Bookish thoughts 21 Sep: rewriting from scratch; bibliodiversity; patience, grasshopper more!

RIASS stuff:

Book Review: Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper'Rating: (the true story of Anne Green, who was hanged, pronounced dead, and then later revived)

Book Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington'Rating: '(a thought-provoking book about homophobia and the voicelessness of minorities)

Giveaway: A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper'(open to all)

Im going away for the weekend, and may not have internet access. If Im quiet, thats why!

Other bookish stuff:

Joss Whedon'on how low budgets make for better movies: 'I'm a huge proponent of the no budget movie. I love working on location. It makes you a better filmmaker. You don't have everything conveniently placed for you. People are using the environment and it spices things up. I think of myself as a classical storyteller, which is why the digital era excites me. Classical storytelling is about getting a story told.

The art of the complete rewrite'You cried just reading that, didnt you? A complete rewrite isnt about nudging about some commas. Its about changing the theme, or the setting, or the plot or whatever of your novelthe big stuff. This author recommends starting with a blank document and a print-out of your latest version of the manuscript and going from there. Its tough, but it will (hopefully) result in a better manuscript.

Agent Jennifer Laughran on crafting an editor submission list'Laughran talks about selecting editors within imprints within publishers, and about juggling various projects between different editors and imprints. (Also, you guys, on a personal note, my submissions list is awesome, and I cannot believe that *those* editors are reading *my* book.)

Paul Krugman and the economics of books'Author Peter Osnos looks at the variation in cost of Paul Krugmans latest bookwhich is up to $15. Osnos argues that Amazons constant battle to drive prices down is bad for authors, publishers, and readers. Publishers will always need the revenue to support authors and the staffs that edit, produce, and market their books, and to provide a reasonable profit for their owners. If the squeeze becomes too tight, the result will be fewer books that matter like'End This Depression Now' whether in print or digital formats.

Whoa, this author did her research so well that shes managed to predict threats of war between China and Japan'In a frightening week on the international news scene, the'hostile dispute'between China and Japan'over the disputed islands has developed,'as predicted, by the urban fantasy writer, AA Bell in the multi-award winning'Diamond Eyes'trilogy.

Have our books become too long?'We have long needed such a hard-and-fast limit. Even if books have not statistically gotten longer ' Samuel Richardson's 1747 novel 'Clarissa' is a fear-inducing 1534 pages of unadulterated boredom ' the time we have for book continues to contract. That means, in relative terms, that books are increasingly becoming too long to read.

Kathy Dawson gets her own imprint at Penguin Young Readers

Stephen King is releasing a sequel to'The Shining'Doctor Sleep will be published 36 years after the original.

On bibliodiversity:'the importance of a multiplicity of publishing voices in a world of conglomerates. The work of small and independent publishers is not always seen, but it is the seed of the future. Think of the Hogarth Press which published Virginia Woolf; think of Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier of Shakespeare and Company Bookshop who published James Joyce's'Ulysses. Both these writers now live at the centre of an literary industry, but without the independent publishing of last century, would the work of these writers be known at all?

A fascinating interview with Jeanne Ryan about her book'Nerve This meant I often had to do battle between my innate desire to make things right with the world (I have a degree in social welfare) and wanting to ensure that the story felt authentic.

Ten famous authors who dropped out of school

Elena Johnson on things that she wishes shed been told earlier on in her career'These include not being in a hurry to publish, writing what you want to write, and surrounding yourself with supportive people. Ill add a resounding yes to that!

One for the historically minded out there:'What can the papyrus referring to Jesus marital status tell us not just about history, but about the way that history is recorded and passed down?

Lesser-known books by authors of note'Of which I have read exactly none. So, yes, kind of proves the point of the post.

In Sydney? Theres a role going for'Development Editor at Chirpy Bird at Hardie Grant Egmont

Also, want to pitch to Hardie Grant Egmont? Heres where (and how) to do it.