Seriously. I get a sample ballot in the mail every three weeks. I’m pretty sure this time around we were deciding whether or not to forgive Manny Ramirez. How did I vote? Well, the sanctity of the voting booth is a corner stone of American democracy…so mind your own business. And also, check out these excellent links:
- Bryan Gilmer, a writing teacher at UNC Chapel Hill, published his own hardboiled crime novel, Felonious Jazz, for the Kindle. When he lowered the price to $1.99, his sales jumped. He writes about the experience at The Millions. Click through to the post to read my comments, as well.
- The Guardian has a great post about whether bookstore shelf talkers actually sell books (They feature a great shelf talker for A Fan’s Notes (one of the best ‘loser fic’ books ever) from Green Apple Books in San Francisco). I can say that, contrary to what the ridiculous commenters say, shelf talkers really do drive sales. I remember when I was working at Book Soup in West Hollywood, and the owner of the store, Glenn Goldman (who was also the buyer) did a double take when looking at the sales for Lucky Jim. “Is someone making a movie based on Lucky Jim? We’ve sold a ton in the last two weeks.” No movie, just my shelf talker.
- Also from The Guardian (they were on a roll over there) comes this great post about “the most famous fictional character.” The post uses Sherlock Holmes as a jumping off point. The blogger then goes on to suggest some alternatives, including Don Quixote, Odysseus, Harry Potter, Hamlet, and James Bond. Interestingly, when I put the question to my coworker, she immediately said “Sherlock Holmes.” Who do you think is the most famous fictional character?
- Books on the Nightstand is running a summer reading challenge relating to the new book Beowulf on the Beach by Jack Murnighan. The challenge is pretty straight forward: from Memorial Day to Labor Day, read at least one of the classics covered in Beowulf on the Beach, then blog about it on your blog. The winner gets a signed copy of Beowulf on the Beach. Click over to their post for complete details.
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The most famous fictional character is Jesus.