popular devices in big box retail stores. The iPad is going to go on sale at WalmartWalmart this season, and according to reports, it could be any day now.

20 Kid-Friendly YouTube Channels That Moms Need To Know (+ 5 Channels for Moms) (SocialTimes)
A lot of my mommy friends have expressed frustration that there are no good lists of kid-friendly YouTube channels and playlists out there, so here at Social Times we’ve decided to compile one. I’ve put together a list of 20 great YouTube channels and playlists for kids that moms will love, based on recommendations from friends as well as my own love for children’s television. Check out our 20 picks after the jump and stay tuned at the end for 5 fun YouTube channels geared towards moms as well!

Seven Authors Who Wrote While Nude  (GalleyCat)
Writers have always had interesting stories beyond the ones they put down to paper. Here’s the naked truth: Neatorama has outed seven well-known authors as nudist writers. The authors are Victor Hugo, Ernest Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence, James Whitcomb Riley, Edmond Rostand, Benjamin Franklin, and Agatha Christie.

The Story Behind Sesame Street’s Viral Old Spice Spoof (Mashable)
Sesame Street’s spoof of Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercials has reached 2.6 million views in just five days. Given the video’s rapid spread, we reached out to Miles Ludwig, vice president and executive producer of Digital Media at Sesame Workshop, to find out how the concept was hatched.

In the News This Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

Among this week's news: New York Times on the suffering picture book; Open Road Media's new addition signal children's books ahead; Scholastic's reading report; reasons you may be losing Facebook friends; NYC is top Twitter city (I'm sure it's all the publishing tweeps); a new book featuring literary tattoos (guess who's got the Mad Hatter on her bum?); iPad and Facebook continue to take over the world; NYT's "spaghetti taco" expert (who's hungry?); bye to "Huge" (sad face!); and more.


Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children (NYT)
Picture books are so unpopular these days at the Children’s Book Shop in Brookline, Mass., that employees there are used to placing new copies on the shelves, watching them languish and then returning them to the publisher. The picture books section at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington. Even some best-selling authors feel the pinch. “So many of them just die a sad little death, and we never see them again,” said Terri Schmitz, the owner. The shop has plenty of company. The picture book, a mainstay of children’s literature with its lavish illustrations, cheerful colors and large print wrapped in a glossy jacket, has been fading. It is not going away—perennials like the Sendaks and Seusses still sell well—but publishers have scaled back the number of titles they have released in the last several years, and booksellers across the country say sales have been suffering.

Barbara Marcus Joins Open Road (PW)
Children's publishing industry veteran Barbara Marcus has joined Open Road Integrated Media as an adviser, and will help lead the company's entry into the children's market. She will also help further Open Road’s international business development and consult on general strategic issues. 

Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report: Next Chapter Of eBooks, Reading Roadblocks Vs. Potential Portals & More (Ypulse)
The other day in Essentials I pointed to a New York Times piece, reg. required, on the latest Kids & Family Reading Report out of Scholastic conducted by the Harrison Group among children ages 9 to 17 and their parents. Some of the big takeaways were enthusiasm from young readers towards adopting new digital platforms like eBooks (not at the sacrifice of traditional books!), concerns coming from parents around digital distraction (with some notable quotable exceptions: One father says, "The need to read and comprehend video game instructions seems to have helped my son’s reading ability..:") and, lastly, a persistent lack in information literacy when it came to "reading" the web.

5 Reasons You Got Unfriended On Facebook (And How To Prevent It From Happening Again) (All Facebook)
Have you been loosing sleep trying to figure out why you got unfriended on Facebook? I hope not! But if you have been unfriended recently, you might still be curious to know the reason behind this distasteful act. Lucky for you, a new study conducted by University of Colorado Denver researchers will help you make sure you will never be unfriended again! After surveying 1500 Facebook users on Twitter (loving the irony!), University of Colorado Denver Ph.D student Christopher Sibona found the following top reasons for Facebook unfriending:

iPad Adoption Rate Fastest Ever, Passing DVD Player (CNBC)
Apple’s iPad sold three million units in the first 80 days after its April release and its current sales rate is about 4.5 million units per quarter, according to Bernstein Research. This sales rate is blowing past the one million units the iPhone sold in its first quarter and the 350,000 units sold in the first year by the DVD player, the most quickly adopted non-phone electronic product.

