New Media Journalism @ Seton Hill University

SHU librarian Anthony McMullen was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article on a library that gave up the Dewey Decimal System in favor of sorting books the way they are sorted in a bookstore.

Discord Over Dewey - WSJ.com

Anthony McMullen, a librarian at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Penn., said he's heard colleagues scoff at searches that result in millions of pages, which they think bewilder users, as well as searches that direct users to illegitimate sources of information.

But Mr. McMullen encourages keeping an open mind, noting that most users focus on the first 10 to 20 results and don't get overwhelmed. And the Internet doesn't have exclusive rights on inaccuracy, he added. "I could compile a lengthy bibliography of published books that support the notion that the Holocaust never occurred. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't use books."

Posted by jerz at 2:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I came across this very straightforward, honest, yet sensitive rejection letter for the small publication firm "Snowbooks."

Snowbooks

If you think about it, we have a financial incentive to put as little thought and effort into sifting through submissions as possible. We've got a lot of submissions to get through and not enough time. Plus, many publishers aren't looking to take any chances with new material; they want obvious, commercial successes, ideally from authors with a track record.

Snowbooks could hire a team of people whose job it is to give detailed constructive feedback to submitting authors and to point them in the direction of other publishers more attuned to their style, but there's no obvious way for us to make that idea profitable. We'd be spending money that other firms aren't and it wouldn't necessarily make us any more financially successful - and it's the same with any other publishers you'll deal with. We're like shoppers at a January sale: we grab the two or three things that catch our eye as quickly as we can and move on. We're not critics so much as opportunists.

Given that a submitted manuscript is inevitably an author's pride and joy, and that a book's acceptance and future fortunes are bound up with its author's own hopes and happiness, it's almost criminal that publishers get to accept or reject submissions with so little feedback or accountability. The best we can say at Snowbooks is that we think it's a bad situation, but we don't at the moment have a solution to it (although we have some ideas for the future which we think will help - see our new process, above).

In the meantime, all we can suggest is that you don't trust publishers. They're not your friends and they're not even that great at spotting what readers will like.

Posted by jerz at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Award-winning Author David Morell to Speak at Seton Hill January 10

Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction master's program welcomes award-winning author David Morrell to campus on January 10. Mr. Morrell, the writer of "First Blood" (the award-winning novel in which Rambo was created), and co-president of the International Thriller Writers organization, will speak at 7 p.m. in Cecilian Hall on "Platforms, Viral Marketing, and the Seismic Shifts in Today's Publishing World."

Posted by jerz at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Horror writer goes dark for his stories - PittsburghLIVE.com

"When I look around me, I don't know why, unconsciously I'm driven to notice the gross things about everyday life we take for granted," says Arnzen, a past winner of the Bram Stoker Award for horror writing.

Posted by jerz at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Eric Mayer

Mary and I set out to get a novel published. And we did. But we’re not rich and famous. Nor are we full-time novelists. So, did we succeed?

Here are the facts. Poisoned Pen Press has sent out into the world five beautifully produced books (with a sixth on the way) which have sold thousands of copies in both hardback and paperback. An independent can't get the same distribution as one of the publishing conglomerates and our sales figures would probably earn a mid-list author the boot. On the other hand, plenty of mid-listers would enjoy the starred reviews we've had in Publishers Weekly and Booklist and our handful of awards/nominations. Plus, we are in hundreds of libraries all over the country which is a wonderful thing all by itself. Would we have been better off being dropped by a larger publisher after our first two paperbacks went unnoticed and failed to sell in sufficient numbers? Hardly. And that is the fate, it seems, of most new mid-listers these days.

Posted by jerz at 1:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

SHU English faculty member Lee McLain will be giving a writing workshop at the Greensburg Barnes & Noble tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7pm, followed by a signing for her new teen novel, My Abnormal Life.

If you were planning to stop by the bookstore some time in the near future, I'm sure Dr. McClain would love to see you there.

Posted by jerz at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Times Online - Britain

A SCHOOLGIRL has become a publishing sensation after her first novel sold 50,000 copies in six weeks. A second print run for Emma Maree Urquhart’s Dragon Tamers has been ordered.

Emma Maree, 13, from Inverness, wrote about a teenager who is dragged into a virtual reality game involving a dragon. If she dies in the game, she dies in the real world.

Posted by jerz at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No seriously, "The Truth", this Fall's issue of Eye Contact has just arrived! So I recommend everyone make sure they pick up a copy of this great collection of prose, poetry and art from Seton Hill students and alumni!

To get an issue, drop us a card with your name and Box number into the house mail: Eye Contact Box 246 or e-mail us at eyecontact@setonhill.edu

Posted by Mike Rubino at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I just got this in my in box:

Critically acclaimed nonfiction author Michael Sims will be reading from and signing the paperback of his most recent book, ADAM'S NAVEL: A NATURAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE HUMAN FORM, at Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Greensburg on Sunday November 7 at 3:00 p.m.

Continue reading "Nonfiction Author Michael Sims Reading" »

Posted by jerz at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Turn off the television and read the newspaper. There's more truth in your local paper than you'll find on CNN." -- James McBride, author and musician, concluding his remarks at tonight's lecture.

McBride, whose memoir The Color of Water is our freshman class summer reading text, spoke briefly at this afternoon's Honors Convocation tonight, and again tonight as part of the lecture series "A Revoutionizing Perspective".

What did you think of McBride's speech(es), and/or his book?

Posted by jerz at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | 10 facts about Dr Seuss

It's the 100th anniversary on Tuesday of the birth of the children's writer, Dr Seuss, author of classics such as The Cat in the Hat, and Green Eggs and Ham.

Posted by jerz at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Students Find $100 Textbooks Cost $50, Purchased Overseas (NY Times)

[J]uniors at Williams College, surfing the net for a cheap source for their economics textbook... discovered a little known economic fact: the very same college textbooks used in the United States sell for half price -- or less -- in England.

Just like prescription drugs, textbooks cost far less overseas than they do in the United States. The publishing industry defends its pricing policies, saying that foreign sales would be impossible if book prices were not pegged to local market conditions.

But many Americans do not see it that way. The National Association of College Stores has written to all the leading publishers asking them to end a practice they see as an unfair to American students.

Continue reading "Textbook Publishers: Gouging American Students?" »

Posted by jerz at 12:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Ever think how useful those text books were in school? Did they seem a little bland to you? DUH! they were because of parents sucking the fun out of learning!

Continue reading "Text Book Censorship" »

Posted by at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)