At Reuters, a New Book and a Lost Job
By NOAM COHEN

On Tuesday, Joe Maguire, one of two editors in charge of markets coverage at Reuters, handed his bosses the galleys of his new book, “Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter.” On Wednesday, Mr. Maguire discovered he would have plenty of free time to promote his book, which comes out this week. Neither side in this dispute would say that he was fired.

“There was a difference of opinion about the approval I received to write this book,” Mr. Maguire said. “I thought I had met the conditions, and proceeded accordingly. As a result, I no longer work there.”

Mr. Maguire, who joined Reuters in April, said the book “looks at Ann Coulter’s arguments, and deconstructs them to show how misguided they can be.”

He added: “When the political discourse has dropped to the unfathomable levels it has, someone has to say this is wrong.”

He said he was unable to interview Ms. Coulter for the book, or even get her to return e-mail or phone messages left through her publicist.

Reuters confirmed that Mr. Maguire was granted conditional approval to write his book on Ms. Coulter — a conservative lightning rod, author and TV talking head. When asked what changed once the book was ready, a company statement pointed to Reuters’ principles of “integrity, independence and freedom from bias.” The statement reads: “Our editorial policy and The Reuters Trust Principles are prominently displayed for all to see on www.about.reuters.com. Mr. Maguire’s book will soon be available. Both speak for themselves.”

Mr. Maguire’s publisher, the William Morrow imprint of HarperCollins, said, “It would be very disappointing if Joe Maguire’s dismissal from Reuters had anything to do with him authoring, ‘Brainless,’ ” which it described as a “compelling and witty book.”

A Reuters employee who insisted on anonymity out of concern at angering management said that the 20 or so employees at the markets desk where Mr. Maguire had been one of two editors in charge “took a group coffee break” in solidarity on Thursday.

On Friday, the employee said, there was a meeting with Reuters management informing the workers there that Mr. Maguire would no longer be working there and that they “weren’t allowed to ask why.” Printed copies of the principles of trust were handed out, however. NOAM COHEN, NY Times

Thanks to an anonymous comment on a previous post about BRAINLESS by Joe Maguire, I was easily able to find this article. ~Stacy


At Reuters, a New Book and a Lost Job - New York Times

Web Event with Paulo Coelho

At 3 PM ET on Wednesday, October 11th, Paulo Coelho will be discussing his books and answering readers' questions. To participate in this free event, readers will need to register and login at 3 PM ET on October 11th.

To register for the event, readers should visit:
http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=27697&s=1&k=D0DBA084ADF0D73D3CFA29491E49B1A4&partnerref=BR

Throughout this web event readers can submit questions to Paulo and hear his responses. Participants will need access to a computer, an Internet connection and audio capabilities (built-in or external speakers). The questions will be posed to Paulo by a moderator --- Beliefnet Spirituality Editor Valerie Reiss. While Paulo is talking, participants can view a slide presentation about him and his books and submit questions via the event interface. Upon registration, participants will be sent to a confirmation page, which will have information on system requirements and how to login to the event.

For more details about Paulo Coelho and his work, please visit: http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/1858/Paulo_Coelho/index.aspx and http://www.paulocoelho.com.

Beliefnet's feature on Paulo Coelho can be read at http://www.beliefnet.com/paulocoelho.

Young Adult Book Club Gathers in Unusual Location

A cooperative effort between the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) and the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) supports the biweekly meeting of the Freedom Reads Book Club. This reading group is composed of young adult males, ages 16 & 17, housed at Jail North. Their reasons for being in jail are varied but not relevant to participation. The only requirement is an interest in reading.

Until recently, the group met at 8:30 on Wednesday mornings. Most adults would not voluntarily arise and attend a book club meeting at 8:30 a.m. But these young men did and continue to attend on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. In addition to reading, activities are planned that replicate opportunities available at ImaginOn.

Club members created puppets and produced a puppet show using folk tales such as the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Four members registered for the summer reading program at PLCMC. They maintained a log of their reading that was recorded by MCSO librarian, Margo Fesperman, on the PLCMC website. Several won prizes at the 10, 20 and 30-hour levels.

Like most book clubs, this group reads a book and discusses the plot, characters and appeal during the meeting. Kelly Czarnecki, Teen librarian from ImaginOn, clearly understands the nature of teenage behavior. The library standard of "Casual but not Chaotic" provides an atmosphere that encourages self expression and exploration of ideas. "We want the teens to feel comfortable coming to the public library once they reenter the community", Czarnecki concluded.

Although the club was formed in January 2006, it has reached several milestones already. It was selected as a GreatStories CLUB by the American Library Association and received an award of 10 copies each of 3 popular young adult titles.

GreatStories CLUBs are an ALA project aimed at "Connecting Libraries, Underserved Teens and Books." The group was also featured at the Diversity Fair during the ALA convention in New Orleans in June.

