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.

This week you'll find news on a Charlesbridge acquistion, a new imprint for teens by teens, a study that finds many young women check Facebook first thing in the morning (I'm beyond the demographic, but I do keep my iPhone next to my bed for a reason),  news on Suzanne Collins' print run, and a slideshow from ALA for those of us who missed it.

Also James Patterson proves that an author can sell eBooks into the millions (as long as that author is James Patterson), libraries are moving into malls (Richard Peck must be so conflicted), an essay on what the TWILIGHT phenomenon says about love and American girlhood, and another on why vampires don't really make good lovers (everyone knows werewolves are better).

Charlesbridge Buys Imagine Publishing (PW)
Charlesbridge Publishing has acquired Imagine Publishing, a publisher founded in 2009 by Charles and Jeremy Nurnberg to do children and adult titles. Charles Nurnberg, the former CEO of Sterling, will stay on as v-p and publisher of the Imagine imprint, while Jeremy will become v-p of sales for Charlesbridge, reporting to associate publisher Mary Ann Sabia. Charlesbridge is taking over distribution of Imagine titles effective immediately. The company had been one of the original clients of BookMasters Distribution Services for which Jeremy Nurnberg served as head of sales. 

The Meduim is the Medium (NYT)
Recently, book publishers got some good news. Researchers gave 852 disadvantaged students 12 books (of their own choosing) to take home at the end of the school year. They did this for three successive years. Then the researchers, led by Richard Allington of the University of Tennessee, looked at those students’ test scores. They found that the students who brought the books home had significantly higher reading scores than other students.

Libraries Moving Into Shopping Areas To Attract Patrons (psfk)It’s one of the main tenets of business that you bring your product where the demand is the highest and it’s most likely to get noticed. But what if your goal is to get today’s youth excited about reading? Logic says if you want to find the customer you’ve got to reach their favorite haunts, which in today’s society often includes the local mall.

The First Thing Young Women Do in the Morning: Check Facebook (Mashable)
Young women are becoming more and more dependent on social media and checking on their social networks, according to a new study released earlier today by Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Research. In fact, as many as one-third of women aged 18-34 check Facebook when they first wake up, even before they get to the bathroom.

Teenagers in Love (Slate)
With TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE (Summit Entertainment), the third installment of the teen-vampire film franchise based on the books by Stephenie Meyer, it's clear that the movie version of the series has become its own thing, a multipart organism that operates independently of the matrix that generated it. Like the Harry Potter movies, the TWILIGHT films cater--some might say pander--to fans of the books. But three films in, the source material has become vestigial to the viewer's enjoyment--it's possible to be interested in TWILIGHT based on the movies alone. After finishing the first book in the series, I wouldn't pick up another Meyer novel for anything less than a five-figure raise. But I wouldn't miss a TWILIGHT movie. Not because the films are good, exactly, but because they are terrifying, transfixing, and, yes, moving bulletins from the trenches of contemporary American girlhood.

James Patterson Sells More Than 1 Million eBooks (eBook Newser)
James Patterson has sold more than a million eBooks, 1.14 million to be exact. The Hachette Book Group claims that he is the first author to do so.

Children's Books at ALA: A PW Photo-Essay (PW)

Librarians, publishers, and authors braved the heat and crowds to attend ALA's annual conference, held late last month in Washington, D.C. Numerous authors and illustrators mingled with librarians and signed copies of their books. 

Scholastic Announces 'Mockingjay' Print Run, Tour Details (PW)

Teens, tweens, and adults alike are eagerly awaiting the arrival of MOCKINGJAY, the third and final book in Suzanne Collins’s dystopian Hunger Games trilogy. And come August 24, they shouldn’t have trouble getting their hands on a copy: Scholastic has increased the book’s initial print run to 1.2 million copies, up from 750,000 copies. Additionally, the trade paperback edition of THE HUNGER GAMES will go on sale in the U.S. and Canada on July 3, with a 500,000-copy first printing. 

Medallion to Publish YA Titles by YA Writers (PW)

Medallion Press is venturing into unfamiliar territory, in announcing the launch of its new Ya-Ya line of fiction and nonfiction for young adult readers ages 13-18. Not only is the Ya-Ya line intended for teen readers, but the titles in the imprint will actually be written by teen authors.

 
Curse of the Greedy Copyright Holder (WSJ)
"Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal," wrote T.S. Eliot. I am neither poet nor thief, so when I wanted poems at the start of each chapter in my recently published memoir, I sought permission. The poem that best describes my experience is "The Odyssey," navigating as I did between the Scylla of non-responsive copyright holders and the Charybdis of fee-seeking attorneys.

