1.Scribd Puts Another Nail in the Coffin of “Netflix for Books”
3.Beatrix Potter money-spinner
4.Simon & Schuster provides a different take
5.Beatles should have been Poets Laureate?
March 8, 2016
by Neelima
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March 7, 2016
by Jandré
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A Tribute to Umberto Eco
Could Umberto Eco be more different from Harper Lee? Perhaps in a Terry Pratchett novel, but not in real life!
Umberto Eco was not an attention hog, but he was an extremely prolific writer! With a string of novels, non-fiction works, anthologies and children’s books as the fruit of his pen, it is significant to note that he was a semiotician first and then a writer.
Semiotics is the study of meaning-making, the study of sign processes and meaningful communication. This includes the study of signs and sign processes (semiosis), indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.
To understand what this really means, we suggest that you wait until you are re-incarnated much more intelligent!
Reverse some more. In his work Opera aperta, 1962, translated as “The Open Work” he argues that for a literary text to be most rewarding, it should be capable of being interpreted in various ways. A closed work would be something that has only one possible, correct interpretation. Albeit not literary, 1+1=2 would be an example of a closed work.
Eco, in his own words, “Every text, after all, is a lazy machine asking the reader to do some of its work. What a problem it would be if a text were to say everything the receiver is to understand – it would never end.”
As you can see, there is no resonance between Ms. Harper’s insistence that she has only one message and Mr. Eco’s open works.
The Name of the Rose is the book that garnered Eco popular fans. It is groundbreaking because it is “an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory.”
The greatest epitaph, we stumbled across, must be this one, “And the craziest thing about this maddening book: people not only bought it, but read it — and tried to “understand” it.
Eco’s books were not for reading, they were about being understood.
Last week we spoke about Harper Lee. These two gifted writers might have been different in many aspects, but they were both completely unlike a character in Foucault’s Pendulum, “Jacopo Belbo didn’t understand that he had had his moment and that it would have to be enough for him, for all his life. Not recognizing it, he spent the rest of his days seeking something else, until he damned himself. ”
They recognized their moments, and lived their lives, and where able to sigh with satisfaction when their books were closed.
March 3, 2016
by Neelima
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Founder of InstaScribe nominated for L’Oreal Paris NDTV Women of Worth Award
We have some good news. The founder of InstaScribe, Jaya Jha, has been nominated for the L’Oreal Paris NDTV Women of Worth Award. Don’t miss the online video online: http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/ndtv-special-ndtv-24×7/women-of-worth-meet-the-nominees-of-social-literature-category/405632
In her segment Jaya talks about her first company Pothi.com- a platform where authors can come online, upload their books, and then sell them.
You can vote for her online here – http://sites.ndtv.com/women-of-worth/nominee-jaya-jha/
Folks in India can SMS WOW JJ to 56388.
March 1, 2016
by Neelima
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Readers Can’t Digest – Week 76 (15-Feb to 21-Feb)
February 29, 2016
by Jandré
1 Comment
A Tribute to Harper Lee
Usually we expect Friday the Thirteenth to be the day that brings bad news. In 2016 it is highly unlikely that any Friday the Thirteenth, or any other day, will eclipse the sad news of 19 February.
On this day, Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, and Umberto Eco, author of In the Name of a Rose, left us. Both were successful and celebrated authors. Both probably achieved much more than they ever expected. Yet, we have two authors who could hardly be more dissimilar.
Harper Lee
Just as To Kill A Mockingbird, is famous and public, so Harper Lee was enigmatic and private. She never expected the great success that Mockingbird turned out to be.
I never expected any sort of success with Mockingbird. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers but, at the same time, I sort of hoped someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I hoped for a little, as I said, but I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I’d expected.
— Harper Lee, quoted in Newquist, 1964
She was born, in the virtually unknown town of Monroeville, Alabama. And here, in the town with a population of 6500, she also transitioned from nightly sleep into the eternal quietness that awaits us all.
