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January 18, 2011
Shorties (The Decemberists, Authors' Self-Promotional Efforts, and more)
On sale at Amazon MP3 for $3.99: The Decemberists' new The King Is Dead album.
The Wall Street Journal examines author's self-promotion efforts.
Web-savvy authors point to the myriad opportunities provided by social networking sites. (Bruce DeSilva, for example, posted a slideshow on his Facebook page of famous people reading his debut crime novel, "Rogue Island.") They point, as well, to publishers' ever more skimpy advertising budgets and the contraction of marketing and publicity departments, making it all the more essential for them to step into the void. And they have taken due note of the daunting noise—and numbers—in the marketplace. According to Penny Sansevieri, an adjunct professor at New York University and CEO of Author Marketing, a publicity firm, there are 1,500 books published daily in the U.S., including self-published titles. "To get noticed," she said, "you have to throw more at people than just your book."
The Guardian interviews author DBC Pierre.
The Telegraph interviews Duran Duran about the band's 30 year history.
The Globe and Mail profiles singer-songwriter Sam Phillips and her innovative music subscription-based website.
Silver Jews frontman Dave Berman has started a blog.
Alina Simone is selling her Raw Demos (2002-2008) album on Bandcamp, and offers two free songs from this demos collection.
Flavorwire shares a Harry Potter-inspired literary mixtape.
Fingertips Music examines Portishead's decision not to use the internet and social media to promote their music.
Full Stop interviews author Jessica Francis Kane.
Rolling Stone lists the 15 best rock documentaries available to stream instantly on Netflix.
Aquarium Drunkard interviews Dan Bejar of Destroyer.
One of my favorite online columns: Ariel Schrag's Comics 'n Things at AfterEllen.
The Quietus gathers tributes to Broadcast singer Trish Keenan.
Drowned in Sound lists 2011's most anticipated albums.
Deceptive Cadence examines what's broken in modern classical music (and how to fix it).
Tuesday's updates to the online "best books of 2010" lists included the A.V. Clubs best books, Blake Butler's favorite books, the Village Voice's best comics and graphic novels, and more.
Wednesday's updates to the list of 2010 year-end online music lists included two album lists from Donewaiting, NYCTaper's best concerts, and much more.
My own "best of 2010" book & music lists:
favorite albums of 2010
favorite graphic novels
favorite nonfiction books
favorite novels of 2010
favorite short story collections
Coming later this month: my favorite free and legal mp3 downloads and favorite debut novels of the year.
Follow me on Twitter and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous Shorties posts (daily links from the worlds of music, literature, and pop culture)
Online "Best Books of 2010" lists
Online "Best Music of 2010" lists
Atomic Books Comics Preview (highlights of the week's comics & graphic novel releases)
daily mp3 downloads
Largehearted Word (highlights of the week's book releases)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
