Monday, April 12, 2010

Killing Books Softly, and Great News!

For those of us devoted to smart, important books that inform considerations of social justice, race relations, sexual politics, environmentalism, and more, sometimes it's hard to see deal news on Galleycat.

That explains why I threw up a little upon reading this morning that a silly li'l website called Hipster Puppies got a book deal with Danielle Perez at NAL/Penguin. (I should note it will be written by Christopher Weingarten, a man who organized a Twitter conference, in case you still had your lunch in your stomach.) I have nothing against the site, but I have something against corporate publishers pursuing sites that work perfectly well as blogs - Awkward Family Photos, for example, which is just fine in this format. Stuff White People Like would also have been fine, as a BLOG. Why do these publishers rush in with acquisition dollars to reproduce what is freely available online in some book that, as others mentioned on this site (celebrity bios!), are simply destined for Borders' bargain bins? I mean, HarperStudio made a book from This Is Why You're Fat, and look where it got them! Have we learned nothing?!

Sometimes a blog is just a blog, folks.

BUT WAIT! I have to add to this post (despite already posting, now editing).

The 2010 Pulitzer Prizes have been awarded, and for books, I'm thrilled that Paul Harding won the fiction category for a novel called Tinkers, published by the very independent Bellevue Literary Press. Fantastic! (Haven't read the book yet, admittedly, but know Bellevue has done some great work since starting up in 2005.) In poetry, Ray Armantrout won for Versed, a collection he published with Wesleyan University Press - which has incredibly strong lists in poetry and in music.

Consider my faith in publishing renewed. Thanks Pulitzer! Now I best go get that copy of Tinkers...

1 comment:

Brian said...

More on how Harding's Tinkers came to be in the Globe today: http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2010/04/15/word_of_mouth_helped_propel_mass_novelist_to_pulitzer/ It's nice to see a story where a novelist ends up with a good independent that helps launch him to greatness, with the support of sales reps, media folks, etc...