Who is your favorite writer on Facebook? Share your recommendation in the comments section and help us build a brand new GalleyCat Reviews directory.

Our Facebook page has grown rapidly this summer and more than 100 writers have already posted to our "New Books" section. However, a number of previously published authors emailed us wondering if they could include their work as well. Our Best Authors on Facebook directory will help them--allowing both published and self-published authors to connect with readers.

We've started the list with a few writers from our summer reading list, but the directory is hardly comprehensive. Share your favorite author on Facebook in the comments section below and we'll add them to our growing directory.

continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Scholastic announced that Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay has sold 450,000 copies counting both hardcover and eBook sales since its August 24th release. That's an average of 45,000 books sold per day.

The final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy has topped both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. The publisher will print 400,000 additional hardcover copies. The first printing was 1.2 million.

Lionsgate has bought the film rights to the Hunger Games and is in the process of developing the first book of the series. Fans of all ages gathered at Books of Wonder's midnight release party, and Collins made a personal appearance.

continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Publishers and bookstores should pay attention to the explosive growth of Groupon. Using the group coupon service online, one bookstore found 504 new customers this summer--each paying $10 for a $20 coupon for books, drinks, or sandwiches.

Watermark Books and Cafe, a bookstore in Kansas, used Groupon to create a special deal. In June, they promoted the "pay $10 for a $20 coupon" offer on Groupon--banking on the idea that at least 10 customers would take advantage of the deal. Hundreds of other customers ended up taking advantage of the Groupon offer. Read this retail case study to find out how it works. Maybe publishers could cut unique coupon deals for bestselling books as well?

Here's more about the Watermark Books deal: "Though an online book glows in the dark, it can't be shredded to make a papier-mache wig or taped to a shoe to replace an ice skate. Peruse useful reading material with today's Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of books, drinks, and sandwiches at Watermark Books and Cafe on Douglas Avenue. This Groupon is valid for in-store purchases only and is not valid toward magazines, newspapers, or gift cards."

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The satirical writer Evil Wylie granted his or her first interview to Independent Publisher. For weeks, the anonymous writer has posed as a fictional version of literary agent Andrew Wylie on Twitter.

In the interview, Evil Wylie admitted they created the Emperor Franzen Twitter feed (a satirical version of Jonathan Franzen), but did not create the Good Random House Twitter feed (a satirical version of the corporate publisher). Evil Wylie maintained his or her anonymity for the interview.

According to the Evil Wylie writer, these anonymous Twitter feeds created a safe space for publishing people to speak candidly about industry issues. EvilWylie explained: "We don't live in a black-and-white, good-vs.-evil world, but wouldn't it be nice if we did? It would certainly be less confusing. Great evil characters -- from Emperor Franzen to Darth Vader to Dick Cheney -- provide safe outlets for us to examine our feelings. Of course, Evil Wylie doesn't have any feelings, so I'm obviously not speaking from experience here."

continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Over the last few weeks, the online writing site Scribd has been testing Scribd Archive, "a premium feature that allows people to download certain archived content for a fee." Readers can still access this special content online and on mobile devices for free, but the new download fee caused concern among some Scribd writers.

Scribd senior VP of marketing Tammy Nam wrote a Huffington Post essay explaining the service and showing users how to opt out of the Scribd Archive. The company also blogged about the new feature at this link.

Nam outlined the logic behind the new fees: "We launched the archive feature because, in order for us to continue building free products that content publishers and readers love, we have to be able to pay for the servers that host the documents and the engineers to maintain the site (plus everything else that keeps a company running)."

Full disclosure: Scribd helped sponsor our World's Longest Literary Remix contest this summer.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The The Rona Jaffe Foundation announced the 2010 Writers' Award winners yesterday. Each winner receives $25,000.

The winners were: Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams (nonfiction), Rachel Aviv (nonfiction), Sara Elizabeth Johnson (poetry), Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (nonfiction), Laura Newbern (poetry), and Tiphanie Yanique (fiction).

Novelist Rona Jaffe founded the award in 1995, exclusively recognizes the work of female writers who are just starting their writing careers.

The award ceremony will take place on September 23rd in New York City with guest author Jane Brox.

continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

News broke yesterday that Neil Gaiman's beloved Sandman series is "in the early stages of being developed into a TV series."

According to the Hollywood Reporter's scoop, Supernatural creator Eric Kripke leads the shortlist of directors being considered to helm the project. During the 1990s, Gaiman's Sandman series blended fantasy and horror, rejuvenating the world of adult comic books.

Check it out: "Warner Bros. TV is in the midst of acquiring television rights from sister company DC Entertainment and in talks with several writer-producers about adapting the 1990s comic... The author is not involved in the new developments, though since it is early in the process, that may change."

