This Week on Books Direct - 2 September 2018

This Week on Books Direct -

2 September 2018

Here's a list of some great articles you may have missed this week. Enjoy!

World’s Greatest Places 2018 by Time

Three libraries make the list of the best places to visit.

The Odd Couple Playwright Neil Simon Dies At 91 by WMUR9

Neil Simon, celebrated playwright and screenwriter, has died at the age of 91.

I Visited One Of The World's Most Beautiful Bookstores, Which Is Over 100 Years Old And A Rumoured Inspiration Behind Harry Potter by Harrison Jacobs for Business Insider

The Livraria Lello bookstore in Porto, Portugal, is one of the world’s oldest bookstores and frequently ranked as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world.

Is Social Media Influencing Book Cover Design? by Holly Connolly for The Guardian

With “bookstagramming” becoming a force in marketing, are designers making covers more colourful, bolder and cleaner, to stand out on our screens?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Final Posthumous Book Is Published by Jason Daley for Smithsonian.com

The author tinkered with and rewrote The Fall of Gondolin, one of his first tales of Middle-earth, many times during his career.

Former Barnes & Noble CEO Sues Over His Firing by Julia Horowitz for CNN Money

Demos Parneros, the former CEO of Barnes & Noble is suing the bookseller over his firing last month.

Neil Gaiman And Haruki Murakami Up For Alternative Nobel Literature Prize by Alison Flood for The Guardian

The New Academy, founded after the 2018 prize was canceled as a result of sexual assault scandal, announces shortlist of four.

Followed by this:

Writers On Twitter Are Calling Out The Guardian For Coverage Of A Literary Award That Virtually Ignored The Female Finalists by Kristian Wilson for Bustle

People are calling out The Guardian's coverage of the alternative Nobel Prize that centered the male authors as primary contenders, while Condé and Thúy were described as “complet[ing]” the shortlist.

3 Members Of Nobel Literature Prize Body To Return by Jan M. Olsen for The Seattle Times

Three members who quit the prestigious body that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature amid a scandal and internal feud are returning to the Swedish Academy, saying differences with a member are of less importance than the academy itself.

Followed by this:

Ex Members Of Nobel Literature Body “No Plans On Returning” by Jan M. Olsen for The Washington Post

Two former members of the prestigious body that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature who quit in the wake of a sex abuse and financial crimes scandal have dismissed reports they were returning to the Swedish Academy.

Traditional Publishers Are Selling Way More Non-Fiction Than Fiction by Adam Rowe for Forbes

In the publishing industry, adult non-fiction revenues are soaring above fiction revenues and have been widening the gap for the past five years.

Content Curation Tools For Better Marketing by Lillian De Jesus for Stencil

We’ll go through the top reasons to curate and tools to use to curate content for better marketing.

Book Marketing: 10 Ways To Get Reviews For Your Book by Joanna Penn for The Creative Penn

Book reviews are important for social proof as well as getting marketing opportunities like BookBub placement, for mining quotes for ad copy, and understanding how your author brand is perceived. But how do you get reviews, especially if you're just starting out?

Keyword Snooze: People Turn Down The Noise by Facebook Newsroom

Facebook has been testing a new feature called Keyword Snooze, which lets people take a 30-day break from content in their News Feed that contains a particular word or phrase.

CreateSpace Closing – It’s Official by David Gaughran

CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) are becoming one service - making KDP the single place to publish and manage your print and digital books.

If you enjoyed this blog post, please visit the other This Week posts for links to more great articles.