Reading is not limited to the book club members. Approximately 75% of all youthful offenders at Jail North request to come to the library and nonfiction books are as popular as fiction. During a recent month, 73 kids checked out 370 books.

Because these young men are such avid readers, the partnership between PLCMC and MCSO is invaluable. However, extra support is always needed. Neither library has endless resources. MCSO Library has a special fund for monetary donations that are tax deductible. Liquid funds help us procure designated titles that are specifically needed for the young adult collection, Fesperman said. Another avenue of support is the Adopt a Book Club program. Eight to ten copies of a book are needed for each session of the club so everyone can read the book simultaneously. Interested persons or groups can purchase copies of an upcoming title and donate them to the book club.



News Releases

Let's Talk About Blogs

You can't talk about books and the Internet without talking about blogs. Or maybe I shouldn't be; according to Websters New Millenium Dictionary, "blog" is a word, but "blogs" is unrecognizable.

Nevertheless, there are more book blogs than you shake a stick at (although why you'd want to shake a stick at a blog is beyond me.) Something for everyone, or so it seems. I got an email last night about a new one - Detectives Beyond Borders: A Forum for International Crime Fiction "Because Murder is More Fun Away From Home" written by a copy editor from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Hey, I wonder if he knows John Grogan, a columnist at the Inquirer who was a former columnist for the south Florida Sun-Sentinel, and is the author of the mega-bestseller Marley & Me, and a really nice guy. If he is, he hasn't said so he's not cashing in on that at any rate. But how can you not be intrigued by a blog with a subtitle like that!

Crime fiction has spawned all manner of blogs. Some of the best are:

Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
Sarah Weinman, crime fiction columnist for The Baltimore Sun, blogs for mystery and suspense lovers.

Crime Fiction Dossier
Commentary on the world of crime fiction, including mystery and thriller novels, authors, reviews and publishing. From David J. Montgomery, a writer and critic specializing in crime fiction - who I believe has a first novel in the works.

Crime Lab Project Forum
A place to talk about the Crime Lab Project, forensic science,
and news from the CLP News/CLP Morgue.
The CLP Forum is moderated by Jan Burke on behalf of the Crime Lab Project , a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the needs of public forensic science agencies.

First Offenders
Four mystery authors share their journey: Karen E Olson, Jeff Shelby, Alison Gaylin, & Lori G. Armstrong.

Girl-Detective: Baby Got Crime...
The Girl Detective is Diana Killian, mystery writer and fan of vintage crime films and books. She'll be cracking wise on movies, books, writing and publishing--and whatever else catches her magnifying glass.

It's a Crime (or a mystery...)
UK based reader of crime fiction brings you the best of crime and mystery fiction.

The Lady Killers
Rhys Bowen, Lyn Hamilton, Meg Chittenden, Mary Anna Evans, Cara Black: Five female writers of mystery fiction share their wit and wisdom, writing tips and travel
experiences.

The Lipstick Chronicles
Where the book tarts - Harly Jane Kozak, Nancy Martin, Susan McBride, Sarah Strohmeyer & Elaine Viets - talk love, laughter, laundry and the mysteries of the writing life.

The Little Blog of Murder
Confessions of six Ohio mystery writers: Don Bruns, Judy Clemens, Casey Daniels, Jeffrey Marks, Sharon Short, Heather Webber, with an occasional guest blogger.

Murderati
7 mystery writers dedicated to Mysteries, Murder and Marketing: Pari Noskin Taichert, Denise Dietz, Naomi Hirahara, Simon Wood, JT Ellison, Elaine Flinn & Jeffrey Cohen.

Paperback Mysteries
Reviews of new paperbacks by Dick Adler, who writes the crime fiction column in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday.

Rap Sheet
Information about new and forthcoming books, special author projects, genre innovations, and distinctive crime-fiction-related Web sites.

And no list of book blogs would be complete without mentioning these gals --

BookSlut
Do you really need an explanation? Suffice it to say: for the literati.

Buzz Girl
A publishing insider gets the skinny on tomorrow's bestsellers.

Finish reading all those then come back for more. I'm just getting warmed up. I haven't even touched on author blogs...

What's Cookin?

I love cookbooks. For years I collected them, but it got completely out of control when I started working for Borders. Take a walk through the remainder tables at your local bookstore - they are any cookbook junkie's demise.

I bought tons to add to my collection but very quickly ran out of places to put them. They were everywhere: the kitchen, on top of and buried in cabinets; in the living room wall unit; in the piano bench; and I'm embarrassed to say, on a shelf in the laundry room. But when I needed one, I would have to turn the house upside down to find it. And no, the rest of my books are no different. I am coming out, here on my blog: I am an unorganized bibliophile, causing me to have duplicates and sometimes triplicates of the same title and still not being able to grab hold of the book I need when the author comes to town or a friend wants to borrow it or when I want to reread it or refer to it. So sad.

