Publishing Insider

happy bday bookstores

Happy birthday Eagle Harbor Books and Vintage Books!!!!

book cover shout-out!

Wonderful posting by designer Marc Johns!

THE GREAT JACKET VS. COVER DEBATE!

 Is it time to rip the, umm, cover off this debate? I’m kidding, of course…mostly. We sales heathens use the terms interchangeably, but every now and then, a designer or even editor will get annoyed with us!

art

So, it occurs to me that if light is the blood of film, bass the meat of music, and sound the soul of writing, what is the heartbeat of painting?

busted flush

From the very energetic David Thompson of Murder by the Book in Houston: Through Busted Flush Press, I’ll be publishing Bill Fitzhugh’s long-awaited sequel to PEST CONTROL!!   

the smell of the greasepaint

My Dad loved the musical theater, but me not so much, until I got roped into working at a summer theater back when…and I loved it! We did Music Man and South Pacific, and working backstage just agreed with me. I went on to stage direct Company in college, and then some summer stock, but I burned out on it, and thankfully, found my way in the book biz, which does have an element of the theatrical to it, yes? Anyway, the North Fork Community Theater is alive and kicking!!

endorphin rush

I’m a lucky guy. Three books that I’ve worked on over the last few years have all come out the last 2 weeks: Evan Mandery’s fantastic satire, FIRST CONTACT; Steven Gore’s thrilling thriller, FINAL TARGET; and, this week, drumroll, Kirk Farber’s bittersweet, slighty surreal POSTCARDS FROM A DEAD GIRL. I read it 4x and loved it more each time. Endorphins of pleasure and, yes, some of the main character’s pain, and Kirks’ writing style all put me into the most wonderful trance, broken up only by fits of laughter at the occasional absurdities. (The Swedish girl in Barcelona. The mud pit in the backyard. Gerard the postman’s worldview.)  Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, and here is Kirk’s take on things in Fictionaut, and ok, nice things about moi!

spiritual moments

I'm nuts for HarperOne's youtube page. Great stuff! Desmond Tutu. Harvard Psych Club. And more.

Lehane on movie-making

Very interesting WSJ interview with Dennis.

Freakonomics podcast

Freakonomics Radio is currently the #1 podcast on iTunes.