The Internet Writing Journal

How Stieg Larsson's Series Was Marketed Posthumously

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST

NPR has an interesting article about how the novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, came to be a bestseller. The novel - and two others in the trilogy - were written by Stieg Larsson, a relatively unknown Swedish journalist who died from a sudden heart attack in 2004. Stieg's death made it impossible for Knopf to use marketing tactics like author interviews and book tours. NPR says that without a live author the publisher had to turn to advance reading copies, advertising and bloggers.

Still, the fact that the trilogy's author is dead complicated things. Knopf publicity director Paul Bogaards began the marketing effort by romancing booksellers months before publication with a flood of advance reading copies.

"The retail channel was key," says Bogaards. "In the absence of bookseller enthusiasm you might, as a publisher, have a problem."

The goal, Bogaards says, was to build momentum in the form of advance book sales. Knopf also took out a late summer ad in The New York Times Book Review offering a free copy of the thriller to anyone who wrote asking for one.

Bloggers also got into the act: The books had already appeared on five European best-seller lists by the time Knopf secured the American rights, and many U.S.-based bloggers who had read raves about Larsson from their European counterparts had finagled copies of the books from overseas. They began touting the book early this year.

It is difficult enough for living authors to market their books so we can imagine that it would extra difficult to market a new book when the author is dead. Any advertising certainly helps - most authors alive or dead don't get any book ads at all. The fact that the book was already a hit in Europe also raised interest here in the U.S. The success of the series continues as film rights have already been snapped up.

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Joseph Boyden Wins 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST

The Globe and Mail reports that Joseph Boyden won the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his second novel, Through Black Spruce. The Giller Prize includes a $50,000 cash prize.

Mr. Boyden's triumph prompted the now-obligatory standing ovation by the invitation-only black-tie crowd of 500. Earlier in the evening, they'd dined on slow-roasted beef tenderloin and mustard seed spatzle, with bitter-chocolate mousse for dessert. The founder of the feast was Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch, who started the prize in 1994 to honour his late wife, journalist Doris Giller, then in 2005 brought Scotiabank aboard as corporate sponsor.

Among Mr. Rabinovitch's guests last night were former Ontario premiers William Davis and David Peterson, broadcaster Moses Znaimer, former Toronto mayor David Crombie, dancer Rex Harrington, lawyer Clayton Ruby, Indigo Books and Music head Heather Reisman, super-agent Michael Levine and, of course, the three Giller jurors. They read 95 books submitted by more than 35 publishers and released between Oct. 12, 2007, and Sept. 30 this year. A long list of 15 titles was announced in early September.

You can read more about the Scotiabank Giller Prize here on the official website.

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A Liquid Bookmark

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST

Here's an interesting looking bookmark. It's called a liquid bookmark and a set of three bookmarks can be purchased here from DesignBoom for $29. The red colored liquid bookmark might be a good choice for readers of horror novels. (via Gizmodo)

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Earth Book is a Big Tome

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST

The new Earth book from Millennium House is a hefty book. The book is 2 feet tall and weights over 65 pounds.

This exquisite limited edition atlas takes cartography to a new level. For the map enthusiast, the collector, the armchair traveller, or for those who enjoy luxury, this beautiful leather-bound edition is a "must-have" for the library. Only 3,000 copies of this highly prized volume will be printed. Highly detailed maps, produced by a team of international cartographers, are the foundation of this book. Each of the countries of the world is also described and illustrated in detail, with focus on the geography, history, culture, and unique features.

The regular version of this book will cost over $3,000. Luxist reports that there are pricier "Gold Earth" versions of Earth available.

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Vatican Welcomes the Digital Age

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST

Reuters reports that the Vatican has called for the Bible to be distributed in all digital formats including DVDS and iPods. There are already versions of the Bible in digital formats but these digital versions now have the Vatican's official approval.

An assembly of Catholic bishops on Monday called for the use of mass communications -- including television, cinema, DVDs and even iPods -- to be used to spread the Bible in as many languages as possible.

The nod toward technology is not unusual: The Vatican had one of Europe's first Web sites, for example, and has always been quick to adopt new technologies. The bishops' conference said that the stakes are higher than ever, arguing that the written word was insufficient for the modern world.

"The voice of the Divine Word must resonate over the radio, on Internet channels with virtual distribution (and by) CDs, DVDs and iPods, and on television and cinema screens," an official statement said.

(via Crave)

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Scientists Create World's Smallest Writing

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

A research team at Osaka University created an atomic pen that can scribe nano-sized text on metal. The text of the writing is only 2 x 2 nanometers, or 40,000 times smaller than the width of an average human hair.