A Vampire Does Not Make a Good Lover (HuffPo)
I haven't jumped on the Twilight bandwagon yet. Chances are I'm not going to. I realize there are now many women out there that are gasping and would like to pull me through the computer screen, shake me violently, and ask me what in the world can possibly be wrong with me. I assure you, I am fine. Judging from my friends, it seems the most devoted fans are in the 20- and 30-something crowd and nearly all women. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a male post anything about being on Team Edward on Facebook.

In the News This Week

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

Below you'll find an editorial director asking indie booksellers to get behind picture books, Twitter selling trending topics, stats on eBook sales, a review of children's book iPad apps (which sent me straight to the App Store), why teens love vampires (again), an editor move (again), and more--including a link to Starbuck's announcement that free wi-fi is upcoming. (As Stephen Colbert said: It's good news for people who can't afford wi-fi because they're spending $6 on a cup of coffee.) And be sure to check out the amusing Slush Pile Hell and do your best to not wind up there.

Click titles for links to the full articles. Happy Friday and happy reading!

An Impassioned Plea for Picture Books (PW)
"The symbolism was not lost at this past Tuesday’s meeting of the New England Children’s Booksellers Advisory Council, held at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass., that Ken Geist, v-p and editorial director of Orchard Books and Cartwheel Books and author of the picture book The Three Little Fish, should choose this setting to ask independent booksellers to get behind picture books. 'I’m not finishing this year until we move the needle and sell more picture books,' said Geist, who added that he was not speaking on behalf of Scholastic. “I’m here to talk about what we can do collectively to raise the profile of picture books.'"

Disney/Pixar Buys The First Twitter Trending Topic Ad (TechCrunch)
"Since April, Twitter users have grown accustomed to Twitter’s first ad revenue play: Promoted Tweets. Today, the second phase of that strategy is starting to be tested: Promoted Trending Topics. The first such topic? Toy Story 3, promoted by Disney/Pixar. As you can see in the right hand toolbar of Twitter.com, at the bottom of the Trending Topics area there is now an 11th topic, “Toy Story 3.” Next to it is a big yellow box letting you know that it’s a promoted Trending Topic.

Children's Book Apps Get Curiouser and Curiouser (WJS)
"I'm crazy about Web browsing, movie watching and other activities on the iPad, but the idea of reading ordinary books on Apple's device just doesn't appeal to me. I prefer the old-fashioned experience of reading in the printed form. I'm intrigued, though, by the idea that the iPad, and eventually other tablet devices will give rise to a hybrid medium—call them book apps—that mix text with video, sound and game-like interactivity. After sampling several early examples of these books apps, I've seen some tantalizing hints of the creative possibilities for authors and publishers who recast themselves as app makers."

Conescu Joins Dutton Children's as Executive Editor (PW)
"Nancy Conescu will return to the company where she first began her children’s publishing career, when she joins Dutton Children’s Books as executive editor on July 6. Conescu has been a senior editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the past six years, but began working in children’s books as an assistant to the publishers of the Puffin and Grosset & Dunlap imprints."

eBook Sales Up 127 % in April (eBook Newser)
"According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), eBook sales jumped 127.4 percent in April compared to the previous year--totaling $27.4 million in sales. In comparison, audiobook sales were $11.7 million for the same month."

Free, One-Click Wi-Fi is Coming (Starbucks site)
"At Starbucks, we love to give you more of what you’ve asked for. So soon you’ll be able to enjoy Wi-Fi at Starbucks in a way that goes beyond what we currently offer.
Starting July 1, you’ll be able to enjoy free, one-click, unlimited Wi-Fi at all company-operated Starbucks stores in the United States."

Why teens love to sink their teeth into vampire books, movies (Sify)
"An English lecturer has examined why teenage vampire books and movies have gripped youngsters' imaginations nowadays and taken the crowd by storm. Jolene Zigarovich, Cornell visiting lecturer in English, says, "The reasons for the teen vampire craze are multifold. There is a Shakespearean, tragic element, in the sense that not only is young love forbidden in teen vampire films, but also that love and death are conjoined. Sacrificing oneself for love seems to be a perpetual, human theme."

Graphic Novels in the Spotlight at ALA (PW)
"Graphic novels will take center stage, literally, at this year's American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington DC on June 24-29. While graphic novels have become a mainstay at ALA and other library events, this year’s annual conference will feature three days of panels, author events, previews and other scheduled programming all focused on comics and graphic novels and the continued growth and development of the category in libraries."

Grumpy Literary Agent Publishes Bad Query Excerpts (GalleyCat)
"A self-identified 'grumpy literary agent' just opened a Tumblr blog to highlight awkward moments in author queries. It's called SlushPile Hell."