Daily book biz round-up: new Oprah pick coming; money for Ontario textbooks?; and more

Today’s book news:

• Oprah prepares to announce new book club pick, and it’s not Freedom
• Scholastic Book Club takes new marketing approach
• Dalton McGuinty makes vague reference to helping Ontario schools cover cost of textbooks
• Penguin sues sports writer over undelivered bio
• Century 21 scoops up former Barnes & Noble space before corpse is even cold
• EW uncovers shocking Hollywood prejudice: authors not asked to be on Dancing With the Stars
• Delightful literary oddities available on EBay

How you know you’re in a recession, Part MMCXIIV

Quillblog is well aware that hard economic times have a disproportionate effect on writers (who aren’t usually in the top earning brackets to begin with) but it’s a sign that things have become untenable when authors are auctioning off characters in their upcoming books. It sounds unbelievable, but that’s exactly what Nathan Tyree is doing. The author of Zombie Lust and the New Flesh and How to Make Love Like a Zombie is offering some lucky bidder the opportunity to appear as “a major character” in an upcoming novel.

This is not the first time an author has auctioned off a character in a novel. Stephen King, Amy Tan, Lemony Snicket, and John Grisham did so for charity back in 2005, as did Margaret Atwood in a 2007 fundraiser (that one went to Rebecca Eckler, who worried that Atwood might turn her “into a crack-whore-murderer”). But, to Quillblog’s knowledge, this is the first time an author has offered a chance to appear as a major character in a novel, complete with physical description and character traits.

According to Tyree’s seller’s description on eBay:

The winner will have to provide me with their name, a photo of themselves, a description of their personality and mannerisms, a bio (background info and such). I will write the novel and guarantee publication within one year of the end of the auction. Then they will also receive a free copy of the book.

No word as to whether the character will be a hero or a villain (or a zombie), or will survive to the end of the book without being viciously decapitated.

As of this morning, the top bid was $40.

Bookmarks: Shopping lists, the iPhone Kindle app, and the $1-million French novel

• For those who thought the old adage was a joke: William S. Burroughs’s shopping list showed up on eBay (and was purchased for $400).
• Do female novelists write about sex less skillfully than men? Author Jane Vandenburgh believes so.
• A French novel that has already divided audiences in Europe (and which was picked up – at a price tag of $1-million – for North American publication) has been reviewed by The New York Times. The Kindly Ones is “a fictionalized memoir of a remorseless former Nazi SS officer, who in addition to taking part in the mass extermination of the Jews, commits incest with his sister, sodomizes himself with a sausage and most likely kills his mother and stepfather.” Oh-la-la?
• Amazon has released a free app that allows iPhone (or iPod Touch) users to read e-books originally developed for the Kindle. At last, Canadians can experience what they’ve been missing!

The real meaning of publishing

BoingBoing.net directs us to “The Devil’s Publishing Dictionary,” a collaboration between two book bloggers to give a set of common publishing terms more accurate definitions. All of the entries are of the “funny cuz it’s true” sort, but here are some of the highlights:

Advance Reading Copies: A prepublication edition of the book that is distinguishable from regular editions by having no price on the cover, and by costing the publisher more per copy than the reviewers will ever realize by selling them at the Strand or on eBay.

Agents: Even the best authors will eventually write themselves out and fall from favor. Even the best editors will lose their jobs to corporate mergers. But successful agents go on forever, and the really successful ones have lovely summer homes. Try to impress this on your children’s minds when they’re planning their future careers.

Earn Out: To the author, proof that the publisher didn’t pay enough for the book.

Mid-list: What other authors are who sell as well as you do, but don’t have your inherent talent or obvious commercial promise.

And, closest to Quillblog’s hearts:

Reviewer: A person who by virtue of their position must either disappoint their readers, or the authors they review. The ones who satisfy their readers keep their jobs.

Read Ambrose Bierce’s original The Devil’s Dictionary here.

Man keeps expensive Stephen King habit

Stephen King fans around the world watched as the right to name a zombie in his forthcoming novel was auctioned off on eBay. The auction was held to raise money for the First Amendment Project, a non-profit that defends writers’ and artists’ right to freedom of speech. eBay’s most-watched item at the time, the auction was won by Florida resident Pam Alexander. Paying $25,100, she beat out the bid’s next contender, Paul Stegman of Nebraska, who was ready to mortgage his home to cough up the needed funds. “How many times do you have the opportunity to purchase immortality?” said Stegman, who owns 300 King books.

King was just one of many authors donating the right to name a character in this first round of auctions for the Oakland-based not-for-profit. The second round of auctions continues on through Sept. 26 and offers the right to name a character from books by John Grisham, Dave Eggers, and Neil Gaiman to respective highest bidders.

Related links:
Click here for the full story from the Chicago Tribune
Click here to for a list of participating authors and links to their auctions
Click here for more information on the First Amendment Project