According to the researchers, whose results appear in the October 17 edition of Science magazine, the atomic pen is built on a previous discovery that silicon atoms at the tip of an atomic force microscope probe will interchange with the tin atoms in the surface of a semiconductor sample when in close proximity. Using this atom-interchange phenomenon, the researchers were able to arrange individual silicon atoms one by one on a semiconductor surface to spell out the letters "Si." The writing process, which took about an hour and a half to complete, was conducted at room temperature.

The graphic shows the letters "Si." that the scientists wrote with the atomic pen. (via CrunchGear)

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Babar Exhibit in New York City

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

A special Babar exhibit called "Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors" is running at the Morgan Library & Museum through January 4, 2009.

A dignified elephant, dressed in a green suit and wearing a yellow crown, walks upright across the page. This image-both absurd and endearing-has become instantly recognizable to several generations of readers throughout the world. The exhibition Drawing Babar returns visitors to the two essential moments of Babar's creation: when Jean de Brunhoff and, years later, his son Laurent, set down their initial thoughts on paper. Their earliest drafts, shown in juxtaposition with their finished watercolors, allow viewers to track the changes, both subtle and substantive, that both men made as they refined their work, bringing together word and image with elegance and exuberance.

In 2004 the Morgan acquired the working drafts and printer-ready watercolors for Histoire de Babar, le petit elephant (1931), the first book by Jean de Brunhoff (1899-1937), and Babar et ce coquin d'Arthur (1946), the first book by Laurent de Brunhoff (b. 1925). Together these two collections-shown virtually in their entirety for the first time-provide an extraordinary record of the working methods of the two men, both painters turned storytellers. From the naming of Babar himself (first called simply "Baby Elephant") to the introduction of the beloved character Queen Celeste-not present in Jean de Brunhoff's first draft-these early sketches and watercolors provide an intimate look at the creation of an enduring fictional world.

You can read an article about the exhibit here and watch a video about the exhibit below.

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Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio Wins Another Writing Prize

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

This year's Nobel Prize for Literature winner Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has just won another writing prize from Sweden.

Swedish news agency TT says Le Clezio on Saturday accepted the Stig Dagerman Prize, worth $8,000 Cdn, at a ceremony in Alvkarleby, a small village 150 kilometres north of Stockholm. Le Clezio was awarded the prize for his ability "to fill the book's white pages with the most delightful combinations of words," the Stig Dagerman jury said. The award is named after Swedish author Stig Dagerman, who died in 1954. The prize was established in 1996 and honours efforts to promote the freedom of expression.

Le Clezio will pick up his Nobel Prize on December 10th in Sweden.

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Czech Documents Purport to Show Author Milan Kundera Was an Informer

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

A document written by the Czech Communist police claims that author Milan Kundera informed on a purported Western spy in the 1950s, a state-sponsored institute said Monday Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, has been accused of being an informer. Documents written by the Czech Communist police claim that Kundera informed on a Western spy in the 1950s.

The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes said a team of historians and researchers found a document written by the SNB, or Czech Communist police, that identified Kundera as the person who informed on a man who was later imprisoned for 14 years. The reclusive Kundera, the author of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," lives in Paris. Phone calls to his publisher seeking comment were not immediately returned.

According to the file, published on the institute's Web site, Kundera in 1950 informed on Miroslav Dvoracek, who had been recruited in Germany by the Czech emigre intelligence network to work as a spy against the Communist regime. Dvoracek visited a woman in Prague and left a suitcase in her apartment. She told her boyfriend, who later told Kundera, and Kundera went to the police. Dvoracek was arrested when he came to collect the suitcase. He was later sentenced to 22 years in prison and eventually served 14, working in uranium mines.

*****

Kundera joined the Communist Party as a student, but was expelled after criticizing its totalitarian nature. After the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia crushed the liberal reforms of Alexander Dubcek, he left the country. The books Kundera wrote after his departure were banned from publication in his homeland until the Communist collapse in 1989, but his work was respected among dissidents.

Kundera is 79 and lives in France, where he writes; he is now a French citizen. He never talks to the media and hasn't commented so far on the allegations. It was a very grim time in Czech history.

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Pop-up Book Delivers 3-D Alphabet

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing raves about this interesting pop-up alphabet book called ABC3D. The was produced by produced by Marion Bataille.

You can see the transitions in the video above. I'm especially fond of the sheet of tracing paper that turn O and P into Q and R; of the tension-bridge U, the mirror page that turns a V into a W, and the hypnotic S.

You can get a better idea of the book by watching the video below.

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British Literary Agent Pat Kavanagh Has Died

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

Legendary British agent Pat Kavanagh has died of a brain tumor.

British writers were yesterday coming to terms with the death of the doyenne of the London literary scene, Pat Kavanagh, paying tribute to her strength of spirit, tenacity and straight-talking.

