Today’s edition is sponsored by The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
Sherman Alexie’s Accusers Go on the Record
Sherman Alexie has been accused by several women of sexual misconduct in the past few weeks, but none had come forward on the record until now. The accusations have been swirling around the bookish internet but hadn’t been set fourth by any kind of paper or site of record; however, they’ve generated enough attention that Alexie released this head-scratcher of a statement last week. The NPR article isn’t easy reading.
Barnes and Noble Starts a Nationwide Book Club
Want to join a book club, but don’t want to start one on your own? Your local bookish big box store is here to help! Barnes and Noble is launching their own nationwide book club starting in May–Meg Wolitzer’s newest novel The Female Persuasion is the first pick. The store will be selling a special in-house edition of the book, complete with a reader’s guide.
Philip Pullman Calls for Higher Pay for Authors
The His Dark Materials author (and President of the Society for Authors) has a bone to pick with publishers: their profit margins are increasing while pay to authors is decreasing. Specifically, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster report profits of 16% while authors make only 3% of those profits. It’s well known that writing isn’t generally a source of a living wage for most authors, and perhaps publishers could do something about that.