Round-Up Archive
Round-Down: Writing Assistance Apps–Trendy? Or Here to Stay?
With National Novel Writing Month already halfway over, many writers may be struggling to find new ways to motivate themselves to finish their marathon projects. Whereas old school methods such as the satisfying, yet solitary, thrill of accomplishment may have been enough back in the day, now, technology-hungry, modern-day
Round-Down: Amazon Opens Amazon Books in Seattle
Amazon Books, Amazon’s first brick-and-mortar bookstore, opened last week in Seattle’s University Village. The store is similar in appearance to many book retailers, though Amazon Books interestingly (and necessarily) does not note hard prices on its items in-store–the store has a commitment to its Amazon prices, which frequently change.
Round-Down: First Ever American Writers Museum Slated for 2017
The United States is getting a new addition. In early 2017, the first museum dedicated to writers from the USA, the American Writers Museum, will open. Its mission will be to celebrate American writers and literature. The idea came from Malcolm O’Hagan, an Irish immigrant and retired engineer who is raising the funds for
Round-Down: Amazon Sues for Fraudulent Product Reviews
Amazon is suing over one thousand people who used Fiverr, the odd-jobs website for digital tasks, to offer paid fake product reviews at the site. The lawsuit alleges that “defendants are misleading Amazon’s customers and tarnishing Amazon’s brand for their own profit and the profit of a handful of dishonest
Round-Down: Freedom of Expression Is Under Attack, Ever Important
At the tail end of Banned Books Week, when some in the States were questioning whether raising awareness of freedom of speech was necessary anymore, on the other side of the world, in India, many authors were banding together in protest of what they see as the nation’s rising intolerance towards
Round-Down: The Hogarth Series Will Reinvent Shakespeare’s Works As Novels
Jeanette Winterson’s novel The Gap of Time, released only one week ago, is the first book launched of a larger series, called The Hogarth Shakespeare. The series, from the revered Vintage Books, plans to do the very exciting and almost unthinkable: reimagine Shakespeare’s classic plays as novels penned by
Round-Down: On the Necessity of Banned Book Week
Just in time for Banned Books Week, the first book to be banned in New Zealand in twenty years is available in the United States. The young adult novel, Into the River by Ted Dawe, which ironically won the 2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Award, was banned last
Round-Down: McDonald’s Happy Readers Initiative Fated for Great Success
Roald Dahl’s estate, the National Literacy Trust, and McDonald’s have teamed up in a smart, new installment of the fast food franchise’s recent UK literacy initiative, Happy Readers. Fourteen-million Roald Dahl books have been created specifically for the project, featuring excerpts from some of the author’s classics, and will
Round-Down: On Women Writers And the Fallout from ‘Confession’ in the Digital Age
Social media is in the spotlight—or crosshairs, as it may be–in the literary landscape this week. Several articles and author interviews have touched upon both the benefits and the tremendous costs known to an author maintaining their online presence, none of them coming to a firm conclusion about whether it’s better to be
Round-Down: Catapult Launches Onto the Literary Scene
Elizabeth Koch recently conceived of a promising new literary venture, Catapult, that launched yesterday. Jennifer Kovitz, the publisher’s publicity and marketing director, said that “Catapult is dedicated to spotlighting extraordinary narratives (as fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and graphic/illustrated projects) and we intend for Catapult to be an inclusive community for writers at