Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: authors

authors stories: 11 news summaries

Google Offers Revised
Digital Book Deal

Narrower settlement aimed at overcoming Justice Dept. objections

Nov 14, 09 6:04 AM CST
(AP) - Google offered a compromise deal with authors and publishers late yesterday, in an effort to overcome Justice Department objections to an earlier agreement and clear the way for distribution of millions of digital books online. Two months ago Justice had blocked a settlement in a lawsuit brought by authors and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • Department of Justice • authors • books • digital books • publishers

opinion

 Modern Novels' Shift: 
 We Can Understand Them  

Literary writers are re-embracing idea of a good plot

Aug 29, 09 10:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - The 21st-century novel is being reacquainted with an old friend: the plot. Today's best writers are abandoning the notion that literary novels need to be all but impenetrable to readers without advanced degrees, writes Lev Grossman in the Wall Street Journal. "The revolution is under way," he says.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
literature • novelist • novel • authors • books

 Weird Facts About 
 Best-Selling Authors 

Dan Brown, pop musician? And more.

Jun 24, 09 5:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Summer's here, and that means it's time for beach reading. Mental Floss compiles some surprising facts about the authors most commonly toted along to the shore:
  1. Dan Brown hasn’t spent his whole life pondering Vatican conspiracies: he was also a musician and pop singer. The name of his
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
beach • literature • summer • author • book • John Grisham • Dan Brown • Nicholas Sparks • Danielle Steel • authors • Nora Roberts

Antitrust Concerns Prompt Google Books Probe

Deal gives Google exclusive chance to profit from texts, say critics

Apr 29, 09 9:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - Federal lawyers are looking into whether a Google Book Search agreement with authors and publishers may violate antitrust laws, the New York Times reports. The settlement of a 2005 suit allows Google to put millions of scanned books online, charge viewers to read them, and share revenues with both groups.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • Department of Justice • antitrust • Google Book Search • publishing industry • authors

glossies

 LBJ Biographer 
 Aims for Eternity 

Tireless writer published average of one book every ten years

Feb 8, 09 6:56 PM CST
(Newser) - Lyndon Johnson's biographer takes his work seriously—so much so, he didn't cover LBJ's presidency for 30 years, Newsweek reports. Rising from the tabloid world in the 1960s, Robert Caro first wrote a painstaking biography of New York mogul Robert Moses. Next came a volume on LBJ's youth; Caro even... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Newsweek • Lyndon Johnson • Pulitzer Prize • biography • nonfiction books • writers • authors

Twilight Author 'Can't Write Worth a Darn': King

Horror maven gets vampire books' appeal

Feb 4, 09 8:45 AM CST
(Newser) - Sorry, Stephenie Meyer, but Stephen King isn't among your millions of fans. The wildly successful horror author compared the wildly successful vampire author's Twilight series with JK Rowling's Harry Potter books in a recent USA Weekend interview: "The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Stephen King • book • publishing industry • authors • Twilight • Stephenie Meyer

OPINION

Need a Blurb?
Meet the Usual Suspects

New writers' book jackets reveal the top 10 lazy comparisons

Jan 7, 09 5:43 PM CST
(Newser) - Blurbs for hot new writers' books unfailingly liken them to a handful of known quantities, Chris Rovzar observes in New York. Here are some of the most-abused blurb comparisons:
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald or Edith Wharton. Writing about crumbling, decadent high society? "If you're a boy, you're Scott; if
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hunter S. Thompson • Jack Kerouac • writer • book • Edith Wharton • Candace Bushnell • David Sedaris • Chuck Klosterman • authors • F. Scott Fitzgerald

opinion

Need a Job? Write a Book About Lincoln

Honest Abe titles
keep coming despite economic bust

Dec 7, 08 7:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Looking for a recession-proof job? Write a book about Abraham Lincoln, Joe Queenan advises in the Los Angeles Times. There are some 15,000 books about Lincoln already, and 50 more coming out next year. “As the very title Lincoln at Peoria suggests, there is literally no Lincoln-related subject... More »

MORE ABOUT:
biography • Abraham Lincoln • authors

 Widow Opens 
 Up About 
 'Ratty' Dahl 

On eve of Roald Dahl Funny Prize, Felicity Dahl grants an exclusive interview

Nov 9, 08 6:14 PM CST
(Newser) - Tears reach Felicity Dahl's eyes as she walks to the work hut of her famous ex-husband, Roald. She's not alone, either: Director Tim Burton burst out crying when he saw it. "People have strong reactions to this house," said the widow of the acerbic scribe who... More »

MORE ABOUT:
England • book • children's books • Roald Dahl • authors

Google Settles Lawsuit Over Book Scanning for $125M

Settlement will make it easier to access out-of-print books

Oct 28, 08 2:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - Google has settled a lawsuit concerning intellectual property rights in its book-scanning initiative, Wired reports. Google will pay $125 million to authors who claimed their work was put online without their consent. The settlement also establishes a system where many out-of-print, but still copyrighted, books will be available to buy... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Google • copyright law • copyright • book • book scanning • authors • Authors Guild • Association of American Publishers

 Can't Talk to Girls? 
 9-Year-Old Has Advice 

Soon-to-be-published Greven offers helpful hints on handling the opposite sex

Oct 15, 08 7:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - A 9-year-old Colorado boy garnered national attention—and a two-book publishing deal—after penning answers to that age-old mystery: how to talk to girls. Alec Greven offers some helpful hints on the opposite sex via the Christian Science Monitor.
  • Forget the “pretty girl”—one who favors fancy
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
girls • elementary school • book • self help • boy • authors

11 Stories


from our news partners