Kavanagh, 68, who was married to the novelist Julian Barnes, was at the summit of her profession, representing writers including Ruth Rendell, Margaret Drabble, Robert Harris, Joanna Trollope, Andrew Motion, Clive James, and Wendy Cope. What the writers had in common was their fierce loyalty to their agent, who died yesterday morning from a brain tumour.

The novelist Robert Harris - a client for 27 years - said everyone was reeling from her loss. "She was fantastically efficient and just the person you wanted to have represent you. There was no one quite like her really. And she was exotic, like a bird of paradise. She was unflappable and she didn't let you get above yourself.

"She always described herself as being like a family doctor or a country solicitor. She didn't believe in trying to screw an enormous amount of money out of publishers. Pat was always quite indiscreet and very funny and you know, in a world full of bs, there was no bs from Pat. She didn't suck up to her writers."

Our condolences to her family and friends.

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Obama's Books Outselling McCain's Books

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

Nielsen reports that books published by Senator Barack Obama are outselling books by Senator John McCain by a very large amount. Obama has sold 912,000 copies and McCain has sold 116,000 copies.

So far in 2008, four books published by Sen. Barack Obama between 2004 and fall 2008 have sold a combined 912,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan.

In comparison, Sen. John McCain's five titles, published between 1999 and summer 2008, have sold a total of 116,000 copies - almost 800,000 copies less than Obama.

Between January and September 21, 2008, McCain's top selling book, "Faith of My Fathers," sold 73,000 copies in hardcover, paperback, and audio editions.

Barack Obama's top selling book is The Audacity of Hope (441,000 copies sold) and John McCain's top seller is Faith of My Fathers (73,000 copies sold).

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Gloomy Edgar Allan Poe Paper Toy

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

Here's a downloadable Edgar Allan Poe paper toy. You can download the toy from E.A. Coobie. Everyone needs a gloomy Edgar Alan Poe paper toy for their writing desk. (via Boing Boing)

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Sneak Peek of the Kindle 2.0

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

Boy Genius Report reports on the new Kindle 2.0, which Amazon.com still denies exists. Oh, it exists alright.

Yes, people. You're looking at the first shots of Amazon's Kindle 2. The follow-up to their popular e-book reader. Our ninja sent us a ton of shots, and we have to admit, they look pretty good. The unit didn't go down too much in size which is unfortunate, but then again, you want something pretty large so it?s comfortable to read on. He says that the unit is a little wider and a little longer, but it should help those that thought the first unit was a little too awkwardly-shaped. What?s even better is that with the new unit, while holding it, you won?t accidentally flip the page like the old one.

As far as buttons go, on the right side, the bottoms from top to bottom are: Home, Next Page, Menu, a joystick, and Undo. On the left side, there's Previous, Page, and Next Page. We?re told the buttons are significantly smaller to avoid accidental page turning. The joystick takes the place of the scroll wheel and it "takes a little getting used to." As far as the redesigned keyboard? it "has a good layout, but lettering on the keys could be darker." Continuing our tour around the unit, next to the sliding sleep button, there's the headphone jack, and on the right side edge you?ve got the volume up/down buttons. What's interesting (and you can see this in the photos) is that the backside of the unit is mostly metal with the speakers at the bottom pf the back. One more plus? They've finally ditched their own charger. The Kindle 2 is able to be charged with a miniUSB cable.

We're getting very, very excited. We want a Kindle 2.0 and we want it now.

(Photo credit: Boy Genius Report.)

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Store Your Books Upside Down

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 17:15:00 EST

This inverted bookshelf would be a fun way to amaze your friends and add a unique design feature to your home. The way the shelf is made does not harm your books. You can see the instructions here. Elastic straps appear to be the key to this inverted bookshelf trick. (via Neatorama)

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Roald Dahl Funny Prize Shortlists

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

The Guardian reports that the shortlists for the the Roald Dahl Funny prize have been announced. The award was founded by British children's laureate Michael Rosen. He founded the prize to "boost the profile of humorous books as part of his campaign to put the fun back into children's reading." The winner of the prize will receive 2,500 pounds.

The shortlist for children aged six and under:

Stick Man by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

Elephant Wellyphant by Nick Sharratt

The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers

The Witch's Children Go to School by Ursula Jones, illustrated by Russell Ayto

There's an Ouch in My Pouch! by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Garry Parsons

Manfred the Baddie by John Fardell

The shortlist for children aged seven to fourteen:

Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear by Andy Stanton, illustrated by David Tazzyman

Paddington Here and Now by Michael Bond, illustrated by RW Alley

Stop in the Name of Pants! by Louise Rennison

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Aliens Don't Eat Dog Food by Dinah Capparucci

Urgum and the Goo Goo Bah! By Kjartan Poskitt, illustrated by Philip Reeve

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Zondervan Plans Handwritten Bible

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Zondervan Corp. has a new project: a new bible will be handwritten by people from all over the United States.

