Bookish News & Publishing Tidbits 23 May 2012

RIASS stuff:

Calling all bookish Melburnians! RIASS and some bookish buddies are planning a night out at the Astor Theatre on the 9th of June. All welcome, so if you're a local (or wish to commute), feel free to drop by. Details'here.

A review of Revived'by Cat Patrick, a book that asks the question: would you live life differently if you knew death didnt have to be permanent? (Rating: )

A giveaway of'Out of Sight, Out of Time'by Ally Carter (Aus only, ends 27 May)

Are you'following us on Facebook?

Other bookish stuff:

Liz & Lauren, a'short story from Ann Packer

Five types of book clubs youve probably never heard of, but may (who knows) wish to join.

Race in YA Lit: Wake Up & Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, White Authors!'Our society has created and perpetuated the expectation that, with a few notable exceptions, YA books with non-white characters either tackle a social injustice head on'or'strip out the character's entho/cultural/gender/etc. uniqueness altogether. The black character, then, must either struggle under the weight of 'the black experience' or blend in so completely that the only black thing about him is his coffee-coloured skin (which is of course described with a frequency the white character's 'peaches and cream' coloured skin is not).'The whole conundrum is compounded by the fact that plenty of cranky grownups still cling to the misguided belief that YA exists solely to teach kids lessons. The result, if the Atlantic Wire article is indicative of the larger problem, is that whenever we write a non-white (or a non-hetero, non-insert-socio-ethno-psychological-category-here) character, we're taking it upon ourselves to write the non-whatever 'experience.' Whatever else happens in the story, my gay character should have a difficult coming out story, and he should be bullied so that I can send a message that homophobia is wrong. My black characters should be subject to racism so I can preach about diversity and tolerance.

An interview with Elizabeth Lowell: Because Im writing fiction, I dont have to know a long list of facts, names, dates, etc. I can take pieces of what historians and archaeologists know and imagine different ways of making stories from them. For me, facts are the platform from which I dive into fiction. The process of a novel is rather like cooking. I dont need to learn chemistry to know that some basic ingredients are included in almost all cooking. It is how you blend those ingredients that make individual dishes unique.

Dan Yashinskys tale of how he became a storyteller and librarian groupie: My fierce, passionate, story-loving librarians taught me that when a story is told it's more important for the listeners to see the story than the teller. I learned that, in a world where people think memory can be bought on a chip, the word-of-mouth and the word-of-heart still matter. You can't double-click on wisdom. Most of all, they taught me that the listener is the hero of the story.

John Oakes tells authors to bypass publishers and Amazon and sell their books directly to booksellers: By creating a buzz around a book online and fostering online communities of readers around each book, we create a small but reliable in-store demand as well. And we've found that increasingly stores are open to buying on a prepaid, nonreturnable basis; we give them a flat 50% discount, not dithering over a percentage point here or there. Stores order a smaller amount than they would under the old 'order now, pay later' system, but they sell what they take in stock, and reorder. New distribution models such as On Demand Books' Espresso Book Machine provide another way to sidestep the old system. The result is a good one for this publisher, for consumers, and for participating stores as well: they no longer sacrifice valuable shelf space to inventory that doesn't sell.

A sneak peek at a new publishing model from Astor + Blue: At Astor + Blue, we want to fully embrace the Digital Revolution and all its benefits (speed, versatility, limitless reach) but we want to preserve the indispensable aspects of traditional publishing (Editing, nurturing). We believe we've come up with the model to accomplish that.''And thus our company catch phrase:''Digital Publishing. Classic Publisher. The kind of publishing we envision can only be achieved with strong relationships in every phase of the process.

Why dont romance heroes ever have manual jobs?'With romance titles numbering in the thousands, many of them historicals, are there really only a handful featuring a blacksmith hero? What about other artisan heroes? Where are the shoemakers, tailors, potters, carpenters, metalsmiths, wainwrights, chefs, farriers, coopers, and watchmakers?

Garth Nix is interviewed on Booktopia: In 1995 I came back from a very long lunch (in those days I was a PR/marketing consultant) to see an email offering my first significant US book deal, whereupon I leaped up and banged my head against my office bookshelf hard enough to make it fall down, so everyone rushed in to see if I needed to be sedated or something.

Audio:

Miss the Sydney Writers Festival already? Never fear: you can download the audio of many of the sessions here.

Events:

In Sydney? Walker Books is hosting a'Biggest Morning Tea at their Newtown offices. They would love you to join them to help raise funds for Cancer Councils vital research and support.

DATE: ''''''' Thursday 24th May 2012
TIME: '''''''' 11am
PLACE: ' ' ' Walker Books Level 2, 5 Wilson Street Newtown
RSVP: ' ' ' ' 'marketingwba@walkerbooks.com.au
GOAL: ''''''' $3,000

We also have The Cookbook That Cares available for purchase as part of our fundraising efforts. Full of fantastic recipes donated by staff, family and friends of Walker Books. The book is $15, will turn your culinary world upside-down and all proceeds go to the Cancer Council. These will be available at the morning tea, along with some other exciting surprises in store!

If you can't make it along, you can make a donation online! Go on it's deliciously rewarding! Or if youd would like to buy the cookbook simply email them, and theyll sort it out for you.

Details here.

In Melbourne? Check out this upcoming Melbourne conversation:

Reading is about illuminating our world; whether it's through interpreting faces, touch, hearing or absorbing the world around us. Join in the conversation about the extraordinary stories of how we read the world.
Date: Monday 18 Monday June
Time: 6pm
Venue: BMW Edge, Federation Square
Presented by City of Melbourne as part of the Light in Winter Festival.

Video:

The trailer for Rick Riordans The Serpents Shadow: