Simon & Schuster Versus Barnes & Noble, Deborah Moggach’s Writing Rules, and More

by
Evan Smith Rakoff
5.31.13

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:

Italian scholars believe the oldest Torah scroll in existence has been discovered. (Christianity in Antiquity)

Boris Kachka reports from BookExpo America’s “Buzz Panel,” which he discovered was “overwhelmingly female…unrelentingly bleak…[and] enthralling.” (Vulture)

Meanwhile, NBCC hosted a BEA panel that discussed creating a set of “best practices” for book critics. (Publishers Weekly)

After an extensive reading tour, novelist Kristopher Jansma takes the pulse of independent bookstores across America. (Electric Literature)

Julie Maroh—whose book was adapted by Abdellatif Kechiche into the Palme d’Or-winning Blue Is the Warmest Colour—is unhappy with the film’s lesbian sex scenes, calling them “ridiculous.” (Guardian)

Did you know the smartphone was patented in 1974? AppNewser dug up an infographic with more details about the little device that commands so much attention.

On his blog, author William Kent Krueger writes about the dispute between his publisher and the nation’s largest bookstore chain: “No Simon & Schuster author may visit any Barnes & Noble until further notice.”

“Don’t go out to lunch.” The Explore blog highlights Deborah Moggach’s writing rules.