Google Editions Coming In 2011  Google Editions has surfaced in the press today. The long awaited Google book platform is getting some ink from the Frankfurt Book Fair, and is reportedly set to launch this year. It was supposed to be out this summer, so we’ll wait and see. The Bookseller has more: “Google Editions will be available on multiple devices, including the iPad, online via a Google ‘web reader’, but will not be available on Amazon’s Kindle device at launch.”
 
New York Is the Top Twitter City: You Got a Problem with That? (WebNewser)
Start Tweeting the news: According to the Social Business Report study from marketing database outfit NetProspex, New York is the top Twitter city—which NetProspex defines as cities with the most active businesspeople on the microblogging site, based on employee presence and average numbers of Tweets, followers, and profiles followed—reports Katie Kindelan from sister blog Social Times.

Lit-snobs, hot librarians, and the rise of the literary tattoo (Boston Phoenix)
Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich was sitting down for a meal at Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, when she found herself under critique "I sat down in the cafeteria," the Jamaica Plain writer recalls. "One of the famous poets who was there to teach sat down next to me and read the first line of the Sexton poem off my arm, and he said, 'That's a terrible poem! That's not one of her good ones!' " The eminent bard—she wouldn't name names—found fault with Anne Sexton's "Curse Against Elegies." That poem, along with Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Dirge Without Music," wash over each other to form the outline of an orchid on Marzano-Lesnevich's bicep. She didn't take offense at the poet's criticism. "I just let him talk," she says. "How often do you get to hear a famous poet rail against another famous poet?" At that same conference, the tattoo led to another, more fortuitous encounter. "Amy MacKinnon [the Boston-based author of the novel Tethered] saw my tattoo and said to me that a woman in her agent's agency was putting together a book of literary tattoos."

ABC Family Cancels Huge, Breaks Our Hearts (Fishbowl LA)

After only one short season of 10 episodes, the weight loss camp drama Huge has been canceled. The creators of the show, Winnie Holzman (who is also responsible for My-So-Called Life) and her daughter Savannah Dooley, told Entertainment Weekly:

'Glee' to help bullied gay teens (Toronto Sun) 

Glee creator Ryan Murphy is planning to devote an upcoming episode of the show to bullied gay teenagers following the recent suicides of tormented youths in America. The writer is hoping the hit show, which features a gay high school student played by Chris Colfer, will show fans struggling with their sexuality how to cope with any taunts aimed at them. 

How Facebook Can Become Bigger In Five Years Than Google Is Today (TechCrunch)
Remember three years ago, when Microsoft paid a quarter-billion dollars for 1.6% of Facebook and the exclusive right to run banner ads across Facebook.com? Tell the truth, how many of you thought that was a killer business decision? I can’t say I did at the time. But as that deal is about to expire in 2011, Facebook’s status as a revenue juggernaut is rarely questioned any more.

It's True: Spaghetti Tacos "Expert," Prof. Robert Thompson, Has Now Been Interviewed By 78 Different NYT Reporters.  (The NYTPicker)
In tomorrow's NYT, reporter Helene Stapinski performs what might appear to be a near-impossible feat of journalism dexterity--producing a college professor to support her thesis that more Americans now consume spaghetti tacos than ever before. "Spaghetti tacos has made it possible to eat spaghetti in your car," Robert J. Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, tells Stapinski. "It’s a very important technological development. You don’t even need a plate."

In the News This Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

Among this week's news: dictionary additions (unfriend and defriend among them), mind-altering vampire lit, industry job moves, a new imprint at Candlewick, the President's picture book, Roald Dahl Day, new-and-improved Twitter, Facebooking from your car, the release of Blio (which is pretty cool--I saw a preview at Digital Book World), an article against bashing multi-taking millenials, and more.

