Stephen King's decision to pull the plug on his online serial novel because not enough readers were paying for it, has publishers lowering their expectations for online publishing. Gabriel Garcia Marquez says being diagnosed with lymphatic cancer last year was an impetus to get him to write his memoirs. More than a year ago I was put under treatment for three months for lymphoma, and today I am surprised at the enormous stroke of luck this stumbling block has been in my life. Self-publishing in the field of philosophy is tempting. One problem is perceived to be that the system makes it virtually impossible for non-academics to get published, no matter what the quality of their work is.
Korean writers wonder about the chances of a Korean winning the Nobel Prize for literature.
Although the possibility of receiving a Nobel Prize for Literature seems to be growing stronger we still have a long way to go. The exchanges that follow will include words and phrases like mawkish, shallow, trite, mechanical, unadventurous, tame, jingles, slave to conventional modes and diction, the innocence of America s literary youth, and so on. For all that, Longfellow has been a continuous presence in our language since Voices of the Night was published in 1839, and his lines are still familiar today, though many who know them could not tell you who wrote them. At a London charity auction, some of Britain s bestselling authors auctioned off the names of characters in their next books to the highest bidders. To be au courant now means that the only information really worth having is news that isn't available yet.