But I digress; back to cookbooks. I've tempered my collecting. For a while, I just collected cookbooks that were put out as fundraisers, you know, Junior League, Cerebal Palsy, B'Nai Brith, your local high school drama club. Which reminds me, my daughter's high school drama club is putting out a cookbook - if you're interested, they will be available in November in time for gift giving. I contributed a recipe for Hot Clam Dip because it is one of her favorites. Just drop me an email if you're interested.

Soon that collection also got out of hand so I just stopped. I have become a discriminating cookbook acquirer, only bringing home those cookbooks that I feel merit the precious shelf space they will take up. They must have recipes I will use - not just one or two, which is what I find with most cookbooks, but lots of recipes I like and want to try. That doesn't mean they have to be big cookbooks, but they have to shelf-worthy.

So what makes a cookbook shelf-worthy? Besides lots of usable recipes, I like pictures, lots of pictures. Tempting pictures. Pictures that let me know that what I just made looks the way it's supposed to. I want a good index. Don't send me scrambling from letter to letter to find a recipe with chicken and wine. I like well thought out directions - don't assume I know every culinary term used at the Cordon Bleu, because I don't. Recipes should use ingredients that I can buy without making too many trips to specialty stores.

That's about it. I can handle days of prep work, hours of chopping, kneading, marinating, what have you. I just wait to make those kinds of recipes until I have a day off. But most of the recipes should be doable in an hour or so. I can't come home from work and start three hours of prep time, I just can't.

That said, a couple of new cookbooks have come out this fall that seem like they will be making the grade. I just got the Bon Appetit Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild. It's a big honker, over 1200 recipes and almost 800 pages. Bon Appetit is my favorite food magazine and I've collected any number of their recipes over the years. Not always easy, but almost always wonderful and that means a lot, especially when you have to work for it. Is there anything more discouraging than slaving over a hot stove for hours and hours to end up with a mediocre dish?

This new cookbook says right on the cover, "easy-to-make recipes" and I will be checking them out. Give me a few weeks, and I'll fill you in.

The other new cookbook that has me excited is Baking by Dorie Greenspan. I haven't gotten that one yet, but I hope to soon. I did take a peek at it - there is an entire chapter devoted to brownies! And I like her style, the recipes are written in plain English with substitutions mentioned right off the bat. And serving tips are also nice, and there are lots of them in this cookbook.

Then there is the Tasting Club: Gathering Together to Share and Savor Your Favorite Tastes by Dina Cheney which is a different kind of cookbook that sounds very intriguing. It offers ten different tastings (parties) all focusing on a particular food along with wine pairings. I will be checking this out for sure.

Happy eating!

Giller Prize short list announced Tue Oct 3, 1:51 PM ET

Five Canadian fiction writers have made the short list for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the country's richest and glitziest literary award, organizers announced Tuesday.

Since its inception, the Giller has become Canada's most talked-about literary honor, with an awards dinner attracting a mix of politicians, musicians, actors and authors. Past winners have included Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Mordechai Richler.

This year's list is made up of lesser known writers.

Rawi Hage was recognized for his debut novel, "De Niro's Game," which tells the story of two friends coping with the civil war in Beirut, Lebanon. Toronto doctor Vincent Lam got a nod for his collection of short stories, "Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures," about a group of young physicians.

Pascale Quiviger is in the running for "The Perfect Circle," about a woman who pursues a mysterious older man. The book, written in French, was translated into English. Gaetan Soucyvwas short listed for "The Immaculate Conception," a novel set in a working-class Montreal neighborhood in the 1920s. Carol Windley is in the running for her collection of short stories called "Home Schooling."

The winner, to be announced at a gala awards ceremony on Nov. 7, will receive $35,000.

The prize was created in 1994 by businessman Jack Rabinovitch to honor his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller


Giller Prize short list announced - Yahoo! News

Redefining Irony

Timing is everything and you just have got to love this -- challenging a book about challenging books during Banned Books Week is just too much.

Parent criticizes book 'Fahrenheit 451'
By: Kassia Micek , Courier staff

A Caney Creek High School dad is fired up because the Conroe Independent School District uses the book "Fahrenheit 451" as classroom reading material.

Alton Verm, of Conroe, objects to the language and content in the book. His 15-year-old daughter Diana, a CCHS sophomore, came to him Sept. 21 with her reservations about reading the book because of its language.

"The book had a bunch of very bad language in it," Diana Verm said. "It shouldn't be in there because it's offending people. ... If they can't find a book that uses clean words, they shouldn't have a book at all."

Alton Verm filed a "Request for Reconsideration of Instructional Materials" Thursday with the district regarding "Fahrenheit 451," written by Ray Bradbury and published in 1953. He wants the district to remove the book from the curriculum.