My BFF just told me “TTYL” is in the dictionary. LMAO. (OUPblog)
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for… New words, senses, and phrases have been added to the
New Oxford American Dictionary! Now, I’m not going to list every addition, but here’s a sampling I think you’ll all find interesting.

Good girls and vampires: 'Twilight' altering teen minds? (MSNBC.com)
It's a potentially sucky situation. The vampire craze in teen literature – exemplified by the "Twilight" book series – could be affecting the dynamic workings of the teenage brain in ways scientists don't yet understand. "We don't know exactly how literature affects the brain, but we know that it does," said Maria Nikolajeva, a Cambridge University professor of literature. "Some new findings have identified spots in the brain that respond to literature and art."

Slattery to Become Agent with Pippin (PW)
Joan Slattery will join Pippin Properties as literary agent and contracts manager, as of November 1. She has spent nearly 20 years at Random House, most recently as senior executive editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers. Among the authors Slattery has worked with are Jerry Spinelli, Philip Pullman, Cynthia Voigt, Adele Griffin, and Jane Smiley.

Lewis Joins Disney-Hyperion (PW)
Starting September 20, Kevin Lewis will join Disney-Hyperion Books as executive editor, where he will acquire and edit picture books, as well as middle-grade and young adult novels. He will report to Stephanie Owens Lurie, editorial director at Disney-Hyperion. Until May 2009 Lewis was editorial director at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; he was hired there in 1997 by Lurie, when she was S&S associate publisher.

Barack Obama to Release Children's Book (GalleyCat)
Weeks after the general election, President Barack Obama will publish his first children's book: Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters. With Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope, Obama already has two books under his belt. The 40-page children's book will be released on November 16th. Random House's Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers will initially print 500,000 copies.

Candlewick Partners with Toon Books (PW)
On October 1, Candlewick Press will launch a Toon Books imprint, a partnership with the already existing Toon Books, a press founded by New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly in spring 2008 with the mission of getting kids to read using comics. The inaugural Toon Books list at Candlewick features 11 hardcovers, all of them Toon backlist titles, including 2010 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner Benny and Penny in the Big No-No! by Geoffrey Hayes; two Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Books: Little Mouse Gets Ready by Jeff Smith and Stinky by Eleanor Davis; and eight other titles.

In Honor Of Roald Dahl Day, A Lesson On Author Immortality (Ypulse)
We're a little late on this one, but it was too good to pass up: Apparently, Roald Dahl Day takes place every year on the scribe's birthday, Sept. 13. And while we in the States might not celebrate the day as heartily as they do in the UK--just check that 'What's On' section of the official website or visit the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre for a sense of the fervor the late author still generates on his native side of the pond--it’s safe to say he’s among the most beloved children's authors of the last century.

Twitter Site Revamped and Simplified (NY Times)
Twitter unveiled a new Web site on Tuesday that it hopes will be user friendly, Claire Cain Miller and Miguel Helft report in The New York Times. The redesigned site, which will be available to all users in the next few weeks, makes it simpler to see information about the authors of Twitter posts, conversations among Twitter users, and the photos and videos that posts link to.

Why Bashing Millennials Is Wrong (FastCompany)
Lazy. Entitled. Fickle. Freighted with their own inscrutable agendas. These are the kinds of things people say about cats--and millennials. For today's managers, the generation born after 1980 is a favorite punching bag.

Just What We Really Need: More Distracted Drivers--OnStar Facebook App Announced (MobileContentToday)
Note to PR types: If you write a scary looking email subject line like this, I may force myself to read it: Update Facebook While Driving" Yes, OnStar is introducing what may potentionally be a new source of distracted driving. Here's the rest of the press release:

Brooklyn Book Festival Panelists Agree The Book Is Evolving, Not Dying (eBookNewser)
While the Brooklyn Book Festival was much more about print than about eBooks, in a session called “The Transformation of the Book” poets and artists discussed the evolution of the book. Poet/critic John Yau spoke about using a wiki to edit a recent book. “The idea of the book is more fluid, as it becomes a part of a mass media communication,” he said. “The book is more of a communicative gesture these days.”

