Month: October 2007Page 1 of 2

Books for writers wrap-up

A while ago I asked for opinions about helpful books for writers and got some good responses. Commentators included Alan Bernheimer, Benjamin Chambers, Carol Peters, Christine Thomas, DMS,…

Leila and Massimo Vignelli on living by design

Massimo Vignelli has been an influential promoter on Swiss industrial graphic design — design that tends to expose an underlying grid and often uses only Helvetica for type….

The Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook

A classic skit on the perils of translation.

Google Translate, no longer using Systran software, goes head to head with Yahoo’s Babelfish

Systran software has ruled computer translation for years. It has been the technology behind both AltaVista’s Babelfish (now owned by Yahoo), and Google’s translation service, called Google Translate….

Typographic illusions

Which eight from this group looks the most balanced? Most people whose eyes have been trained by long exposure to the conventions of the Western alphabet would probably…

How to design a book without special skills or software

It is now possible for anyone to print a book fairly inexpensively, using services such as Lulu or Blurb. Of course, printing should be distinguished from publishing, which…

More fall color

This photo was taken on the walk to Taughannock Falls near Ulysses, New York, in the Finger Lakes region. For more fall color, see the clickable thumbnails below….

Cornell color

I’ve been on the road in PA and NY. Will return tomorrow. We’ll file this post under “photography.” It’s an image of a lake on the Cornell campus…

Controlled chaos and blog journalism

El Blogador at Inner Diablog (whose interesting posts I often consult in the context of my Buried Mirror research) cites Samuel Pepys and Jean Baudrillard as models for…

Carnage in the book world

That’s what Carole Cadwalladr, in the Guardian, is calling this year’s Frankfut Book Fair. Sounds about right (except that it misses the boredom element that is never quite…

Sites we like: Galley Cat

Galley Cat is the blog to visit for insider news from the NYC heart of the publishing industry. I spent most of my career with independent presses outside…

Thinking with Type

Continuing our week of laziness link love while I’m on the road, I Love Typography has a review of Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton. I think you…

Text decoration

Since posting is light while I’m traveling, I think it’s time to devote another link to Bibliodyssey, that great ongoing compendium of book arts through the ages. This…

Flexible pricing or independent booksellers who pay for readings?

The chains’ dominance of the bookstore segment of the U.S. book publishing industry is a result of the value the country places on open competition. Would you be…

Guide to Doris Lessing

Salon’s guide to Doris Lessing, by Laura Morgan Green.

Reading tomorrow at Litquake

I’ll be among a group reading translations from Latin American literature. The other participants include Elizabeth Bell, Michael Koch, Anita Segástegui, and John Oliver Simon. The event will…

Joyce Carol Oates on creating characters in fiction

Ms. Oates, rambling a bit, reveals that during “the first six weeks” of a writing project she is quite miserable. This is somewhat surprising to me, because I…

Book publishing debut — at 96

Harry Bernstein has published his first book, a memoir called The Invisible Wall (Ballantine), at the age of 96. Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com. International Herald…

What are the most helpful books about writing and publishing?

The most popular pages on this website, in terms of sheer volume of visitors, are those in my guide to getting a book published. (They account for the…

Extended Live Archives | One year ago

ELA seems to be a pretty good WordPress plugin. I’ve never had an archives link on my blogs, because I don’t think it’s of much interest to most…

Publishing Trends Industry Survey

Publishing Trends has released its first annual publishing industry survey, and I’m not sure there is a great deal of value to take away from it. The survey…

The Word

I found myself next to this vehicle on the approach to the Bay Bridge the other day. It reminds me a bit of the artworks of Xu Bing…

Writers’ rooms

The Guardian has an ongoing feature displaying writers’ workrooms. The common features tend to be clutter, piles of books, and undistinguished furniture. Shown is the room of AS…

Typographic humor

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