"It's just all kinds of filth," said Alton Verm, adding that he had not read "Fahrenheit 451." "The words don't need to be brought out in class. I want to get the book taken out of the class."

He looked through the book and found the following things wrong with the book: discussion of being drunk, smoking cigarettes, violence, "dirty talk," references to the Bible and using God's name in vain. He said the book's material goes against their religions beliefs. The Verms go to Grand Parkway Church in Porter.

"We went them to go after God," said Glen Jalowy Jr., Grand Parkway Church youth minister. "We encourage them that what you put in your mind and heart is what comes out."
Alton Verm said he doesn't understand how the district can punish students for using bad language, yet require them to read a book with bad language as part of a class.
Diana Verm and another classmate decided to read an alternative book. They leave the classroom when the class reads or discusses "Fahrenheit 451," she said. The two students were given "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn because it shares common themes with "Fahrenheit 451," said Chris Hines, CISD assistant superintendent for secondary education.

"Fahrenheit 451" is a science fiction piece that poses a warning to society about the preservation and passing on of knowledge as well as asks the question about whether the government should do the thinking for the people, Hines stated in an e-mail to The Courier. Other themes include conformity vs. individuality, freedom of speech and the consequences of losing it, the importance of remembering and understanding history and technology as help to humans and as hindrances to humans, Hines stated in the e-mail.

"They're not reading books just to read them," Hines said in a telephone interview. "They're reading it for a purpose. ... We respect people's rights to express their concerns and we have a policy in place to handle that."

A selection process is used for materials other than textbooks, according to district policy. The materials must meet various standards, be appropriate for the subject, age and social and emotional development of the students and motivate students to examine their own attitudes and behavior, according to district policy.

While the district does not know of any other challenges to "Fahrenheit 451," there may have been students who have decided to read a different book. The district estimates about 1 percent of students request to read a different book than assigned, according to the e-mail. "Fahrenheit 451" has been used in CISD curriculum for at least 19 years and "likely prior to that," Hines said in the e-mail.

The district hasn't received challenges on any other books in the four years he's been with the district, Hines said.

A district student, employee or resident can challenge any educational material in CISD on the basis or appropriateness, according to CISD EFA (local) policy. An informal reconsideration is first attempted. Informal requests are not documented, so Hines said he did not know how many requests were handled informally.

The person can make a formal challenge, which Alton Verm did. A committee will be appointed to review the material, discuss the material and report findings about the request to the principal, parent and superintendent, Hines said. The process takes about two weeks.
The Montgomery, New Caney, Splendora and Willis school districts have similar policies.
NCISD banned "Draw Me a Star" by Eric Carle and "Absolute Power" by David Baldacci, but it has not received a book challenge in three years, Cindee Reynolds, NCISD superintendent/community relations executive assistant, stated in an e-mail to The Courier. Montgomery ISD received one request from a parent to review instructional material, but the district has not banned any books, Babette Eikenberg, Montgomery ISD human resources executive director, stated in an e-mail to The Courier.

Alton Verm's request to ban "Fahrenheit 451" came during the 25th annual Banned Books Week. He and Hines said the request to ban "Fahrenheit 451," a book about book burning, during Banned Books Weeks is a coincidence.

"Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read" is observed during the last week of September each year, according to the American Library Association Web site, www.ala.org. The week celebrates the freedom to choose or express one's opinion, even if it might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them, according to the Web site.

Jerilynn Williams, Montgomery County Memorial Library System director, said Banned Books Week keeps the public aware that it is imperative to have access to information in a democratic society. Banning books causes libraries to limit access to information by withholding a person's right to explore a wide variety of opinions to form their own opinions, Williams said.

"Not every book is appropriate for every person, but every person should have their work that they choose," Williams said. "The public library is for everyone."
The Montgomery County Memorial Library System has received 65 requests to challenge books since 2002, Williams said. The library has removed "Castro," for factual inaccuracies, and "Tomorrow Wendy," because it was not under the library's current guidelines, Williams said. The library also has a process for people to follow if they challenge a book, Williams said.

However, Williams said a public library is different than a school library.
"As a public library, we are the library for everyone," Williams said. "The school library is meant to be the library for that select group at that school."
To view a school district's policy on book selection or how to challenge a book, visit the individual district's Web site.
Kassia Micek can be reached at kmicek@hcnonline.com.


Houston Community Newspapers Online - Parent criticizes book 'Fahrenheit 451'

BOUCHERCON
The world mystery convention is meeting this weekend and the awards have been announced -- congratulations to all the nominees and award recipients!