Her nephew, Hank Conner, said in a statement “We knew her as Nelle Harper Lee, a loving member of our family, a devoted friend to the many good people who touched her life, and a generous soul in our community and our state. We will miss her dearly.”
This theme, of Nelle Harper Lee, as an ordinary person, and not a famous author pervades her life. This is significant in an era where fame is equated to or confused with success. (Note to feminists: Nelle is a tribute to her maternal grandmother. It was not an attempt to sound more like a man!)
When asked why she did not continue writing, she answered: “Two reasons: one, I wouldn’t go through the pressure and publicity I went through with To Kill a Mockingbird for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say, and I will not say it again.”
Her intense desire for privacy, and perhaps, inability to deal with the lack of it caused by of success is a a subject that has been discussed, examined, dissected and misunderstood since her book Mockingbird took its maiden-flight.
At InstaScribe we had a heated discussion about the second part of Ms. Lee’s (never married) statement. We seriously doubted that she, or anyone else, has only one thing to say, and can get it said in one go.
Why she chose to stop writing has not been revealed yet. Most probably we will never know why she chose to stop writing, but we salute her for not stopping one book sooner!
Having said that, Go Set a Watchman was published in 2015. It was the bestseller in the US for that year. The success of this book shows that the public believes they could learn from Ms Lee, and that she had much more to say.
Go Set a Watchman was surrounded by controversy. Originally published as a sequel to Mockingbird, it was later admitted that it was, in fact, the first draft.
Much has been written about the fact that Watchman was published after Harper Lee insisted for 55 years that she only had one story to tell. Various legal shenanigans were suggested, and a claim of elder abuse was made. (This was later dismissed.)
Alice Lee, Nelle’s sister and lawyer, died ten weeks before the publication of Watchman. Add to this the fact that at this time our dearly departed author was partially blind, deaf, suffered from a stroke and had short term memory problems, you can see why many are confused by the publication of Watchman.
Yet, Harper’s life is not to be remembered for controversy, but for quietness, or as a mourner wrote,
“Hey, Boo, you left your mark without a lot of fanfare… The recognition and praise seemed to roll off you like water from a duck’s back. I’m pleased you disavowed the limelight of fame, in favor of the familiar company of your true friends and hometown waters. Paddle on, Nelle.”
February 26, 2016
by InstaScribe
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Visual Friday: What Kind of Writer Are You?
Re-posted from our archives.
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February 25, 2016
by Neelima
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Can Poetry be Dead? @ Link Wanderlust
Although poetry is popular, it’s very niche. This is a relatively new phenomenon, Michael Lind says in his essay The Re-Enchantment of Poetry in The Smart Set. Poetry has always been a favorite, the precursor of song, poetry has a rhythm that can carry us through good times and bad.
But now no newspaper will carry a poem. No popular channel will host a poetry grand slam during prime time. If you mention that you are a poet, you have to be good enough an actor to pull it off. It’s so mysterious that it seems to have disappeared from the popular space altogether.
So the question is: Why has poetry lost its appeal?
There are several reasons for this.
Poetry is all about the spoken word performance; it’s no Rossetta stone that needs deciphering. The New Critics may have done too good a job at understanding a poem; teachers have taken this into their lesson plans and deconstructed poems to the extent that these are no longer poems but syntactical structures and metrical inconsistencies. The truth is that poetry is beautiful only because you can not clearly understand it, the way life eludes us.
Another reason could be silent reading. The words that echo in your mind spoil the experience; poetry has to be read aloud. Because it is no longer read aloud except at readings, poetry has become a more visual form; rhyme and rhythm have been discarded in favor of the prosaic, and so reading these poems that are based on visual cues will lead us nowhere close to the metrical enjoyment that once upon a time verse provided.
It’s never too late though. All the poet has to do is sing again.
“If a post-print oral and aural culture of the kind predicted by Marshall McLuhan eventually does arise, then perhaps a kind of popular and accessible verse like that of Homeric bards or Norse skalds or modern rap and popular songs will evolve.”
