When Jonathan Franzen bashed Twitter, he was just carrying on the relentless crusade he’s waging against the Internet and social media every time he steps up to a mic. He’s like a bookish, bizarro world Chuck D. — Black Steel Glasses in the Hour of Social Media Chaos. The outrage he’s kicked off makes him kind of the closest thing literature has to a bad boy though. From Michelle Houellebecq to Jonathan Littell to Jonathan Franzen, middle aged white guys Read more…
And Why You Should be Thinking About Digital Now by a Writer, for other Writers This past weekend saw the New Yorker Festival book signings at McNally-Jackson. Get ready for some serious name-dropping: Not only did Sarah McNally ring up my purchases, but Jennifer Egan shook my hand, Gary Shteyngart invited me to email him, and Jonathan Franzen asked that I call him “Jon.” After the 2-day festival concluded on Sunday, I went to Williamsburg to hear Alexander Chee and Read more…
Consumer response to our early titles was an immediate indicator that short form— useful content hit the sweet spot with mobile readers. Now we’re seeing that point of view reflected in the national media – check out this article from the New York Times that sports a Vook mention near the end. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13ping.html?_r=2&src=busln) The writer says that it’s been hard to gauge our traction, but the recent rave article in the NYT Mag itself, our sales hits with Pilates and JFK and our goal to release a 1,000 titles this year means we’re feeling rosy about the future.