9/30/06

The Anthony Awards were presented at a special ceremony this afternoon:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert B. Parker (not in attendance)

Best Mystery Novel: Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger (Atria)

Best First Mystery: Tilt-a-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein (Carroll & Graf)

Best Paperback Original: The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Plume)

Best Short Story: "Misdirection" by Barbara Seranella (Greatest Hits, Carroll & Graf)

Best Critical/Nonfiction: The Heirs of Anthony Boucher by Marv Lachman (Poisoned Pen Press)

Best Fan Publication: Crimespree Magazine, edited by Jon and Ruth Jordan

Special Service to the Field: Janet Rudolph, for Mystery Readers International

9/29/06

The Shamus Awards were presented tonight by the Private Eye Writers Association:

The Eye - Award for Lifetime Achievement: Max Allan Collins

Best Hardcover: The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

Best Paperback Original: The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Plume)

Best First Novel: Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure (Mysterious Press)

9/28/06

Earlier this evening the following awards were presented:

The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association presented the Dilys Award for the book IMBA members most enjoyed selling in 2005 to Colin Cotterill for Thirty-Three Teeth. This award had been announced at Left Coast Crime in March, but Cotterill had not been present.

The Macavity Awards, voted on by the members of Mystery Readers International:

Best Novel: The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

Best First Novel: Immoral by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's)

Best Nonfiction: Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak (Harcourt)

Best Short Story: "There Is No Crime on Easter Island" by Nancy Pickard (EQMM, Sept-Oct 2005)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award: Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (Henry Holt)


The Barry Awards, voted on by the readers of Deadly Pleasures:

Best Novel: Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook (Harcourt)

Best First Novel Published In The U.S. in 2005: Cold Granite by Stuart Macbride (St. Martin's)

Best British Novel Published In The U.K. in 2005: The Field of Blood by Denise Mina (Bantam Press)

Best Thriller: Company Man by Joseph Finder (St. Martin's)

Best Paperback Novel: The James Deans by Reed Farrell Coleman (Plume)

Best Short Story: "There is No Crime on Easter Island" by Nancy Pickard (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2005)

Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom: Janet A. Rudolph (voted on by previous recipients)

The American Crime Writers League announced that Dick Adler is the recipient of this year's Ellen Nehr Award for mystery reviewing. Adler reviews for the Chicago Tribune.

Thanks to Black Raven Press for posting all the awards so fast.

Sony to launch web bookstore, e-book device
27 September 2006

Sony said today it will launch an electronic book store on the internet and start selling a device that displays e-books purchased from the store on October 1, after missing an earlier unveiling earlier this year due to technical reasons.

The Sony Connect book store will carry about 10,000 books from the top six publishers, including HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster.

The launch of the store coincides with the official debut of its highly anticipated electronics book reader, which reviewers have said mimic the quality of regular paper.

The Sony Reader Portable Reader system will sell for about $US350 ($NZ533). For a limited period, new Connect customers will receive a $US50 ($NZ76) credit to buy books from the service.

Electronic books cost on average about 25 percent less than the cover price of physical books, a spokesman said.

Sony's latest generation reader, announced in North America at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, garnered attention for the electronic ink technology it employs made by E Ink of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It uses new technology that allows digital text and graphics to be displayed without power-hungry back-lit screens.

Much like regular paper, the Sony Reader screen is not back-lit and requires a light source in the room to view the page.

The sales of the device and launch of the book store was delayed to work out kinks in the integration of the device, service and computer software required to connect the two, Sony vice president of marketing Ron Hawkins said in an interview.

"There's a lot of moving parts to make it work well," Hawkins said. "In the spring, we decided we needed to take more time."

The device and service will also let users download from the Really Simple Syndication or RSS Feeds of popular blogs, including Salon, Slate, Huffington Post, engadget and Gizmodo to read on the device. But it will only downloads from approved feeds, restricting users from freely downloading from any RSS feed.

"We'll be expanding and improving it beyond that," he added.

Newspapers and other periodicals will not be offered at first, although Hawkins did not rule out such features down the line.

"We're taking a serious look at it," he said. "But we're focusing on books and personal content at launch."

Sony to launch web bookstore, e-book device - New Zealand's source for technology news on Stuff.co.nz

Update on BRAINLESS

A website that features video of Ann Coulter getting pied and other goodies.

www.anncoulterisbrainless.com

KILLER YEAR - THE CLASS OF 2007 LAUNCHES
Designed To Promote Debut Suspense Novelists

Every best-selling author began as a debut novelist. But making the step from promising beginner to proven success can be tricky, which is why four online friends, Brett Battles, JT Ellison, Jason Pinter and Sandra Ruttan decided to start Killer Year.

Founded in May 2006, Killer Year is a now a collective of suspense novelists who have banded together, sharing promotion and marketing for their debut novels. "Fiction is a crowded market," said founding member J.T. Ellison. "By working together, we hope to reach a larger audience than we could alone."

"We wanted to find a way to have equitable attention paid to all types of publication formats, from mass-market paperbacks to hardcovers,"
said Brett Battles, a co-founder. "One voice to promote 14 authors seemed to be our best bet to sell our books."