Blio e-Reading Software Set For Release September 28 (PW)
It looks like the release of Blio, the much anticipated e-book reading software developed by technologist Ray Kurzweil, is getting close. In partnership with Baker & Tayor, Kurzweil’s firm KNFB Reading Technology says the free e-book reading software will be available for download beginning September 28 for Windows-based devices, with iOS (Apple devices) and Android to follow at a later date. Also on Sept. 28, the partnership will launch a Blio-branded e-book store offering a million for-pay and free titles, including the latest bestsellers.

In the News This Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

I donned my silver lamé jumpsuit as I compiled this week's brave new world of publishing news. Among the stories: MOCKINGJAY sales soaring, Borders sales slumping; Borders' and Sony's new e-readers coming soon, PW to review self-published and POD books (for a price), a new dictionary app from Macmillan, a new social network from Apple (and why it won't trump Facebook), why bloggers should be on Facebook, tweens who blog, and Lane Smith on his new book which pokes fun at the wired world. (That doesn't mean there's not a trailer--it's included below for your amusement.) 


Mockingjay' Sells More Than 450,000 Copies in First Week (PW)

Mockingjay, the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, sold more than 450,000 copies (hardcover and e-book) in its first week on sale in the U.S., its publisher, Scholastic, announced today. The book debuted at number one on both the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists. Scholastic has gone back to press for an additional 400,000 copies, bringing the total number of copies in print for Mockingjay in the U.S. to 1.6 million since its August 24 publication.

The New PW Select: A Quarterly Service for the Self-Published (PW)

We are returning to our earliest roots. PW dates to 1872, when it was first known as Trade Circular Weekly and listed all titles published that week in what was then a nascent industry. We have decided to embrace the self-publishing phenomenon in a similar spirit. Call it what you will—self-publishing, DIY, POD, author-financed, relationship publishing, or vanity fare. They are books and that is what PW cares about. And we aim to inform the trade.

Macmillan Dictionary Launches Apps (eBook Newser)
Macmillan Dictionaries has teamed up with software company DW Education to launch a suite of iPhone and iPad apps based on their dictionaries. The apps are interactive and users can create personalized word lists. Users can also distinguish between British and American English. The Macmillan website explains: "These tools will give you immediate access to definitions, phonetics, pronunciation and synonyms, plus the unique Macmillan English Dictionary red-star system indicating frequency of word usage for the most common words in English.

Apple's Ping, MySpace & The Future of Music Social Networks (Ypulse)
The big news out of Apple today is the debut of music social network Ping. Packaged with the latest version of iTunes, the opt-in newsfeed detailing friends' listening and buying habits already has tech pundits speculating about game changing and MySpace killing potential. So.. should we buy into the hype?

10 Reasons Apple Ping Won’t Beat Facebook Anytime Soon (All Facebook)
Yesterday Apple announced Ping, a network which many have suggested will replace MySpace and present a new competitor to Facebook. However Apple’s first shot at building a social network has many flaws. As such, there are many areas that the company needs to improve before it can be considered a legitimate competitor to Facebook. With a physical platform of distribution however, if Apple can fix the product’s flaws, there’s no doubt they could rise to become the most legitimate Facebook competitor.

Scholastic Books Revamps Its Marketing (NY Times)
WHEN Karen Rice was a little girl, Santa Claus visited multiple times a year. At least it felt that way when Ms. Rice, now a 22-year-old elementary-school teacher in Elizabethtown, Ky., got the books she ordered from the Scholastic Book Club. The Scholastic Book Club says its Facebook page will help teachers, students and parents talk about class and reading. "I can remember as a kid, it’s kind of like a little Christmas when your books come in," she said. In a tradition carried out in classrooms countless times during the club’s 60 years, Ms. Rice got a catalog and order forms from her teacher and then went home, selected a few books and returned the forms and money to her teacher. A few weeks later, a box full of books arrived for distribution. 