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

This week Penguin imprint Puffin released a new Roald Dahl collection that includes a secret ending to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a fudge recipe, and excerpts from the author's terrible report cards. Among his collection of bad grades, one teacher called the aspiring writer "consistently idle."

According to The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets, Dahl's teacher described the would-be writer in 1931: "A persistent muddler. Vocabulary negligible, sentences malconstructed. He reminds me of a camel." In 1932, another teacher added more criticism: "This boy is an indolent and illiterate member of the class."

Penguin has dubbed September Roald Dahl Month, featuring a reading marathon in the writer's honor. Meet Dahl in the video embedded above, where the author explained witches in a strange television special.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Having trouble writing your cellphone novel? Is every sentence littered with typos from your sticky typing thumbs? Textee might help!

The Textee company has designed rubber typing aids to help people use their thumbs more effectively on smartphones. What do you think? The ad has generated headlines around the Internet as people debate the necessity of the Textee and quality of the video.

Here's Gawker's take on the video: "Do you like to text, but get slapped by women because you hit the wrong keys and write things you don't mean? Then buy Textees, a stupid rubber thing that you put on your thumb! Watch the cringe-worthy infomercial inside."

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Simon & Schuster now offers digital titles to Apple users at the UK iBookstore.

Now five of the big six houses have made their titles available on the iBookstore. Simon & Schuster joins fellow publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin and Macmillan. The first four made their titles available on May 28th 2010. Simon & Schuster authors include Philippa Gregory, Tom Rob Smith, Jackie Collins, and many others.

Ian Chapman, managing director of Simon & Schuster, commented at The Bookseller: "We are thrilled to be part of the iBookstore, allowing us to bring our books to UK readers in a fresh and enticing way. We are always exploring the exciting opportunities provided by new technologies to make our books available to readers in the formats they choose."

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

If you're mesmerized by the deglazing of pans and find cooking extremely compelling, check this out. Oxmoor House is on the hunt for an experienced senior editor to be a creative leader for the production of inspiring food-related bookazines. If you don't mind working from the Time Inc. subsidiary's Birmingham, Ala. office and are a major foodie with great editing skills, this could be a great opportunity for you.

You'll act as the strategic and creative lead on assigned brands, and work with the editorial and brand manager teams to generate engaging ideas for major food corporations. You'll need to be organized and on top of your game in order to make sure each project is on time and on budget. From what we understand, the gig has the potential to appeal to someone who is both imaginative and analytical in the workplace.

The ideal candidate will have three to five years of relevant work experience in food publishing and/or journalism. You should be a team player, and be able to visualize concepts while making them come to fruition in an efficient manner. If you have this recipe for success, apply here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In his first publishing project since announcing "I've decided not to publish any more books in the traditional way," author Seth Godin will sell a 32-page ShipIt Workbook online.

The book will help fans "inspired by" his traditionally published title, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Readers must purchase the title in a $16 five pack, and Godin did not offer a digital edition. The author intends for readers to write in his workbook while working on team projects.

Check it out: "In the 32 page shipit workbook, we nail the lizard to the wall, identify it, defeat it and make something happen. If you push yourself and your team to get through the workbook, I promise your product will ship (or you'll know why). I've tested this on the road trip, taking thousands of people through it, and it's working. I hope you'll discover the same impact. Five copies cost $16 (about $3.20 each) but the price will probably rise after this printing is sold." (Via Creative Penn)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On August 31st, Chilean artists targeted the German city of Berlin for a poetry bombing. The art collective Casagrande dropped more than 100,000 bookmarks with poems from a helicopter flying over the city--in both a protest against war and a plea for global compassion.

Publishing Perspectives wrote: "The event was co-organized by the Chilean artist collective Casagrande, which launched the 'Poetry Rain' project in 2001 as a protest against war and a gesture supporting forgiveness. Over the last nine years, the group has held similar events in four other cities that were subject to intense aerial bombings at some point in their history -- Santiago de Chile (2001), Dubrovnik (2002), Guernica (2004), Warsaw (2009)."

The video embedded above depicts the Warsaw event. The group selects cities that have suffered from aerial bombings. They chose August 31st to coincide with the bicentennial of Chile's independence, hosting a number of reading events and other festivities to commemorate the auspicious occasion.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In a press conference today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted that iTunes users had downloaded 35 million books.

eBookNewser covered the event as Jobs unveiled iTunes 10--adding social networking functions to the online store. In addition, Jobs introduced a new nano iPod and iPod touch.

Here's more from the post: "The new iTunes is all about discovery and includes a new tool called 'Ping,' which operates like a social network, where users can share content and comments with their friends."

continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The literary journal Virginia Quarterly Review has canceled its winter issue following the suicide of managing editor Kevin Morrissey.