More than 31,000 Americans will have a hand in publishing a new edition of the Bible. Zondervan Corp. is starting a 90-city, 24,000-kilometre cross-country tour to mark the 30th anniversary of its new translation of the book.

The tour will stop at special events, churches, landmarks and other places to allow people to write out Bible verses. The collection of handwritten verses will be published and sold after the tour ends in San Diego on Feb. 12. Most will come from regular people, but the publisher also hopes to get verses from U.S. President George W. Bush, the Rev. Billy Graham and other luminaries.

We do hope they choose people with excellent handwriting. Otherwise, this is going to be one difficult Bible to read.

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Wanted Director Takes on Moby Dick

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:00:00 EST

The Russian director of the film Wanted is taking on Moby Dick as his next project.

Call him Ishmael. Or rather, Timur Bekmambetov. The Russian director of Wanted is to take charge of a modern day "graphic novel-style" adaptation of Herman Melville's classic of brooding obsession on the high seas, Moby Dick.

Out goes the original novel's first-person structure, which famously descends into an array of wildly diverse narrative styles and structures by the end of the book, while the original's misanthropic, cetacean-hating Captain Ahab will apparently be more of a heroic figure. So not really that much like Moby Dick at all then.

One thing's for sure: it will be action-packed, if the film Wanted is any indication of how this director likes to do things.

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Michaelangelo's David in Danger of Collapsing

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Michaelangelo's David is in danger of collapsing.

Four years after it was last cleaned and repaired Michelangelo's statue of David in Florence is "at risk of collapse", according to a restoration expert. Antonio Borri, professor of construction engineering at Perugia University and part of the team monitoring the statue's state of conservation, said that cracks which been repaired during a 2004 restoration marking the 500th anniversary of the statue's creation had re-appeared.

A seminar in Florence tomorrow will discuss the options for saving the statue, which is kept at the Galleria dell Accademia and attracts more than a million people a year. These include enclosing it in a protective covering to stop further deterioration and even closing it to the public altogether for a period. Professor Borri, who is a Florentine, said that the cracks had "re-opened one by one. David is coming apart". He said the blame lay with traffic vibrations and the pressure of thousands of daily visitors. Michelangelo's masterpiece ? held by many to be the most perfect representation of the nude male form ever sculpted ? was also vulnerable because of its huge size and the poor quality of marble Michelangelo used, Professor Borri said.

He said that the statue was under "round the clock observation", and seismic monitors would be inserted under the statue's base to measure the vibrations. "We have got to do something quickly," he said. However Cristina Acidini, head of museums in Florence, played down the alarm.

Professor Acidini said: "We are evaluating what measures to take to protect the statue in view of its known fragility", but there was "no cause for immediate concern". The statue was being constantly monitored, and the only danger of collapse would be if Florence was struck by an unusually powerful earthquake. "But in that case the museum itself would be at risk, together with much of Florence's artistic heritage."

How absolutely awful. We hope they come up a miracle restoration plan: to lose the David is unthinkable.

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Alexander McCall Smith to Write Serialized Novel for the Telegraph

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

The Telegraph (U.K.) has signed bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith to write a serialized novel for the newspaper's website.

Telegraph Media Group has signed writer Alexander McCall Smith to pen a serialised novel exclusively for Telegraph.co.uk. The website will publish the first of 100 successive episodes of his new novel, Corduroy Mansions, on Monday.

In what is believed to be the first project of its kind on a UK website, the serialisation will include simultaneous daily podcast editions, narrated by Andrew Sachs, available to download through iTunes. Edinburgh-based Alexander McCall Smith has published more than 60 books but is most famous for his series of novels that started with The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. It achieved global recognition in 1999, selling more than 20m copies and has been translated into 44 languages across the globe.

It was subsequently made into a film produced by the late Anthony Minghella. "Over the last five years I have come to realise how enjoyable it is to write a daily serial novel for a newspaper. I am particularly pleased to be starting a new one for the Telegraph website. Corduroy Mansions will be written as it is published, giving readers the opportunity to influence what happens in the story. I can't wait to begin," said Alexander McCall Smith.

What a fabulous idea. It's so Charles Dickens, isn't it? Readers can write their comments and suggestions about the novel at the Telegraph's website.

