FUTTOCKS, the middle division of a ship’s timbers; or those parts which are situated between the floor and the top-timbers …
As the epithet hooked is frequently applied in common language to any thing bent or incurvated, and particularly to several crooked timbers in a ship, as the breast-hooks, fore-hooks, after-hooks, &c. this term is evidently derived from the lowest part or foot of the timber, and from the shape of the piece. Hence.
– Wm. Falconer’s Dictionary of the Marine (1780).
Yes, there were other things going on this week in publishing beyond half the world calling the iPad a savior and the other half poo-pooing its ability to spark a revolution.
Lydia Sharp at The Sharp Angle navigates a middle course to calm the nerves of writers who fear ebook piracy in the wake of Apple’s iPad with some very instructive anecdotes about how free can sell.
The ever-prolific Jessica at BookEnds, LLC, serves up a triptych of good info on: backing up your data, interpreting long query response times, and how agents are weathering the recession. BookEnds also hosts guest writer Becky Levine, who advises writers how to find a critique group that’s “right for you.”
In the realm of publishing-related graphics, Michael at Dystel & Goderich discusses the perils of book covers, while Janet Reid provides photographic evidence of the role Alces alces plays in certain writing guilds.
Kristin Nelson explains why “often the deciding factor [for sample pages] is not whether the writing is good or not but whether the voice fits an agent’s taste.” And Jennifer Schuessler at the New York Times explains reader boredom, why we’re so hesitant to admit it, and how it can lead to ecstasy. And, finally, Rachelle Gardner explains how to become an editor or agent.
Let’s just say there’s a lot of explaining going on.
A charter from a desert city’s school
refused to mark Amalgam as a town;
he swore it was an ancient, honored rule
that nothing on a stream was written down.
In light of the revelation in the New York Times* today that “more than half of the ‘best-selling’ e-books on the Kindle … are available at no charge,” one has to ask whether the publishing profitability isn’t actually being sabotaged by the profit motive itself.
After all, the business concept behind free product is always to entice the free-taker to also be a pay-buyer; Amazon isn’t offering free books for the pleasure of giving. But, with book prices already being dragged down by slimly priced digital books, is free really a wise idea? Continue reading
The PICUS (woodpecker) gets its name from Picus the son of Saturn, because he used the creature in auguries. For they say that this bird is something of a soothsayer by the following evidence, viz: in the trees on which it builds its nest, one cannot stick a nail where it sat, or anything else that remains fixed for a long time, without its falling out at once.
– The Book of Beasts : Being a Translation from a Latin Bestiary of the Twelfth Century Made and Edited by T. H. White (1954).
Just inland from the port of Olgamshore,
just seaward of Amalgam, was a town
that looked upland to fill its barley store,
but owed its store of fish to Olgam Sound.
Let’s just start right off with the best news, from the perspective of prospective authors: Amazon increases royalty rates on Kindle books! As New York Times‘ Media Decoder blog points out, “Amazon’s move is also a clear bid to woo authors away from traditional publishing houses.” Things just got interesting.
Jessica at BookEnds answers “Should I revise my manuscript before sending out the next batch of queries?” and other random questions. Meanwhile Rachelle Gardner discusses email protocol and the power of word-of-mouth.
Lauren at Dystel & Goderich offers some advice on titling, while her colleague Miriam disses the sarcmark.
Kassia Krozser at Booksquare expresses her doubts about enhanced ebooks, while Alan Rinzler at The Book Deal teaches us about hooks that snag great book deals.
Finally, John Fox tells us why he doubts book reviews, while Suzannah Windsor Freeman (guest-blogging at Nathan Bransford‘s site) negotiates the struggle between Word Nerds and Grammar Rebels.
Enjoy!
Regular readers might have noticed I have a peculiar interest in colonial America, including the Seven Years’ War, or (as it is generally called in the United States) The French and Indian War.
Many seem to think of American history beginning with the Revolution, but there is a deeper history all around us, and this conflict of Native and Colonial forces marks a critical turning point in that history. This is the history of our continent that tugs my creative mind-strings when I write.
It might seem strange to think of a war two and a half centuries in the past making the news, but it has been:
• Don Wood writes in the Martinsburg, WV, Journal-News about the abundance of local historical markers, including one on Fort Neely and Fort Evans, known largely for the defense organized by women when the fort was attacked while the men were absent.
• Newsweek covers how a British company is blocking Americans’ access to a bike path that retraces the route of then-Lieutenant Colonel George Washington’s wartime route to Pittsburgh.
• John Switzer at the Columbus Dispatch discusses archaeological findings related to the seige of Pickawillany, a Native American town in Ohio that was host to a British trading post.
• You Ask Youker at the Reading, PA, Eagle answers the question “Did forts once stand on the Blue Mountains in Berks County? ” with a resounding Yes, during the French and Indian War.
• Finally, the New York Times blog (read it while it’s free!) discusses, peripherally, the important French and Indian War site Fort Stanwix while discussing the later construction of the Erie Canal in the same region.
Okay, so most readers won’t stumble over these links until well after Sunday brunch, but they’ll still be great for a rainy Sunday afternoon (if you’re on the East Coast) or even a Monday off. So, let’s dive right in…
There are 18 print-on-demand Espresso Book Machines worldwide, and 5 of them are in the Seattle area. Seattle Times writer/artist Gabriel Campanario provides an look into the dynamics of print-on-demand.
Rachel Gardner discusses some WordServe analysis of how online publicity efforts effect sales, and pointed my way to The Most Interesting Bookstores In The World. Nice. She also discusses why authors still need agents.
And if Rachel can’t convince you that you still need an agent, the Wall Street Journal digs into the reasons that publisher slush piles of unsolicited manuscripts are becoming a thing of the past. However, Brianna Goodspeed responds that this may not be true for everyone.
On the subject of agent slush piles, literary agent Janet Reid explains how slush still works, and what exactly slush means.
You know how good things come in threes? Well, Jessica at BookEnds tackles three topics dear to an aspiring writer’s heart: querying, submitting manuscripts, and avoiding scams. Kristin Nelson also serves up one, two, three excellent pieces on query letters.
Finally, a completely different Jessica at Dystel & Goderich points the way to a piece in A Public Space on Cairo’s up-and-coming writers, and a New Yorker article on Arabic novels in translation. Šukran jazílan!
ewer __ A large water pitcher with a wide lip.
HISTORIC. Before internal plumbing, the common bedroom lavatory consisted of a ewer, a large wash basin, and a floor receptacle into which used wash water could be poured. (Or the water was often thrown out the window.)
– A Second Browser’s Dictionary and Native’s Guide to the Unknown American Language by John Ciardi (1983).
