How London Beat BEA's Pants Off

Authors at BEA seem welcome, but only in their place. They’re not expected to be doing business. BEA started in the era of publisher-controlled authors. Ether for Authors from Publishing Perspectives – with Porter Anderson. Read More

BEA: Malcolm Gladwell Takes Aim

By Porter Ander­son | @Porter_Anderson Writing on the Ether: Casting Stones at BEA At IDPF’s Digital Book 2013 Conference at BEA, headliner Malcolm Gladwell, ahead of his forthcoming David and Goliath: “In 10 years, best-selling authors will [still] need marketers and editors…Good marketers and editors will find a way to be relevant…[And in reference to… Read More

Read about BEA: BoatExpo America

By Porter Ander­son | @Porter_Anderson Ether for Authors: BoatExpo America You wouldn’t think BookExpo America (BEA) at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City had much to do with the huge boat shows that fill such trade-show arenas . But you’d be wrong. When the industry! the industry! barges into the city at the… Read More

From Writer Unboxed: Agreeable Disagreement

By Porter Ander­son | @Porter_Anderson Writer Unboxed: Agreeable Disagreement We’re flagging these columns “Provocations in Publishing” because the industry! the industry! is one overwrought place these days. Have you noticed how many publishing people stage every disagreement as if it’s life and death? No Writer Unboxed reader would ever do this, of course. It’s the others we’re talking about.… Read More

Read: Hitting a Rough Patchett

By Porter Ander­son | @Porter_Anderson Ether for Authors: Ann Patchett’s Fly­ing Leap On this side of the pond, there may be few authors as fondly regarded as Ann Patch­ett, she of the inde­pen­dent book­store Par­nas­sus in Nashville. But when she told The Book­seller in Lon­don that authors should become more involved in the indus­try and take greater respon­si­bil­ity as part of… Read More

Authors in the Inferno: Dan Brown and Books

  By Porter Ander­son | @Porter_Anderson Writing on the Ether: Authors in the Inferno It is so springtime for us snobs and critics. Dan Brown has heaved another one at us. And despite the fact that I may be killed in a dark cathedral vestibule in Europe by a rogue member of the Druid Daughters… Read More

Test It: Are Your Books' Covers Sexist?

  By Porter Ander­son | @Porter_Anderson From May 9, 2013 Part of my series of columns on pub­lish­ing, Writ­ing on the Ether, appear­ing Thursdays at the invi­ta­tion of Jane Fried­man at JaneFriedman.com Shirt­less Men Kiss­ing Beau­ti­ful Women. How long have I been going on about these romance cov­ers that choke the ebook lists? The trend… Read More

BEA Cup­cakes: 'Women's Work' About Books?

Writing on the Ether provides selected news and perspectives on publishing. It is written by journalist and critic Porter Anderson for Jane Friedman and it appears at JaneFriedman.com each Thursday. Sponsorship opportunities are available and offer generous promotion. Ether for Authors—another gas—runs on Mondays at Ed Nawotka’s and Frankfurt Book Fair’s Publishing Perspectives. London on the Ether, a new UK-related edition of the column, has recently had its debut at TheBookseller.com Read More