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Man Booker Prize Shortlist Announced

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

The Man Booker Prize has announced the shortlist for the award. The shortlisted novels are:

Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (Atlantic)

Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture (Faber and Faber)

Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies (John Murray)

Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs (Virago)

Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency (Fourth Estate)

Steve Toltz, A Fraction of the Whole (Hamish Hamilton)

Noticeably missing from the shortlist are John Berger and Salman Rushdie. The judging panel this year is chaired by former MP and Cabinet Minister Michael Portillo. Other judges are Alex Clark, editor of Granta; Louise Doughty, novelist; James Heneage, founder of Ottakar's bookshops and Hardeep Singh Kohli, TV and radio broadcaster.

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Russell Brand Infuriates Twilight Fans

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Twilight fans are furious with Russell Brand's VMA performance: he cut off the line of the lead actor in the upcoming film adaptation of the bestselling vampire novel by Stephenie Meyer.

The controversy kicked off when Brand introduced "Twilight" stars Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Cam Gigandet and Robert Pattinson for their much-hyped appearance. Strolling into an aisle to introduce a performance by Paramore in a re-creation of Hollywood's Whisky a Go Go, the actors each took a turn reciting their lines ? but before Pattinson could conclude their moment in the sun, Brand cut off the 22-year-old heartthrob.

"This is a confusing concept," the VMA host rambled as Pattinson could only stand there, politely waiting his turn to speak. "It's bloody confusing, but something exciting is about to happen. Paramore are going to perform from the Whisky ..."

As Brand continued to go off the page, Pattinson tried once again to say his line, but all he could get out was a barely heard, "Please welcome ..." Suddenly, his position of honor (being the "Twilight" star to get the final word) had turned into a perceived embarrassment.

"He insulted all 'Twilight' fans," a Twilighter named Sukiyaki posted on MTV.com. "MTV, I hope you have enough space to house all the hate mails about Russell Brand."

Here's the clip:

If you somehow missed the VMAs, well, let's just say that cutting off Pattison's line was nothing to his opening monologue. His comments about President Bush and Sarah Palin infuriated conservative commentators. You just know that MTV execs are thrilled with all the coverage today of bad boy Russell's antics.

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Oddest Book Title Awarded to Greek Hellenic Philatelic Society

Sat, 6 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Congratulations to Greek Hellenic Philatelic Society of Great Britain, which has won the prize for Oddest Book Title. The winning title, selected by the readers of The Bookseller magazine, is Greek Rural Postmen and their Cancellation Numbers.

The impenetrable-sounding book, a comprehensive record of Greece's postal routes, is published by the Greek Hellenic Philatelic Society of Great Britain, which "exists to encourage the collection of Greek stamps and to promote their study".

The Diagram prize is The Bookseller magazine's award for oddly named publications, and this 72-page book has won the Diagram of Diagrams, for the weirdest title in the past three decades. It nipped in ahead of People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It, and How to Avoid Huge Ships.

"I think the voters wanted a feelgood story about rural postmen because of all the news of post offices closing around the country," said The Bookseller's charts editor Philip Stone. He has so far been unsuccessful in his attempts to contact the book's author Derek Willan to let him know about his win. "There's no prize but the boost in sales is surely prize enough," Stone said. "When we announced our last shortlist, sales increased by 1,000%, from one copy sold in the two weeks previously to ten afterwards."

The Diagram prize was launched in 1978 as a way to relieve boredom at a particularly tedious Frankfurt book fair. The Diagram of Diagrams saw the public voting for their favourite odd book title from 30 years of former winners. More than 1,000 votes were received, with Greek Rural Postmen taking 13% of the public vote.

We have such fond memories of the many happy hours spent perusing our copy of How to Avoid Huge Ships. Clearly, we must put Greek Rural Postmen and their Cancellation Numbers at the top of our To Be Read list immediately.

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Louise Gluck Wins Wallace Stevens Award

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST

Louise Glück has won the Wallace Stevens Award and the $100,000 stipend. The Wallace Stevens Award was established in 1994 and is given annually to recognize outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry. Averno is one of Glück's recent collections of poetry.

Poets.org has a bio for Louise Glück here. The New York Times also has an entry about Louise Gl?ck winning the poetry award. A list of past winners can be found here.

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Apple Bans Murderdrome Comic

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EST

Apple has banned a violent comic strip named Murderdrome from its Apple App Store. The move has infuriated comic fans reports Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog.

Murderdrome is not Ulysses, Lolita or Lady Chatterley's Lover. It's a dark, bloody comic strip marked by the type of over-the-top violence that has made its genre so popular among young readers with a lot of pent-up rage.

But Murderdrome has now joined the pantheon of suppressed fiction as the first digital book banished from Apple's App Store by censors in Cupertino.

The comic was banned even though it is a book and not an iPhone applications as Mike Cane explains. Technically, it is Comic Reader that is the application. Infurious Comics posted the complete first episode of Murderdrome and invited supportive comments.