Spurred by a mention on Sarah Weinman's award winning blog, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, the four put up a website and blog, and Killer Year was born. The ranks quickly filled with excellent authors who, like the founders, are debuting in the fiction genre in 2007. All the books will be released from major New York publishing houses and first class small publishers, and will be commercially available in all retail outlets.

International Thriller Writers (ITW), the first professional organization for thriller writers, is lending a hand to the 14 novelists. The idea resonated with M.J. Rose, who heads up ITW's marketing committee. "One of our mandates is to build a community of writers who can help each other. Another is to get serious attention for our authors and make them stand out from the crowd. Not just established authors, but debut authors as well. This program fits both those goals."

One ITW member will mentor each Killer Year member, providing individual advice, blurbs and a short review of their book they can use in promotional material. They will also introduce Killer Year at a special breakfast during ThrillerFest 2007, the premier event for the thriller writing community. After 2007, Killer Year will remain an ongoing program, with ITW welcoming a new class of debut novelists.

"Only in the suspense genre can something this exciting, this cutting edge happen," founder Sandra Ruttan said. "We work as a team," added Jason Pinter. "We're here to support each other and make sure all of our members succeed in their first year as published authors."

Killer Year is an elite group of 14 debut suspense novelists working to create an interactive community with potential readers, buyers, reviewers and publishing professionals. The Killer Year founders are Jason Pinter (THE MARK, Mira), Brett Battles (THE CLEANER, Bantam Dell), J.T. Ellison (ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS, Mira) and Sandra Ruttan (SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, Tico).

Members include Robert Gregory Browne (KISS HER GOODBYE, St. Martin's), Bill Cameron (LOST DOG, Midnight Ink), Toni McGee Causey (BOBBIE FAYE'S VERY (very, very, very) BAD DAY, St. Martin's), Sean Chercover (BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD, William Morrow), Patry Francis (THE LIAR'S DIARY, Dutton), Marc Lecard (VINNIE'S HEAD, St. Martin's Minotaur), Derek Nikitas (PYRES, St. Martin's Minotaur), Gregg Olsen (A WICKED SNOW, Kensington), Marcus Sakey (THE BLADE ITSELF, St. Martin's Minotaur) and Dave White (WHEN ONE MAN DIES, Three Rivers Press).

Visit the KillerYear website for more information on these fine authors.
WWW.KILLERYEAR.COM.

Update on National Book Fest

Be sure to check out the author podcast at www.loc.gov/bookfest/podcasts.html with John Hope Franklin, Poet Laureate Donald Hall, Khaled Hosseini, Marcus Samuelsson, Lisa Scottoline and Judith Viorst

Brainless

Everyday I come home from work and there is a neat pile of packages on my front door step, the ones delivered by UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Crammed into my new mailbox (the last one finally exploded) are usually one or two more. Not sure why my mail delivery person insists on forcing these packages into the mailbox but my personal feeling is that she's too damn lazy to get out of her cute little mail truck and walk fifteen feet or so to my door. But I digress...

I get lots of books, and I don't read most of them. I read a lot, but even I can't read 25+ books a week. Nor would I want to, much less review them. Lately Penguin has taken to sending me a box of reissued classics every week along with little notes asking me to review them. I'm sorry, but even as opinionated as I am, I am not presumptuous enough to review Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels or The Bible.

But a book arrived yesterday that I would consider reading and even reviewing, except I'm not sure I have enough Ruby Red Absolut to get me through it. So we'll see. The name of this unsolicited book that caught my eye is

Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter by Joe Maguire

William Morrow is the publisher and frankly, just reading the pitch that came along with it - did I mention that every book that arrives has at least a one page typewritten letter full of exclamation points stressing its vital importance to the reading community, nay, to the world at large, if only I would read it? Another digression, sorry. Anyway, the pitch was full of so much of the Coulter vitriol that it made my head spin. So I'm afraid to read more from the "Mistress of Malice". The letter included her thoughts on Jimmy Carter; "vengeful, sneaky and backstabbing." I worked for his campaign before I was old enough to vote and that is just wrong. Other thoughts include the fact that Intelligent Design is real science while evolution is "make believe".

But this is my favorite: women's liberation has led to "exhibitionism, promiscuity, sex toys, and adultery." Ummm, it's also led to Ann Coulter. It's given her the right to stay single and sexually active while proclaiming herself a good Christian, and even more importantly, it's given her the right to spew her vitriol, circle her wagons and stir up as much hatred as she possibly can. She's got a platform to speak from that is not in her kitchen, where she would be without women's liberation and all those women who fought for her right to publish snarky, malicious books full of "lies and lunacy".

So yeah, I want to read more. But I'm afraid to. I'm really not advocating drinking, but I am an adult and I know that numbing myself with alcohol may make it possible for me to read more than a page or two and not rip them from the book and burn the rest in effigy. Of course, if there is any book burning to be done I should probably start with the Ann Coulter collection, but I don't advocate that either. Just not buying them is enough for me.