The internet comes of age: Meet the tweeny bloggers (Independent)
They are the Generation Net, whose toddler years have spawned countless mummy blogs, whether they liked it or not. Now, they're getting their own back. Children as young as three are turning to blogging to tell their side of the story. The growing army of child bloggers is tackling subjects from politics to new toys, while improving their literacy skills. The interest has triggered a debate on the wisdom of giving children free rein online, as social networking sites aimed at pre-teens soar in popularity.

Another Weak Quarter from Borders; Expands Non-book Offerings (PW) 

Borders Group reported another disappointing quarter this morning with sales in the period ended July 31 falling 11.5%, to $526.1 million and the loss from continuing operations increasing to $51.6 million from $45.1 million in the comparable quarter in 2009. Same store sales fell 6.8%. Looking for a bright spot, Borders said sales through Borders.com increased 56.2% to $15.5 million.

Borders eReaders Go On Sale (GalleyCat)
After some early rumors, Borders has put the Kobo eReader and the Libre eBook Reader Pro on sale.
The Kobo is now priced at $129.99, down from $149.99. The Libre eBook Reader is now $99.99, down from $119.99. The Libre eReader will be on sale through September 14th.

Sony Refreshes Reader Family With New Screens And Bodies (CrunchGear)
As expected, the new lineup of Sony Readers has arrived with the rumored touch capability, though there’s none of the 3G we heard about. Query: why is every company releasing things so late tonight? It’s a good thing I have no life! The familiar three “editions” of the e-reader family are still around, but they’ve been improved with the new Pearl e-ink display for improved contrast and speed, and Sony says it’s improved the touch-sensitive layer as well.

Staples To Sell Kindles (eBookNewser
Staples is going to start selling Amazon's Kindle this fall. The office supply retailer will carry the new Kindle, the Kindle DX and the Kindle 3G. Staples will also carry Kindle accessories.

Facebook is Not Your Blog (blogworld)
Last week, one of the most-clicked stories from SmartBrief on Social Media was an article from Advertising Age: What Happens When Facebook Trumps Your Brand Site? It’s a legitimate concern for businesses. With millions of people using Facebook and that number growing every day, brands like Coca-Cola, Victoria’s Secret, and Oreo are getting more Facebook traffic than they are getting traffic to their home websites. According to reports, there are nearly 40 fan pages with at least a million Facebook fans, or “likes” as they’re calling ‘em these days, whatever. The point is that Facebook might not be around forever, but right now, they are securing controlling the social networking market.

‘It’s a Book’ Author Lane Smith on Kids and Technology (WSJ)
As demonstrated by books like "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs" and "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales," his collaborations with Jon Scieszka, author and illustrator Lane Smith has a wonderfully sardonic sense of humor that lends itself well to subversive children’s books. In his latest title, "It’s A Book," Lane turns his humor to a pervasive cultural issue among the younger generation today: explaining the merits of a printed book--a property that can’t text or tweet. He explores the issues through two main characters: A monkey who’s trying to read, and a jackass who keeps interrupting him with questions and manages to condense to a page of "Treasure Island" into a Twitter-post length message, complete with emoticon.

Wednesday Tweet Roundup

It's humpday which means it's time for me to share some of my favorite tweets of the last week from the many writers, illustrators, editors, agents, and publishers who are out there sharing information and joining in the conversation on Twitter.

Click on the Twitter handles (@name) to find each tweeter's page should you wish to follow them or read more of what they're saying. Follow the included links to read the articles or blog posts these tweeters recommend.

Remember--whether you're signed up with Twitter or not, you can read tweets and click links to find helpful blog posts, useful articles, and timely news bits (like the ones below).

Among this week's picks and links: a pair of tweets related to craft, links to cool stuff on agents' blogs, slush pile fun, some helpful pieces related to Facebook, reaction to Seth Godin abandoning traditional publishing, my favorite tweet of the week, and more.