By now, you might have heard that Murderdrome has been banned by Apple. This is due to the part of the sdk that suggests content must NOT offend anyone in 'apple's reasonable' opinion. Here at infurious, we would love to work with Apple to ensure a content rating system can be put in place to allow material that is no more offensive than many of the R rated films available to download on iTunes.

PLEASE leave a comment committing your support to us - we'll forward ALL of these to Apple, so that we can ensure that not only Murderdrome, but that ANY comic submitted to Apple doesn't fall foul of the same censorship.

A content rating system sounds very reasonable. This is something Apple should implement if they are worried about the kind of content being published on iTunes.

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Songwriter Cathy Dennis Get's Her First #1 Hit With I Kissed a Girl

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EST

Hit songwriter Cathy Dennis recently extended her number of successful hit songs when Kate Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. "I Kissed a Girl" is the seventh top 10 song on the Hot 100 and the first to go to No. 1 for Dennis, who has also written hits for Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Janet Jackson, Spice Girls, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, Kylie Minogue and Pink. Her international hits include ?About You Now? by Sugababes and ?Anything Is Possible? by Will Young.

"I am a massive fan of pop music, and have been for years," says Dennis. "I loved the songs from the '60s, and the work of writers like Gerry Goffin and Carole King, Burt Bacharach and Hal David David and Holland-Dozier-Holland. I also like most pop music since right through the '70s and '80s, with writers like Todd Rundgren and Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and bands like XTC and Blondie, up to the present day with bands like the Shins. To think about all that great body of work, and then consider that I am part of the 1,000th record to be No. 1 in the American chart feels fantastic."

Dennis offers her own thoughts on why "I Kissed a Girl" became her first No. 1 hit in the United States: "It feels to me like a real song of the moment, here and now in the summer of 2008. It's a bit controversial and makes people think, which is probably a good thing. Katy Perry is an original, the video is funny and engaging and though it's always a bit of a shock to hear that you have a No. 1 record in the States, and that you've sold a million downloads, I always felt that the blend of the song and the artist was so strong that we stood a good chance of having a hit. Katy is super-talented, and I couldn't be happier for her, as she also works her arse off. I can't wait to get in the studio with her again."

Cathy Dennis also had a solo career of her own in the 90s before turning her talents to writing songs for other singers. The Telegraph also has an article about Dennis here.

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Authors Admit Falsehoods in Rushdie Biography

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:08:00 EST

Authors of a memoir about Salman Rushdie have now admitted that parts of the book are not true. Rushdie has sued over the falsehoods.

Rushdie's lawyer Mark Stephens said today that the authors of the book now "accepted that much of the story published in the Mail on Sunday was false". He said that Evans had been "over-egging" his position at the time: "He was a police driver making out he was an armed special protection officer," he said.

Stephens added that Rushdie had made no requests for damages, nor for any changes in opinions in the book, merely for "the falsehoods" to be changed. "The authors have admitted that there were falsehoods in the original manuscript and have made amendments accordingly," he said.

So what wasn't true? Did the protection officers really lock Sir Salman in the closet and go out for a pint? Did they really call him Scruffy? Was Sir Salman not really as mean as they said he was? We want details.

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Court Reverses Steinbeck Copyright Ruling

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EST

A federal appeals court has reversed a prior ruling in favor of John Steinbeck's son and granddaughter which gave them publishing rights to ten of Steinbeck's works, including The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men

The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will leave the rights in the hands of Penguin Group Inc. and the heirs of Steinbeck's widow, Elaine Steinbeck. John Steinbeck died in 1968; his wife in 2003. The appeals court in Manhattan said a lower court judge misapplied copyright law in awarding the rights in 2006 to the son, Thomas Steinbeck, and granddaughter Blake Smyle, who already receive a portion of the proceeds of sales.

The rights are worth quite a bit of money, as they include power of how the works are use in every media from books to movies. Steinbeck left the rights to his widow in his will, and gave each of his sons about $50,000 in trust. When the widow died, she left the rights to her children from another marriage, thereby cutting out Steinbeck's own sons.

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Obama Speaks Out Against New Book

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST

Barack Obama is not happy with Jerome Corsi, author of the number one New York Times bestseller, The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, in which he claims Obama is a secret Muslim with a radical agenda for the U.S.

The Obama campaign has written a 40-page rebuttal that criticizes author Jerome Corsi as "a discredited, fringe bigot" and his book as "rehashed lies."

The book is a compilation of all the allegations and innuendo against Obama - that he was raised a Muslim, attended a radical, black church and secretly has a black rage hidden beneath the surface. Obama's rebuttal is titled "Unfit For Publication" and is set to be posted on the Obama campaign's rumour-fighting website, FightTheSmears.com.