But buy Brainless, if only for the jokes, including this tasteless one from David Letterman that made me laugh out loud:

"Here's what we know about Ann Coulter: She's blond, she's single. Maybe someone will set her up with O.J."

On sale date is October 10. Oh, and the book includes pages and pages of source notes.

2006 National Book Festival

Library of Congress Announces Award-Winning Authors Participate In Sixth Annual National Book Festival Celebrating the Joys of Reading and Lifelong Literacy

Library of Congress and Laura Bush Invite Book Lovers of All Ages to the National Mall on Saturday, Sept. 30

The 2006 National Book Festival, organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by Mrs. Laura Bush, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 14th streets (rain or shine). The festival is free and open to the public.

“Each year, tens of thousands book lovers attend this national event to meet their favorite authors and celebrate lifelong literacy, which we are also highlighting in a partnership with the Ad Council” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “Now in its sixth year, the National Book Festival presents a wonderful opportunity to see firsthand how reading changes lives and how our country, its citizens and its libraries promote reading in imaginative and inspiring ways."

“The National Book Festival is a great way for families and friends to share in the joys of reading and discover the works of some of America’s most-loved authors,” Mrs. Bush said. “Readers of all ages can listen to and meet their favorite writers and enjoy a day on the National Mall.”

At the 2006 National Book Festival, more than 70 well-known authors, illustrators and poets will discuss their work in various pavilions, including “Children,” “Teens & Children,” “Fiction & Fantasy,” “Mysteries & Thrillers,” “History & Biography,” “Home & Family” and “Poetry.” Festival goers can have books signed by their favorite authors, and children can meet ever-popular storybook and television characters, such as Arthur The Aardvark, Maya and Clifford the Big Red Dog, who will appear on the festival grounds throughout the day.

Participating authors include best-selling novelists Khaled Hosseini, author of the “Kite Runner” and Geraldine Brooks, winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for her book “March”; novelist and essayist Joan Didion; historians John Hope Franklin and Doris Kearns Goodwin; biographer Taylor Branch (“Martin Luther King”); Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, winners of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for their biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer; authors of books for children and teens, including Andrew Clements, Stephenie Meyer, Richard Peck, and Louis Sachar; award-winning illustrators Bryan Collier, Betsy Lewin and Mark Teague; Donald Hall, the recently named 14th Poet Laureate of the United States; and poet Dana Gioia, the director the National Endowment for the Arts; best-selling mystery and thriller authors, including Michael Connelly, Lisa Scottoline, Kathy Reichs and Alexander McCall Smith; science fiction award-winner Spider Robinson; and Elmer Kelton, author of more than 40 novels and voted “the best Western author of all time” by the Western Writers of America.

Popular personalities in the “Home & Family” pavilion include television celebrity chefs and authors G. Garvin and Marcus Samuelsson; CNBC economics and investments commentator Jim Cramer and popular linguistics expert Deborah Tannen, whose new best-seller is titled “You’re Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation.”

Beyond meeting their favorite authors, festival visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the reading programs and resources in libraries across the country. The “Pavilion of the States” will highlight the book, reading, literacy and library promotion activities of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and several American trusts and territories. Representatives from every state and territory will welcome families and children interested in that state's writers and reading programs. In addition, the “Let’s Read America” pavilion will feature reading promotion activities developed by select festival sponsors.

The Library of Congress Pavilion will feature a variety of interactive family-centered activities about the importance of lifelong literacy, cultural preservation, and preserving digital culture. Computers will be available for children and adults to explore the Library’s acclaimed Web site at www.loc.gov. The Library’s myriad online resources contain examples of American creativity in all forms such as music, poetry, films, photographs, maps, and sound recordings. The Library’s new National Audiovisual Conservation Center will introduce the latest technologies in film and audio preservation. The Veterans History Project will also feature a teacher and her students who use VHP material in the classroom. Two students will interview Ezra Hill, a Tuskegee Airman. VHP historian Tom Weiner will interview Darlene Iskra, the first woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy and serve during the Persian Gulf War.

In the “Teens and Children” pavilion, the national student winners of the Letters About Literature contest will read their personal letters to authors who inspired them. Sponsored by the Library’s Center for the Book with support from distinguished benefactor Target, Letters About Literature invites young readers in grades 4-12 to write personal letters to authors, past or present, who have changed their views of the world or of themselves. Each year, winners are selected at the state and national levels. As the project’s corporate sponsor, Target awards the six national winners and their parents with a trip to the National Book Festival in Washington, to share their winning letters with a national audience.

“It is inspiring to see the number of young people whose lives have been positively affected by a particular author or book,” said Laysha Ward, vice president, community relations, Target. “Through its comprehensive support of early childhood reading, including the Letters About Literature program and the National Book Festival, Target is able to helping to instill a love of reading in kids as the foundation for reading early in life and further the goals of lifelong learning literacy.”