CRAFTY TWEETS

@CynLeitichSmith: Author Susan Campbell Baroletti on Writing #Nonfiction and THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE :KKK (@hmhbooks) http://bit.ly/9HUa5M #yalitchat

@ThereseWalsh: Plot or character driven? Why choose? Intro'ing a new series of posts by Donald Maass's today at Writer Unboxed: http://tinyurl.com/2898pq8

SLUSHY TWEETS

@womenonwriting: Check out @Pubmission, new service designed to help writers connect w/ publishers. An interview explaining ins and outs: http://ow.ly/2xSbn

@Janet_Reid: This post from @slushpilehell is LadyGagalicious! http://bit.ly/9mxsRv

@BloomsburyPress: @OUPBlogUSA True fact: once I read slush submission from author whose whole book was to introduce a gender neutral pronoun. #pg

AGENTS' BLOG TWEETS

@inkyelbows: Researching books comparable to your work-in-progress? @JillCorcoran has advice: http://bit.ly/czETpf

@literaticat: On the Blog: How many clients is TOO many? http://tinyurl.com/28tlkou

@NathanBransford: Violence in children's literature. Is there a line? http://t.co/HuqqkHH

@OddSock: How have I not heard of this site before?! Beware the grumpy literary agent: http://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/

INTERVIEW TWEETS

@drydenbks: Six Months On: Emma Dryden talks about @drydenbks and the state of the publishing industry http://t.co/DN9IQaD via @liakeyes

@GalleyCat: Priddy Books publisher Roger Priddy talks about the best books for babies: http://mbist.ro/b2YDbU

YA TWEETS

@inkyelbows: Fascinating!--> Shannon Hale polls YA writers re: morals & standards in their books: http://bit.ly/du1IBx

@mitaliperkins: Good YA writing exercise: remembering your first kiss. Here's mine: http://bit.ly/aNLtZf

@AnnKingman: Funny listening to adults at Suzanne Collins event trying to justify enjoying YA books. There's no shame, people!

@LizB: eye roll at adults who are shocked, shocked I tell you! that books for teens aren't all puppies and rainbows

READING LIST TWEETS

@emhornerbooks: Some Recommended Titles for LGBTQ Young Adults http://huff.to/cqGeX4 via @huffingtonpost

@advicetowriters: best books on writing, via @HuffPostBooks http://huff.to/9ZDfP7

GODIN TWEETS

@thecreativepenn: How Authors Really Make Money: The Rebirth of Seth Godin and Death of Traditional Publishing http://dld.bz/tgpr via @tferriss

@SuzanneKendrick: Publishing industry comment on Seth Godin's “I’ve decided not to publish any more books in the traditional way,” http://ow.ly/2xavA

SUBWAY TWEETS

@colleenaf: Saw my first Mockingjay sighting in the wild this morn though in that time I also saw 8 Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's. #sadrealities #subway

@barrygoldblatt: Bumped into Arthur Levine this morning on the subway. Reminded again how tiny NYC really is.

FACEBOOK TWEETS

@maggiecary: Have your teen read this great article: There is No Such Thing as Privacy on facebook: http://bit.ly/9CvXO9

@debng: Reading: Facebook is Not Your Blog http://t.co/4grCp1h via @blogworld

SOMEONE'S WEARING HIS BAD IDEA JEANS TWEET

@naufalkhan: Seeking a new publishing agent for my book, had enough crap with my current one. Any leads peoples #publishers @reader_writer

FAV TWEET OF THE WEEK

@chavelaque: Querying an author re: redundancy in the #StarWars phrase "nerf-herding bantha fodder, poodoos." The Editorial Geek Force is strong in me.

In the News This Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

Below you'll find news on digital publishing for young readers, Sneed Collard III's new publishing venture, a resolution to the Wylie/Amazon/Random House adventure, authors who make lots of dough (guess which children's authors made the list?), low-priced e-readers in time for the holidays, some tips on using Facebook Places (I've been checking in!), teens grumbling about Facebooking parents, a roundup of MOCKINGJAY reviews, and more.