Corsi was the co-author of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.

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Colleges Balk at RIAA Requests

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST

Colleges are furious with the RIAA, which has been ramping up its efforts to stop illegal file sharing on college campuses. The colleges had been cooperating with forwarding notices of proposed settlements to students and in stopping illegal behavior, but it's now taking up so much time that the educators are fighting back against subpeonas and requests for private information. But it may be too late.

On e-mail lists and in interviews, university CIO's and other information-technology professionals say their mission is getting derailed and staff time is being overloaded by copyright takedown notices, "prelitigation settlement letters," RIAA-issued subpoenas, lobbying efforts, and panicked students accused of piracy.

Now, feeling burdened and betrayed, some of those universities are quietly fighting back, resisting requests for information and trying to quash subpoenas. Those that do so, though, find that their past compliance - and the continued compliance of their peer institutions - is being held against them.

"We feel like we've been led down the garden path, and our interest in working in partnership and leading our mission as educators is now being used against us," said Tracy Mitrano, director of IT policy at Cornell University.

*****

In court documents and interviews, the RIAA has argued that past compliance with the subpoenas means that they were not an "undue burden" before, so they should not be one now. Both Morehead State's and Marshall's motions to quash the subpoenas were denied. The judges in both cases said there was no "undue burden" because investigations were not actually necessary to abide by Ferpa regulations. In the Morehead State ruling, the judge pointedly noted that "Morehead has responded, without objection, to virtually identical requests in other, similar litigation."

The colleges are in big trouble. Because the cooperated with the RIAA before, courts are ruling that complying must not be a burden. A university's job is not to be a full-time policeman, but that's what's happening. We foresee some appeals by the colleges as they fight back -- belatedly -- against the RIAA's increasingly burdensome demands.

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U Has Meny Spelin Erurs

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST

Here's an appropriate lolcats for editors and writers. If only our feline friends could actually help us find typos...

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Breaking Dawn Fans Up in Arms

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EST

Hachette Books broke records when it sold 1.3 million copies of Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, the last book in the teen vampire trilogy. But it appears that not all the fans were happy with the ending. In fact, message boards and blogs have been afire with both unhappy and happy fans who want to express their feelings about who the heroine ended up with and what happened afterwards.

The recently reopened message board on the Twilight series Web site has been very active, and on Amazon-where the novel remains ranked #1 in sales-the book has generated more than 1,600 reviews (nearly twice the reviews of the previous book, Eclipse) and more than 1,000 "customer discussions." Unhappy readers expressed a variety of opinions, including incredulity with certain plot points or the way threads were tied up, while others felt the writing wasn"t as strong as in the previous books.

In one heavily trafficked thread entitled "Unhappy with Breaking Dawn? Don't burn it-RETURN it!," commenters debated whether returning the book was a valid way to express unhappiness with the book. "Technically, reading a book and returning it is theft of knowledge," read one post, while the original commenter, a former bookstore employee, wrote, "I don't advocate making a habit of buying new books, reading them, and returning them. But once in a while... I do think mass returns are a useful form of consumer protest." Another poster recounted, anecdotally, returning the book at Borders: "They took back my book with no problem. Got into a discussion with the cashier about how I was the 15th (!!!) person to bring my book back today."

Returning books as a form of consumer protest is an interesting idea. We don't want to give any spoilers, but we have to say that we thought the last book was pretty shocking. And it definitely had an "ick" factor during one particular scene. "Any publicity is good publicity" still holds true: sales are still very, very good.

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Create Word Clouds With TagCloud or Wordle

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EST

Fun tools called Wordle and TagCrowd allow you to create a word cloud for any text document you provide. You can also provide an URL to an article or webpage and these two tools will make a word cloud for it. On the right is a word cloud for the IWJ that TagCrowd created.

Wordle is a toy for generating "word clouds" from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

One interesting use of the Wordle tool was a comparison of John McCain and Barack Obama speeches that was posted here. You can see a gallery of other Wordles here.

Maybe Wordle or TagCrowd could be helpful for checking your short story or essay to see if you are using the same word too often.

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Publisher Delays Book About Salman Rushdie Over Lawsuit Threat

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EST

The publisher has delayed production on a former policeman's memoirs after the threat of a lawsuit by Sir Salman Rushdie. The book was written by one of Rushdie's bodyguards who watched over him when he first came to England under threat of death from Iran for publishing The Satanic Verses. Rushdie said the book was full of lies and threatened to sue.

