authors

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Amazon Deletes Thousands of 'Fake' Reviews

Online purge sparks debate among authors and fans

(Newser) - Those glowing reviews on Amazon.com that seem a little made-up? The online mega-retailer is finally cracking down, deleting thousands of reviews that strike a phony chord for one reason or another, the New York Times reports. Amazon isn't divulging its deletion policy, but reviews by friends and family...

NY Times Calls Obama Book &#39;Chick&#39; Lit
 NY Times Calls 
 Obama Book 
 'Chick' Lit 
'Chicks' Furious
Feb 20, 2012 3:00 AM CST

NY Times Calls Obama Book 'Chick' Lit

Critics see label as slight to serious book, author

(Newser) - A generally gushing review in the New York Times of a book by its own Washington correspondent hit an Internet landmine when it referred to the book as "chick nonfiction," observes New York Magazine . The reconfiguration of the term "chick lit" was no doubt meant to be...

Martinis, Vinegar: Famed Writers' Favorite Snacks

Authors look to everything from sherry to popsicles for inspiration

(Newser) - Some of history's greatest writers have relied on "food for thought." For Truman Capote, a daily regimen of coffee, tea, sherry, and martinis was his path to creative greatness. Others kept it simpler: Marcel Proust relied on espresso, while Jesus Land author Julia Scheeres swears by the...

Why Parents' Fave New Book is Go the F*** to Sleep
Why Parents' Fave New
Book Is Go the F*** to Sleep
in case you missed it
May 21, 2011 6:43 AM CDT

Why Parents' Fave New Book Is Go the F*** to Sleep

...even though it won't be published until June 14

(Newser) - Go the F*** to Sleep snagged the No. 1 spot on Amazon's best-seller list this week—almost a month before it hits bookshelves—and Rebekah Denn thinks she knows why. The 32-page book blends soothing rhymes with sleep-deprivation-induced obscenity, and the Internet-savvy attribute its early success to a viral...

Hey Kids, Stop Asking Me to Do Your Homework
Hey Kids, Stop Asking
Me to Do Your Homework
MEGHAN DAUM
Apr 21, 2011 12:42 PM CDT

Hey Kids, Stop Asking Me to Do Your Homework

Meghan Daum is sick of 'entitled' children who don't think for themselves

(Newser) - Not surprisingly, Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum gets quite a few emails. But perhaps more infuriating than the ones "telling me I'm a moron and the reason print media is dying" are the ones asking her to do some kid's homework. "Not a week goes...

Highest-Paid Authors in US
 Highest-Paid 
 Authors in US 
Aug 22, 2010 1:47 PM CDT

Highest-Paid Authors in US

James Patterson, Stephenie Meyer lead the way

(Newser) - A tribute of sorts to Harry Potter: JK Rowling isn't putting out new Potter books, but sales of existing ones still put her in the top 10 of the year's highest-paid authors. (She came in 10th with $10 million.) Read the full Forbes list here , but here's the top...

50 Famous Authors Other Famous Authors Hate


 50 Famous Authors 
 Other Famous 
 Authors Hate 
poor jane austen
Apr 24, 2010 3:49 PM CDT

50 Famous Authors Other Famous Authors Hate

Jane Austen gets clobbered by Mark Twain, Charlotte Bronte

(Newser) - Just because you're in the club, doesn't mean you like all of its members. To wit, Examiner.com lists 50 famous authors that other famous authors really don't like...in their own, well-penned words:
  1. Mark Twain on Jane Austen: "Every time I read Pride and Prejudice, I want to
...

Racy Teen Bestseller Lifts Whole Pages From Blogger

17-year-old writer says there's no such thing as originality

(Newser) - The 17-year-old author of a critically acclaimed novel about sex and drugs in Berlin's techno scene is drawing fire for allegedly copying large chunks of a blogger's work. The blogger, who goes by Airen, says author Helene Hegemann lifted "entire passages" from his book, Strobo, for her work, Axolotl ...

Chronicler of WASP Life Louis Auchincloss Dies at 92

Lawyer-turned-novelist succumbs to stroke

(Newser) - Louis Auchincloss, who chronicled the life of powerful, white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants into which he was born, died yesterday of a stroke at age 92. The Yale-educated Auchincloss left a prominent conservative New York law firm to write, and is best known for the 1960s novels The Rector of Justin and...