In addition to planning a range of activities for this year’s festival on the National Mall, the Library is offering a variety of ways for people around the country to participate in the event online. New this year will be downloadable podcasts of interviews with popular participating authors. The Library will also present same-day webcasts of selected authors’ presentations from the “Teens & Children,” “Mysteries & Thrillers” and “Fiction & Fantasy” pavilions. Both the webcasts and the podcasts will be available on the Library’s Web site at www.loc.gov/bookfest.

During the week leading up to the festival, washingtonpost.com will host a series of online chats with authors appearing at the National Book Festival. These text-based discussions can be viewed daily, starting on Monday, Sept. 25, on the site at www.washingtonpost.com. The schedule of chats and authors’ names will be posted on the site and the Library’s site at www.loc.gov/bookfest. Participants can submit questions in advance or during the live discussion. Authors’ responses will post while the program is airing or at a later date on washingtonpost.com’s online discussion archive.

In addition to live webcasts, the Library will again collaborate with Book TV on C-SPAN2 to televise the National Book Festival “History & Biography” pavilion events live on Sept. 30. The C-SPAN2 Book TV Bus, a mobile Book TV studio with a multimedia demonstration center for the public, will also be on the National Mall. Festival coverage will be streamed live on C-SPAN’s website www.booktv.org.

The artist for this year’s festival is award-winning Russian illustrator Gennady Spirin, whose lush contemporary technique brings a rich, imaginative depiction to the 2006 National Book Festival poster. Spirin combines a modern aesthetic with the great traditions of the Renaissance. He has illustrated 30 storybooks for children and has won four gold medals from the Society of Illustrators. Four of his books, including “The Sea King’s Daughter” (1997), were named the best illustrated book of the year by The New York Times. Posters featuring the illustration painting will be available free of charge at the festival.

The 2006 National Book Festival is made possible with generous support from Distinguished Benefactor Target; Charter Sponsors AT&T, The Amend Group and The Washington Post; Patrons AARP, the James Madison Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; and a myriad of contributors. The Junior League of Washington will again contribute hundreds of volunteers to help with the National Book Festival.

A preliminary list of participating authors, illustrators and poets follows. For more information about them and the festival, visit www.loc.gov/bookfest.

Publishers say few hits on blog books
By Lauren Beckham Falcone/ Books
Saturday, September 23, 2006

Not so long ago, having a popular blog was the ultimate “in” to get yourself a book deal.

Now? Not so much.

Bloggers, buoyed by site meter numbers and Internet buzz, were the darling of the publishing world about two years ago. But when books hit the shelves, sales fizzled, and now it takes a lot more than a laptop and a blogspot account to make it onto Amazon’s top 100.

“They haven’t performed as well as publishers hoped,” said Boston-based literary agent Jill Kneerim. “It is still a phenomenon that people are hopeful about, but in many cases, people who are fans of the blog have already read the content. So what’s the point in buying the book?”

Stephanie Klein, whose blog “Greek Tragedy” at www.stephanieklein.com netted her a six-figure, two-book deal, released “Straight Up and Dirty” this past spring. It wasn’t the grand slam publishers expected. One agent told The Book Standard, “Paying $500,000-plus for that Greek Tragedy blogger was pretty dumb.”

Other hyped blogger books such as “Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq” (riverbendblog.blogspot .com), “Anonymous Lawyer” by Jeremy Blachman (anonymous lawyer.blogspot.com) and “I’m Not the New Me: A Memoir” by Wendy McClure (poundy.com) weren’t anything to, well, blog about.

“A book has to be bigger and last longer than a blog,” Kneerim said. “It has to be more than gossiping or talking about yourself.”

Sara Nelson, editor in chief of Publishers Weekly, agreed.

“(Former Wonkette blogger) Ana Maria Cox’s book didn’t do as well as expected,” she said.

Adams Media publisher Gary Krebs has published bloggers, most recently Erin Shea’s “Tales from the Scale: Women Weigh In on Thunder Thighs, Cheese Fries, and Feeling Good at Any Size,” based on www.ejshea.com/buddha.

“It’s done quite well,” he said. “But I think that (publishing bloggers) is something you have to scrutinize very carefully. If a blog gets the attention of the public, then we are at the point knowing that we really have to look at it and determine if there’s something beyond it. Having a popular blog isn’t enough to get a book deal anymore.”

Tucker Max, the rare successful blogger turned author of “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” (tucker max.com), is a bit more, um, direct.

“These bloggers aren’t good writers and they really don’t get a lot of traffic if you really look at the numbers,” he said. “They had a blog, people liked reading the blog, then they wrote stuff people don’t want to read. Who cares what Jessica Cutler’s novel is about? People liked reading she had sex with senators who paid her (money).”


BostonHerald.com - the Edge: Publishers say few hits on blog books