The publisher of a book that Salman Rushdie says portrays him as "mean and arrogant" has delayed publication for a week following Rushdie's threat of legal action. On Her Majesty's Service by Ron Evans was due to be published yesterday, but John Blake Publishing has moved this to August 11 in the hope that once Rushdie has read the book in its entirety he will see it as a "light-hearted and affectionate" portrait.

Rushdie's lawyers contacted John Blake earlier this week over excerpts in the weekend papers from the former Special Branch officer's memoir. These claimed that the security guards protecting Rushdie during the fatwa against him "got so fed up with his attitude that they locked him in a cupboard under the stairs and all went to the local pub for a pint or two". Evans also claimed that the guards nicknamed Rushdie Scruffy, which Rushdie said was untrue.

Managing director John Blake said he was confident that once Rushdie had read the whole book he would realise it was no threat to security. He added: "If anyone should be defending freedom of speech it should be him ... I can't believe that he'd really want to ban a book because it says that detectives named him Scruffy -- in a way that's almost affectionate."

Somehow we don't think Sir Salman is going to change his mind and allow the book to go forward. After all, the book claims he was so obnoxious that his bodyguards locked him in a closet and went out to the nearest pub. It also claims that he's really cheap and charge the police for wine they drank, which is just bizarre. What kind of bodyguard drinks wine on the job?

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National Geographic Lauching Photography Imprint

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EST

National Geographic is launching a high-end photography imprint called Focal Point. The imprint will showcase some of the fabulous images in its archives. There will be four books this fall to start.

"We really want to maintain and have a greater leadership position in photography," said Nina Hoffman, president of National Geographic Books. Leah Bendavid-Val, director of photography publishing for National Geographic Books, said the books in the Focal Point series "will appeal to connoisseurs, professionals, collectors, serious students of photojournalism and all lovers of photography."

As such, the books are moderately high-priced; the fall list includes three $40 hardcovers?Windows of the Soul: My Journeys in the Muslim World by Alexandra Avakian, The Life of a Photograph by Sam Abell and Odysseys and Photographs by Maynard Owen Williams, Volkmar Wentzel, Luis Marden and Thomas Abercrombie?as well as a $75 tome: Reza War + Peace by Reza. Hoffman said that while the fine art photography market is small, "it is at the heart of National Geographic. We want to stake a claim, and we do in the magazine world. We want the same recognition in books."

The printings will be in the 10,000 - 15,000 copy range. There will also be lectures and exhibits to back up the books. We think they will definitely sell and they'll also make wonderful gifts.

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New Grove Atlantic Novel Available Free for Kindle Owners

Sat, 2 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EST

Amazon.com and Grove will give away for free the ebook version of Spirit House by Christopher G. Moore.

Amazon and the publisher Grove/Atlantic will give away the electronic download of a new novel, Spirit House, by Christopher G. Moore, to Amazon Kindle customers beginning Friday, in advance of the book's release in print on Aug. 28, the companies announced on Wednesday. Morgan Entrekin, the president and publisher of Grove/Atlantic, said in a statement that the deal with Amazon "is a great way to expand Moore's audience even further." The Kindle, a portable electronic reader that downloads books, newspapers, blogs and magazines, sells on Amazon.com for $359.

It's an interesting experiment. Kindle owners can get their free download of the book here.

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Grudge Between Florence and Dante's Descendants Still Going Strong

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:00:00 EST

A direct descendant of Dante Aligheri is now boycotting a ceremony by the city of Florence, Italy which was to posthumously pardon the famous writer for alleged crimes that got him expelled from the city. Apparently, the city council of Florence wasn't sorry enough to suit the present Count Aligheri.

Dante, the father of the Italian language, fled his native city in 1302 after being sentenced to death for crimes including fraud and extortion. Florence council was to have healed the 700-year rift with the poet by presenting the city's golden florin to Count Pieralvise Serego Alighieri. The count, however, believes the Florentines are not sorry enough.

Last month, a meeting of the council's cultural committee, held to annul the expulsion order, prompted the kind of rancorous divisions that led to Dante's exile. Five councillors voted against the annulment and several others stayed away.

Count Pieralvise said it was "anything but a collective 'mea culpa' and symbolic ending of [Dante's] exile". "I could have wept when I read the comments of some of the councillors," he said. The proposed reconciliation, the initiative of two councillors from Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, ran into fierce opposition from the radical left. Nicola Rotondaro, the leader of a communist group on the council, said Dante "did not need the council to rehabilitate him".

"If he had been sent to his death, would we perhaps have asked for his resurrection?" he said. The count said it was "as if the people of Stratford-upon-Avon had quarrelled over an event in memory of Shakespeare".

Dante had a dispute with the Papacy, which resulted in him being charged with various crimes and his departure from Florence. The bad blood between his descendants and the city remains to this day, which is really quite impressive. Now, that's what we call holding a grudge.

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