February 24, 2016
by InstaScribe
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Quotes Wednesday
By InstaScribe
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February 22, 2016
by Jandré
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Google Books versus The Authors
Recently, The Guardian reported that various well-known, respected and successful authors have joined with the US Authors Guild in a lawsuit to prevent Google from adding books that are still under copyright from being added to the ever-growing collection of digitized books.
Before delving into this court case, that is indeed very relevant to every author, let us just look at the aim and history of Google Books
Google Books: An Overview
Google Books contains a range of print books and magazines that were scanned and digitized. This means that the text in these books can be searched. These books are provided by publishers, authors and Google’s Library Partners.
In other words, the idea is to make print books in libraries all over the world accessible via the Internet. The first books were scanned in 2004, and the collection has reached 25 million books by October 2015. Google believes that there are about 130 million unique titles in existence. They aimed to complete this project before the end of the 2000’s.
Copyright and Fair Use
The fact that a book has been scanned and digitized does not automatically mean that the entire book is available for reading, copying or printing.
Google has a four tier access system in place:
- Full View: The complete book is available on Google Books and can be downloaded. Generally, these are books in Public Domain. In a few cases, publishers have given permission that books that are still under copyright may be accessed in this way.
- Preview: The in-print book has been scanned and digitized completely, but the number of viewable pages is limited. These books are marked as copyrighted and downloading, printing, copying these texts are restricted.
- Snippets: This view is for books where Google does not have the right to display a preview. Only, a very limited sample is displayed. Generally, two or three lines surrounding the search query. Searches are also limited to prevent the user from gaining access to the complete text via varying search queries.
- No preview: These are for books that have not been digitized yet. Effectively, a digital online library catalogue card, with the ISBN, author, publisher etc. are displayed.
Authors have the right to opt out from the program. If a book has already been scanned, it will be classified as a “No Preview” book.
It is important to understand what Google Books actually offer (do) in order to be able to accurately judge the complaints of the authors and publishers.
Fair Use, Copyright and Writer’s Incentive
Looking at the facts, as found on Wikipedia and Google Books, it does seem as if Google Books offer a real service. It seems as if authors and publishers are protected from being exploited.
If this is, in fact, the case, why has there been various lawsuits over the years to try and prevent Google Books from continuing its service to humanity?
The current case has its beginning back in 2005. The case was made that Google copied millions of books without permission and therefore illegally. Authors asked for damages amounting to $1500 per book.
This case was settled in favour of Google in 2013 by judge Denny Chin. He ruled that Google did not need the author’s permission to scan a book, or to publish snippets, which falls under fair use.
This judgement was appealed and the appeal was heard by the US court of appeals for the second circuit. And, again, Google won.
The Court said:
The ultimate goal of copyright is to expand public knowledge and understanding, which copyright seeks to achieve by giving potential creators exclusive control over copying of their works, thus giving them a financial incentive to create informative, intellectually enriching works for public consumption . . . Thus, while authors are undoubtedly important intended beneficiaries of copyright, the ultimate, primary intended beneficiary is the public, whose access to knowledge copyright seeks to advance by providing rewards for authorship.
The Last Chapter?
JM Coetzee, Margaret Atwood, Malcolm Gladwell, Peter Carey, Thomas Keneally, Ursula K Le Guin, Tracy Chevalier, Yann Martel and Richard Flanagan, are but some of the authors who have joined the Authors Guild’s in the latest attempt to prevent Google Book from continuing its digitization project.
An appeal was lodged at the Supreme court, which is expected to determine during the second quarter of the year as to whether they will hear this appeal or not.
How do we at InstaScribe feel about this? Zen Scribe answered eloquently, convincing us all of his wisdom, but he chose the No Preview option concerning his statements.
At this point, we don’t know if the Supreme Court of the US will even hear the appeal, and whether the authors and the Authors Guild will win.
What do you think? Is Google Books a valid, reputable endeavour or is it a legalised version of The Piratebay?
February 19, 2016
by InstaScribe
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Visual Friday: What Writers Don’t Want to Hear
Re-posted from our archives.
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