May 04 2009
Writers are dispensable; readers are not
If you’re looking to get a novel published, I think that understanding the Boston Globe’s difficulties will help you.
May 04 2009
If you’re looking to get a novel published, I think that understanding the Boston Globe’s difficulties will help you.
Mar 06 2009
The New York Times has started compiling weekly best-seller lists for graphic novels (err, “graphic books”) in hardcover, paperback and manga. (Hat-tip to the Comics Reporter). The NYT argues that “comics have finally entered the mainstream.” Possibly.
1. I agree that superhero stories are mainstream. Many superhero movies and TV shows have been broadly successful.
2. But comic books and graphic novels are not mainstream. Primarily, that’s because they’re sold mostly in specialty stores rather than general-interest stores like supermarkets and newsstands. These specialty stores usually strike me as kind of creepy and may well scare away low-interest fans. Moving back into supermarkets probably isn’t feasible for the typical comic book series, but it encourages me that comic books are increasingly sold online.
[B. Mac adds: Is the endorsement of the NYT a good thing for comics? The NYT has a soft spot for businesses that are not actually economically viable, such as solar power, US car companies, and itself.]
Dec 06 2008
Pravda: “Condoleeza Rice Decides to Destroy Europe.” I might have missed that article in the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian.
Jul 29 2008
The New York Times wrote an article on women bloggers titled Blogging’s Glass Ceiling, which they put in the “Fashion and Style” section. Comedically speaking, I don’t think there’s anything I can add to that.
Mar 03 2008
I saw this note in the Washington Post:
“California’s North County Times has fired an editor with a warped sense of humor. As a joke, the unnamed editor mucked with a wire-service account of a news conference on pet spaying at which a Los Angeles City Council member ‘held a kitten,’ changing the verb to ‘strangled.’ The paper apologized for the ‘terrible mistake.’ ” Whoops!
In addition to writing articles, I work as one of my newspaper’s wire editors. Although I can’t recall any “strangled a kitten” moments, we do frequently put typos in our headlines. In the average edition of our paper, a wire editor only types 75-100 words. Though I don’t recall committing a headline typo, my event articles are usually riddled with poor writing. (Event articles are written the night the event happens, so there’s less time for me to think through my outline).
Feb 20 2008
The Defense Department reports that the US Navy successfully hit a dying US satellite with a missile. I’m, uhh, not thrilled that we’re spending (sixty million) tax dollars to shoot down our own satellites, but at least we didn’t miss. Heh.
Jan 28 2008
The lede for my article today is “Notre Dame has many Resident Assistants, but very few that can make a defensive tackle cry.” (Our dorm pet was, for some reason, listed in the directory as an RA. Unfortunately, he recently passed away and I’m writing an article on him).
Jan 03 2008
“Dallas Police, Officials Discourage Random Gunfire.”
Uhh… what were the Dallas police doing before?
On a side-note, I think the Dallas police will find that it’s easier to cut murders by reducing targeted gunfire.
Jan 02 2008
A Time article had the following correction.
An article on Thursday about John McCain’s relationship with his children misstated, in some editions, the site of a graduation ceremony for Mr. McCain’s son Jimmy, which was attended by several siblings. Jimmy McCain graduated from Marine boot camp; there is no Marine Academy.
“There is no Marine Academy.” Yeah, Time. Any college football fan could tell you Marines play for the Naval Academy, one of an elite group of nine teams that beat Notre Dame this year.
I’ll chalk this up to a crucial misalignment of football fans, rather than a “I-hope-someone-at-Time-knows-military-stuff.”
And, just in case anyone at Time’s Human Resources Department is reading (wink wink), I know the difference between Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada and a Hawaiian death-threat.
Nov 12 2007
Agent Orange: “If journalism is really the first draft of history, we need some keen editors.”
Oct 24 2007
Gods and Supermen at Yale is a reference to God and Man at Yale, conservative William Buckley’s seminal work on the relationship between faith and scholarship. In the context of Superhero Nation, the “Gods” are researchers… well, I shouldn’t spoil a chapter I haven’t written, right?
A few of the chapters (Agents of Change, Agents of Destruction, etc.) play on the double meaning of “agent” as a federal employee (IRS agent, OSI agent) and a causative factor. The Free Agent plays on a sports-term for someone who currently has no employer.