@ PopMatters: Will Ads in Books Destroy the Industry or Save It? < PopMatters

With publishing numbers taking a nosedive, the industry is scrambling to find a way back to profitability. Could ads in books be the answer?Last week, MediaBistro’s GalleyCat and The Wall Street Journal reported on what may soon be a disturbing new reality for readers everywhere: ads. But advertising directly in books, print or otherwise, offers its own particular set of problems which may keep...

At The NRI: Food = Love ?

I have a new post over @ The NRI, on food, love, and being Indian: Why must my Indian aunts insist on cooking for me? For me, traveling home is a fraught process. First there’s the cross-country flight, then the cross-Pacific flight, overloaded immigration queues, packed baggage carousels, and clearing customs with a small, worn out kidlet. And then comes the hard part: visiting extended family. Read...

At PopMatters: Where Do Trends Come From?

My earlier *ILBNH* post on trends is over @ the PopMatters Re:Print blog this week. Drop by & join the discussion! Vampires. Zombies. Sea monsters with an unfettered love of double java chip frappuccinos. In the book world, trends appear to come and go quickly—the Twilight vampire boom is already coming to an end, just five years after Meyer’s book hit shelves the world over. Five years? Although...

At Guide to Literary Agents: How to BackUp Your Blog and Save Content

I missed posting this back when it was first up, because I was hiding out in Australia with zero internet access. If you’ve been wondering how to back up your blog, head on over for the details for Blogger, LiveJournal, & both Wordpress options. Blogging is hard work. Once you’re set up, there’s idea generation, writing, proofing, posting, and interacting with your readers, usually two or...

Reading Kidlit: In Defense of Animal Fiction, part I

Animal stories are everywhere. Many classic tales are animal stories, from Aesop’s Fables through Charlotte’s Web. Yet there’s an idea in kids’ publishing, out there on blogs, in classes and speeches, that animal fiction is no longer marketable, and has gone the way of the cute little bunnies in Watership Down. Despite the naysaying, though, animal stories continue to show up in...