Publishing Insider

Yanks Sox Mets Phils

There is some angst here in the Northeast, especially with a mix of Yanks, Mets and Sox fans in the office. I grew up a Yankees fan, but then those lovable Mets stole my heart and Steinbrenner froze it. I ache for New England fans, incl. my kid brother, who says all Boston fans put all sharp objects away in August. Truth is all 3 teams spent the money a la George, so the innocence should be gone and it is just a game. Still, Josh Marwell, Pres. of Sales here, sent along a Haiku for the Boys of Summer:

The Mets had their phill

Dice-K, Josh and Curt- all nill

Joba gets the thumb

Toby Press

I am fascinated by Toby Press' publishing program. Very interesting and eclectic books. And a Sept. Book Sense Pick: Grub, a riff on the, i suspect, largely unread George Gissing classic, Grub Street. Maybe new readers can come in via the new Toby Press book.

Jersey Boy

Apologies for not blogging of late. Will get back in a groove. Today's inspiration is from the little state that could, the only state NOT to have its state u. NOT named after the state. Rutgers!! Just researched a bit, and was reminded that the first football game played in these here states was between Rutgers and Princeton! So, the home of my mom's family, and me on weekends, finally has a decent team, and last year was fun, after years of futility. And we love the coach, as he eschewed a chance to go to Miami, and stayed in the Garden State.

baby Driver

XM has been playing some cuts from Minnie Driver's new album. Nice!!!

2 hot novels

Our own Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer, hits the Book Sense bestseller list, and a lot of the students at the Denver Publishing Institute were reading Miranda July's No One Belongs Here More than You.

have them stop!

If I hear the guys on ESPN say "winner, winner, chicken dinner" one more time, I'm going to scream.

no ordinary Joe

Had the occassion to play an LP this weekend that included Joe South's Games People Play, one of my favorite songs of years past. I figured it was a great one-hit wonder, til I read more about him on Wikipedia. Wow...an amazing musical life, esp. playing the guitar parts on Chain of Fools and Sounds of Silence!

we have a winner!!!

The multi-talented Bob Gray of Fresh Eyes Now, Northshire Books and Shelf Awareness won the latest New Yorker cartoon caption contest!!! it's a hoot!!!!

lights in the sky this weekend

The next meteor shower is the Perseids on August 12. This year there’s no moonlight to interfere. The best time to watch is from 11 p.m. August 12 until dawn the next morning. The best direction to watch is wherever your sky is darkest. If you have a dark sky, you may see a meteor once a minute on average. The shower is also active for several days before and after its peak.

hgh school anxiety

I can feel the panic through the wires, as Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye zoom back up bestseller charts as kids run out to buy and read in the next few weeks! Too bad Harry Potter wasn't assigned reading.