Don’t Be Too Proud, Bob
Meanwhile, Bob Thompson of The Washington Post pounds his chest and brags about the heroic virtues of newspaper fact-checking in “True or False: Book Publishers Can Avoid the Agony of Deceit”. “We can, however, offer up a hoary newsroom phrase the publishing industry might find useful,” Thompson writes. “‘Too good to check!’ we say gleefully…
continue readingFace It, We Love this Stuff
So everyone is arguing about who is to blame when fake writers (a la Frey, Jones, Nasdijj, et al) are discovered. A lot of the blame is heaped on the part of editors and agents for being to quick to swallow lies and embellishments. Other people criticize the publishers since they don’t (and can’t) fact-check in…
continue readingMore Fake Memoirs
Two more cases of fictional memoirs… This time, a bestselling Holocaust memoir turned out to be fake. As The New York Times writes, “The author was never trapped in the Warsaw ghetto. Neither was she adopted by wolves who protected her from the Nazis, nor did she trek 1,900 miles across Europe in search of her…
continue readingFree Beautiful Children Downloads
In an intriguing move, Random House is giving away free downloads of Charles Bock’s debut novel, Beautiful Children. Go to this website to download a PDF of the complete novel. The offer runs through tomorrow, Friday, February 29. So get it while you can!
continue readingInterview: Joe McGinniss Jr., Author
It was hard to be objective with this one. I first learned about Joe McGinniss Jr. through the much discussed news item on Publishers Marketplace announcing the sale of his novel to Grove/Atlantic. Then a personal and obviously time-consuming email appeared in my inbox from McGinniss. As opposed to most of the pitches I get that are spewed…
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