Opinion

Questioning the relevance of book reviews

A recently posted piece on TheBookseller.com rekindles an old and widely held contention regarding the effectiveness of reviews in selling books. Granted, the piece has its flaws: it is scattershot and far too brief to ... Read More »

February 10, 2006 | Filed under: Book news, Industry news, Opinion

Black bile? Yes, indeed.

By Scott MacDonald

In an essay originally published in his magazine Front & Centre and republished on The Danforth Review, Ottawa writer and Black Bile Press editor Matthew Firth calls for the end of literary prizes and contests ... Read More »

January 24, 2006 | Filed under: Authors, Awards, Book news, Opinion

Two parts sugar, three parts flour…

By Scott MacDonald

On the CBC website, Rachel Giese tells us what everyone in the Canadian book biz should already know: how to spot award-winning Canadian works of fiction. Taking a tally of 31 past winners of the ... Read More »

October 18, 2005 | Filed under: Awards, Book news, Opinion

Want to change the world? Write a book.

By Scott MacDonald

Yesterday Lord Melvyn Bragg of ITV's The South Bank Show announced his picks for the 12 British books that changed the world. Resembling a reading list for first-year undergrads, the list spans 700 years and ... Read More »

September 8, 2005 | Filed under: Book news, Opinion

Teenage fanclub

By Leigh Anne Williams

American author Lauren Mechling has a first-person piece on the CBC Arts site about her struggle for literary respectability. "When I tell people I write teen fiction," she writes, "they tend to chuckle condescendingly, or ... Read More »

May 16, 2005 | Filed under: Authors, Book news, Opinion

The Oprah effect, again

By Leigh Anne Williams

Recently, an author association dubbed Word of Mouth has made headlines by begging talk-show host Oprah Winfrey to reinstate her book club. (Or, rather, to restore it to its original purpose of concentrating on current ... Read More »

April 25, 2005 | Filed under: Book news, Bookselling, Opinion

The trouble with contests

By Leigh Anne Williams

The unsound ethics of poetry contests is a hot topic in the U.S. these days -- one that Canadian poet and essayist Zach Wells has now tackled on the Bookninja.com site. Wells is not so ... Read More »

March 21, 2005 | Filed under: Authors, Book news, Industry news, Opinion

The trouble with Imprint

By Leigh Anne Williams

The cancellation of Imprint continues to generate online commentary. The latest is a piece on the Dooney's Cafe website by Gordon Lockheed. He's suspicious of TVO's stated rationale for axing Imprint, but like some other ... Read More »

March 21, 2005 | Filed under: Book news, Opinion

This business of show

By Leigh Anne Williams

Online commentator Alex Good ponders the death of Imprint in a comment piece on his website, Good Reports. Good does mourn the show's passing, but also throws out some reasons why books and television simply ... Read More »

March 17, 2005 | Filed under: Book news, Opinion

The unhappy lot of the successful author

By Leigh Anne Williams

Earlier this week we posted a link to a Robert McCrum column decrying the publicity demands that big-time authors must endure. Now, Canadian online commentator Alex Good has weighed in with some perspective, addressing both ... Read More »

January 20, 2005 | Filed under: Book news, Opinion

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