How to Create a Kindle Best-Seller: Give It Away

Publishers are using free downloads to lure readers

(Newser) - The brave new world of publishing in the age of e-readers had led to this: More than half of the "best sellers" on Amazon's Kindle are actually give-aways. While some are classics in the public domain, many are new titles. Publishers are embracing the idea of free downloads as...

Google Offers Revised Digital Book Deal

Narrower settlement aimed at overcoming Justice Dept. objections

(Newser) - Google offered a compromise deal with authors and publishers late yesterday, in an effort to overcome Justice Department objections to an earlier agreement and clear the way for distribution of millions of digital books online. Two months ago Justice had blocked a settlement in a lawsuit brought by authors and...

Modern Novels' Shift: We Can Understand Them

Literary writers are re-embracing idea of a good plot

(Newser) - The 21st-century novel is being reacquainted with an old friend: the plot. Today's best writers are abandoning the notion that literary novels need to be all but impenetrable to readers without advanced degrees, writes Lev Grossman in the Wall Street Journal. "The revolution is under way," he says....

Weird Facts About Best-Selling Authors

Dan Brown, pop musician? And more.

(Newser) - Summer's here, and that means it's time for beach reading. Mental Floss compiles some surprising facts about the authors most commonly toted along to the shore:
  1. Dan Brown hasn’t spent his whole life pondering Vatican conspiracies: he was also a musician and pop singer. The name of his second
...

Antitrust Concerns Prompt Google Books Probe

Deal gives Google exclusive chance to profit from texts, say critics

(Newser) - Federal lawyers are looking into whether a Google Book Search agreement with authors and publishers may violate antitrust laws, the New York Times reports. The settlement of a 2005 suit allows Google to put millions of scanned books online, charge viewers to read them, and share revenues with both groups....

LBJ Biographer Aims for Eternity
 LBJ Biographer 
 Aims for Eternity 
glossies
Feb 8, 2009 6:56 PM CST

LBJ Biographer Aims for Eternity

Tireless writer published average of one book every ten years

(Newser) - Lyndon Johnson's biographer takes his work seriously—so much so, he didn't cover LBJ's presidency for 30 years, Newsweek reports. Rising from the tabloid world in the 1960s, Robert Caro first wrote a painstaking biography of New York mogul Robert Moses. Next came a volume on LBJ's youth; Caro even...

Twilight Author 'Can't Write Worth a Darn': King

Horror maven gets vampire books' appeal

(Newser) - Sorry, Stephenie Meyer, but Stephen King isn't among your millions of fans. The wildly successful horror author compared the wildly successful vampire author's Twilight series with JK Rowling's Harry Potter books in a recent USA Weekend interview: "The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and...

Need a Blurb? Meet the Usual Suspects
Need a Blurb?
Meet the Usual Suspects
OPINION
Jan 7, 2009 5:43 PM CST

Need a Blurb? Meet the Usual Suspects

New writers' book jackets reveal the top 10 lazy comparisons

(Newser) - Blurbs for hot new writers' books unfailingly liken them to a handful of known quantities, Chris Rovzar observes in New York. Here are some of the most-abused blurb comparisons:
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald or Edith Wharton. Writing about crumbling, decadent high society? "If you're a boy, you're Scott; if you're
...

Need a Job? Write a Book About Lincoln
Need a Job? Write a Book About Lincoln
opinion
Dec 7, 2008 7:25 PM CST

Need a Job? Write a Book About Lincoln

Honest Abe titles keep coming despite economic bust

(Newser) - Looking for a recession-proof job? Write a book about Abraham Lincoln, Joe Queenan advises in the Los Angeles Times. There are some 15,000 books about Lincoln already, and 50 more coming out next year. “As the very title Lincoln at Peoria suggests, there is literally no Lincoln-related subject...

Widow Opens Up About 'Ratty' Dahl

On eve of Roald Dahl Funny Prize, Felicity Dahl grants an exclusive interview

(Newser) - Tears reach Felicity Dahl's eyes as she walks to the work hut of her famous ex-husband, Roald. She's not alone, either: Director Tim Burton burst out crying when he saw it. "People have strong reactions to this house," said the widow of the acerbic scribe who...

Google Settles Lawsuit Over Book Scanning for $125M

Settlement will make it easier to access out-of-print books

(Newser) - Google has settled a lawsuit concerning intellectual property rights in its book-scanning initiative, Wired reports. Google will pay $125 million to authors who claimed their work was put online without their consent. The settlement also establishes a system where many out-of-print, but still copyrighted, books will be available to buy...

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