Carol Wood, a spokeswoman for the University of Virginia, told the New York Times that morale is down. "We thought it might be best for all involved on the staff to take a break and step back and wait for the conclusion of the internal review," she explained. The journal offices have been closed while the University of Virginia investigates allegations of workplace bullying by Morrissey's editor, Ted Genoways.

In March 2010, VQR won the National Magazine Award for Digital Media. In 2008, they won another National Magazine Award in the News Reporting category for a long essay about the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

A gunman named James Lee has taken hostages at the Discovery Channel headquarters in Maryland. Many news organizations attribute this webpage to the gunman.

The webpage urges the Discovery Channel to celebrate the work of Thomas Malthus and Charles Darwin. Malthus published many works about population control, a subject that obsessed the person who composed the webpage. Project Gutenberg features a free eBook version of the Malthus book, "An Essay on the Principle of Population."

Here is an excerpt: "the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man. Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio. A slight acquaintance with numbers will shew the immensity of the first power in comparison of the second. By that law of our nature which makes food necessary to the life of man, the effects of these two unequal powers must be kept equal. This implies a strong and constantly operating check on population from the difficulty of subsistence. This difficulty must fall somewhere and must necessarily be severely felt by a large portion of mankind."

continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The finalists for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize were revealed today--six fiction writers and six non-fiction writers. Winners will receive a $10,000 honorarium, and runners-up will receive $1,000.

The fiction category recognized Lucy Beckett, Ha Jin, Abraham Verghese, Marlon James, Eugenia Kim, and Chimamanda Adiche. The non-fiction category included Roger Thurow & Scott Kilman, Justine Hardy, Greg Mortenson, Michael & Elizabeth Norman, Chinua Achebe, and Dave Eggers.

According to the press release: "The 2010 finalists also explore a diverse range of challenging issues ranging from cultural dislocation (A Good Fall by Ha Jin) to famine (Enough by Roger Thurow & Scott Kilman) to the impact of war crimes and mass murder (Tears in the Darkness by Michael & Elizabeth Norman, A Postcard from the Volcano by Lucy Beckett) and are set in locations around the world, including Nigeria (The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Adiche), Jamaica (The Book of Night Women by Marlon James), Kashmir (In the Valley of the Mist by Justine Hardy), and Ethiopia (Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese)."

continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Will literary trendsetter Oprah Winfrey select Jonathan Franzen's Freedom for her next book club? The Newtonville Books blog has speculated she might pick the novel.

Here's an excerpt: "I recently received an email from my Macmillian sales rep alerting me that Oprah has selected the next book for her Book Club. There is always a frenzy surrounding the announcement, which is shrouded in secrecy. This is what Macmillian knows: 1. Oprah #64 is one of their titles. 2. Oprah will announce the book on September 17th. That will also be the onsale date of the title. (At least, the official Book Club-stickered edition. No guarantees that the book hasn't been out already.)."

UPDATE: Former GalleyCat blogger Ron Hogan added on Twitter: "Despite the @galleycat speculation, I predict: Oprah is NOT picking FREEDOM, because the book she has picked is from St. Martin's."

In 2001, Franzen famously mentioned that "I considered turning it down" when he was offered a spot on Winfrey's show and was un-invited from the show. (Via Ron Charles)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Will literary trendsetter Oprah Winfrey select Jonathan Franzen's Freedom for her next book club? The Newtonville Books blog has speculated she might pick the novel.

Here's an excerpt: "I recently received an email from my Macmillian sales rep alerting me that Oprah has selected the next book for her Book Club. There is always a frenzy surrounding the announcement, which is shrouded in secrecy. This is what Macmillian knows: 1. Oprah #64 is one of their titles. 2. Oprah will announce the book on September 17th. That will also be the onsale date of the title. (At least, the official Book Club-stickered edition. No guarantees that the book hasn't been out already.)."

In 2001, Franzen famously mentioned that "I considered turning it down" when he was offered a spot on Winfrey's show and was un-invited from the show.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Vanity Fair just published a long essay attacking author and political figure Sarah Palin. The article also featured a dismissive take on Palin's reading habits.

Check it out: "[Aides] would give her some books to read in hopes of improving the candidate's learning curve. On one such occasion, Palin accepted the books, set them aside, and for the next 25 minutes was held rapt by one of her three BlackBerrys. Eventually, an aide asked, 'What are you working on?' 'I'm reading these great e-mails,' she said, 'from the prayer warriors.'"

The essay also explored how journalist Joe McGinniss faced death threats after he moved beside the Palin home in Alaska while writing his upcoming book about the politician. Watch McGinniss himself discuss the experience in the video embedded above. (Via Jezebel)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.