Amazon Launches Kindle First Program, Ten November Must-Read Books, and More

by
Evan Smith Rakoff
11.1.13

Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today’s stories:

Amazon has launched Kindle First. The program allows readers of Kindle books access to certain titles a month ahead of official release dates. (GalleyCat)

Meanwhile, Amazon intends to build an enormous facility in India. The 1.6 million-square-foot structure will be used for software development and support staff, increasing its workforce by an estimated five thousand people. (Business Standard)

A California Barnes & Noble bookstore scheduled to close in January will remain open with a month-to-month lease. (Shelf Awareness)

With the start of November, Jason Diamond rounds up ten must-read books out this month, including Laura van den Berg’s The Isle of Youth, and Hill William by Scott McClanahan. (Flavorwire)

November also marks the advent of another National Novel Writing Month. Salt Publishing’s crime editor Linda Bennett offers an author challenge for NaNoWriMo.

The Motley Fool considers the current evolution of the book industry: “Publishers that focus on niche categories and have already made their foray into digital publishing will be least affected by the sea of digital-led changes in the industry.”

At the Center for Fiction, Esmeralda Santiago reveals the book that fueled her desire to read and write.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tony Kushner offered advice to young writers at the Whiting Writers’ Awards gala in New York City recently: “I’m undisciplined and unhappy writing and expect to be until the writing stops. I find a remarkable number of things to do in a day much more compelling than writing.” (New Yorker)