New Survey Reveals E-book Majority, Samsung Launches Amazon App, and More

by
Staff
4.21.14

Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today’s stories:

A recent poll conducted by market research firm Harris Interactive, owned by Nielsen, has found that 54 percent of Americans are reading e-books. This new research contrasts with findings reported earlier this year by the Pew Research Center, which suggested that e-books comprised only 28 percent of American readership. (Digital Book World)

Kindle for Samsung, a new app for the Galaxy device that allows users to buy and read magazines, newspapers, and books from Amazon, was released last week. (Tech Crunch)

Meanwhile, Larry Smith, founder of SMITH Magazine, has created Six Words, an iPhone app and social sharing tool that allows writers to type ideas quickly when inspiration strikes and share their works in progress with other users. (GalleyCat)

Chestnut Street, a collection of short stories by Maeve Binchy, will be published posthumously this month, almost two years after the novelist’s death in 2012. (Irish Independent)

In the Guardian’s ongoing series dedicated to literary definitions, author Elizabeth Edmondson argues against the use of the "literary fiction" label.

The Smithsonian takes a look at Dinah Fried’s new photo book Fictitious Dishes, featuring fifty meals prepared by the photographer and inspired by well-known works of literature.

Clients, staff, and residents of a Bronx-area probation office have created the second installment of their literary journal, Free Verse, with assistance from poet and New School professor Dave Johnson. (New York Daily News)

The former poet laureate of Indiana, Norbert Krampf, has released a new collection of work inspired by memories of sexual abuse that resurfaced following a move back to his home state. (Indianapolis Star)

Writers surveyed by the Los Angeles Times offer their ideal epitaphs.