Digital 'Firsts' from Random House and HarperCollins (PW)
Children’s book publishers continue to push forward into digital publishing, and both HarperCollins and Random House revealed new e-products earlier this week. Random House Children’s Books is publishing its first e-book original, a tie-in to Michael Scott’s Nicholas Flamel series. The Death of Joan of Arc: A Lost Story from the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is an e-book original from Delacorte, arriving between the fourth book, The Necromancer, which was published this past May, and the fifth, The Warlock, due in 2011. The Death of Joan of Arc went on sale this past Tuesday for 99¢; the story posits that rather than being burned at the stake, Joan of Arc was rescued by Scathach the Warrior.

Montana Author Launches Publishing House (PW)
After his latest book, The World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, was turned down by 15 publishers, Sneed Collard III, the author of 50 books for children, who received the Washington Post-Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award in 2006, decided to take matters into his own hands. Collard, who lives in Missoula, Mont., has formed his own publishing company, Bucking Horse Books, and is publishing the 64-page picture book himself this fall. The World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale will be released in October, with a retail price of $18 and a first print run of 5,000 copies.

The RH/Wylie Showdown Ends, New Digital Royalty Rate Is Born (PW)

The news that Random House had "won" its showdown with The Wylie Agency, over the inclusion of titles by its authors in Wylie's backlist digital publishing business Odyssey Editions, spread through publishing circles quickly on Tuesday, after Random House and Wylie released a joint statement. The statement said that Random House will now be the exclusive e-book publisher of its 13 titles originally part of Odyssey Editions and that, as a result of the agreement, Random House will lift its ban on doing business with the agency.

The Highest-Paid Authors (Forbes)
Publishers are feeling the heat, with hardcover sales weak and the rise of e-books promising to upend their business models. But the world's 10 top-earning authors are making out just fine, earning a combined $270 million over the 12 months to June 1.

PW Select: Opportunity or Exploitation? (Writer Beware Blog)
Print on demand technology has done a lot over the past 10 or 12 years to change the publishing landscape. Among other things, it has created an explosion of fee-based publishing options, small publishers, and micropresses. These ventures in turn have driven an intense proliferation of services targeted to writers, all of them intended (theoretically, at least) to offset the minimal marketing and limited distribution that's typical of POD publishing services and small presses.

Seth Godin on Non-Traditional Publishing (GalleyCat)
Last week, author Seth Godin generated headlines around the world when he told GalleyCat: "I've decided not to publish any more books in the traditional way." This week mediabistro.com published a long interview with the bestselling author, entrepreneur, and marketing consultant. In the interview, GalleyCat correspondent Jeff Rivera discovered that the last book Godin read was Nothing Sacred by Douglas Rushkoff.

Amazon Loses E-Book Deal (WSJ)
A month after jolting the book industry with a deal to give Amazon.com Inc. exclusive digital access to some of the country's best-known literary works, literary agent Andrew Wylie is largely abandoning the agreement. The Amazon deal was struck after Mr. Wylie failed to agree to terms with publishers for electronic rights to his authors' existing titles. It was a notable step in the battle between Amazon and its two main rivals in e-books, Apple Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc.

The Sharper Image Introduces $159 eReader (GalleyCat)

This holiday season is gearing up to be a busy one in the eReader wars. Now, The Sharper Image is entering the eReader game with the new Literati, a color eReader slated for release this October.

Teens on Facebook GOL (grumble out loud) as mothers become friends (LA Times)
Mothers have found a even better way to humiliate their children than showing baby pictures: becoming a friend on Facebook. Like the cyber version of being picked up in an uncool car, teens are now mortified by nagging chats and clueless comments left by their mothers on their online profiles.
Nearly a third of Facebook teens are ready to unfriend their parents on the social networking site and are twice as likely to want to avoid Mom as Dad, according to an AOL study released Tuesday.

How To Use Facebook Places (All Facebook)
So you’ve spent the weekend watching your friends check in from various places around the world and it’s showing up in your news feed but you can’t figure out how to check-in somewhere yourself. Have no fear, we’ve created this comprehensive guide to help you get up and running and sharing your location.

'Mockingjay' Review Roundup (HuffPo)
The last installment in Suzanne Collins' wildly popular "Hunger Games" trilogy hits stores today. Here's an early sampling of what people are saying: