Monthly Archives: February 2011

Did you Know?, General, Information

Just Wondering: Is Social Media Destroying Public Interaction?

 

 

 

This gathering I photographed was intended to be a social event to bring hundreds of social media executives together.  Maybe it’s a stretch, but I see irony here — guests seemed to spend more time with their phones than with each other.  This begs the question: Outside of virtual, online sociality, does Social Media make us more or less social in person?

Is Social Media Destroying Public Interaction? — BagNews.

Did you Know?, General

Are books getting too cheap?

 

 

Dirt-cheap [e-] books benefit the very rich – and the very dead. They might also help new authors to find a foothold and win an audience – although, on that logic, newcomers should think about showcasing their work for nothing. Many do. But the almost-free digital novel hammers another nail into the coffin of a long-term literary career. Who cares? Readers should, if they cherish full-time authors who craft not safe genre pieces but distinctive book after distinctive book that build into a unique body of work.

Are books getting too cheap? via MOBYLIVES

Did you Know?

‘Numbers don’t lie’: Addressing the gender gap in literary publishing

 

And it’s not the simple arithmetic that stops the heart. If you start tallying up the substance of women’s published work — whether women are writing 10,000-word feature articles, or whether they are responsible for the shorter filler pieces — it gets even more depressing. Or look at the topics that women are writing about. Frequently you’ll find that the only articles with female bylines are about marriages and sex and divorce and child care.

Vida states, “The truth is, these numbers don’t lie. But that is just the beginning of this story.”

‘Numbers don’t lie’: Addressing the gender gap in literary publishing | Need to Know.