Scribd is a No Show - CEO Trip does a Bunk

Last night's Litopia After Dark tackled the big issues of Scribd's blatant book thefts. Having thrown down the gauntlet to Scribd CEO Trip Adler (a wee 26 year old), Litopia attempted to call Trip for the live show, but he was too busy cowering at the other side of his office, listening to the trill of his desk phone, hoping it would all go away.

The podcast went ahead on the subject and we really beat out the problem, searched for more illicit stuffs saved on Scribd's site, and still had no counter argument... there just isn't one.

Scribd has the opportunity to pick up the publishing industry's dropped mantle, but at the moment they're too busy making their money and pursuing their God-given right to the American Dream.

Intellectual Property can kiss their ass - I guess.

The issue isn't going away and what Scribd doesn't yet understand is that unlike the Pirate Bay, Scribd is hosting the illegal content. They're culpable.

Ooh-er! Watch and listen to Litopia as this story continues to turn its pages.

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Podwatch Review the Litopia Podcast

The first major review of LITOPIA AFTER DARK has appeared on Podwatch... and it's a HIT!

You could be forgiven for thinking a podcast hosted by literati would be stuffy and outdated, but that does not begin to describe those involved in Liopia. Rather, the show is accessible to any reader or writer with an interest in the area, and the discussions are interesting, entertaining and contemporary. When I speak passionately to someone about how great podcasts are, Litopia is precisely the sort of thing I would use as an example. The subject matter is too narrow for most TV or radio, but for their target audience this podcast will be a godsend.

Over the past 2 years, podcasting has gone from a handful of enthusiasts talking about technology, to a thriving community of content creators — both independant and mainstream.

There are now thousands of podcasts to choose from, which sounds great until you try to find a favourite. I believe it is the future of broadcasting, but there is a lot of dirt to dig through before finding a gem. This is where Podwatch comes in — every week I will do the hunting for you, and will provide comprehensive reviews on the best and worst of podcasting.

- Podwatch

As a regular panelist I'm so pleased with this development. It's a real sign that Peter Cox continues to be the defacto Word-pusher on the web. Certainly it is a brilliant outcome since Podwatch only reviews the top podcasts in their genre, and the Litopia podcast is being compared to shows that attract hundreds of thousands of listeners - The Best on the web.

9.5/10 Overall If you are a writer, or simply someone interested in literary culture, Liopia should be a permanent subscription in your podcatcher. Cox is likable and does a great job at covering all the news you will need to stay in the know.

You can read the full review here.

Or, you can listen to Podwatch's Tom's podcast on Litopia here.

Litopia After Dark: The End Of Civilisation As We Know It

People are getting dumber, the world is sinking into entropy and signs of decline and fall are all around. So why are we bothering with Litopia After Dark this week? Well, someone has to sort it out!

The Queen’s English is on the endangered list - but does it matter? Katie Price has a book in the running for a major award but she’s not the writer - do we care? Disney have turned our beloved Famous Five into a Hollywood cartoon - should we stop the meddling money-spinners?

Also, Bret-Easton Ellis didn’t care then and doesn’t care now, comic books stultify the imagination and kids read Heat magazine. What can we do to stop this linguistic rot?

This week, to contemplate the last rays of sunlight over intellectual Armageddon our panellists are Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray and Richard Howse. Our very special guest this week is best-selling children’s author MG Harris.

Links mentioned in the show…

English is Dying

David Derbyshire in the Daily Mail

Who needs the author?

Ben Hoyle in the Times

21st Century Five

Nicole Martin on The Famous Five

Wunderkind

Scott Timberg in the Los Angeles Times

Comic Books

Cached page of The Globe and Mail

Litopia After Dark Podcast

LITOPIA AFTER DARK this week takes a fascinating direction as we discuss one of the biggest and most important questions facing writers and publishers today - how will books be sold in the future? Also, The Litopia Effect - how our discussions are influencing the world of literature as yet another story of fake memoirs hits the headlines. Plus we are all, literally, stereotypes… Jacqueline Wilson says… and writers - mad, bad and dangerous in power?

To discuss these topics in depth are Donna Ballman, Beverly Gray, Dave Bartram and Richard Howse. Our special guest this week is columnist, power-blogger about all things literary and Managing Editor of The Book Depository, Mark Thwaite (with interjections from Lola and Marnie).

Of course, you’ve missed the opportunity to comment as we broadcast live on Ustream (8pm GMT Friday) but there’s always next week.

Links mentioned in the show :

• Fraudulent memoirs

The Boston Globe article about Misha Defonseca.

• Harry Potter Unites the World

Article in The Times Online

• Jacqueline Wilson disapproves of herself

Alison Pearson comments in The Daily Mail.

• The Future of Bookselling

We chat with Mark Thwaite, Managing Editor of The Book Depository, which aims to make all books available to all through republishing and digitising of content and is the fastest growing book distributor in Europe. He is also the founder of the online literary journal Ready Steady Book.

Litopia After Dark - Mummy Stole My Fingers

Another week, another podcast ;)

Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. Again, we can be found live on UStream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there’s an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the program. In this week’s packed show we will be discussing Literary Prizes. AL Kennedy has just been awarded the (British) Costa Prize and yet the book is a bleak read, not universally appealing. We discuss whether the literary prize system is fatally flawed from the outset. Also - Misery Lit, the relatively new best-sellers of the publishing industry. What are the appeal of these harrowing, shocking memoirs? And why do people love them? The panel discuss the dangers of life story accounts spiraling out of control and the race to be the most unpleasant yet. This week’s guests are Dave Bartram, Beverley Gray, Richard Howse, Donna Ballman and Eve Harvey.

Litopia After Dark - Arts Council Funding

Another Friday... another Litopia Afterdark Podcast. And this week, my first this year, we included a live uStream so you could watch and listen live as it was recorded. A very trippy experience, especially when I popped over to another live podcast that included a conversation with the keyboardist from Maroon 5.

Anyhoo, this week, we turn our attention to a trifecta of cuts from the British Council, the Arts Council and Public Lending Right. We consider whether print-on-demand coupled with self-publishing is really an option for authors, and look at some of the ground rules for success in writing for the children’s market.

Check out the player on the right, plug in those headphones and start listening.

Litopia After Dark - 2 Podcasts - Living Dangerously! & Is Story Dead?

Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging weekly look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture.

Is Story Dead?

For the last show of 2007 we’re doing something a little different. This week, VARIETY reports that more and more films are abandoning the classical 3-act structure in favour of nonlinear story construction. So the main question we’re going to address tonight is all about the future of story itself. Andrew Gillman, who will be familiar to many listeners of our earlier podcasts, is currently directing another series for BBC3 starring Rob Brydon. We asked Andrew and his producer, Alex Kavallierou, to give us their thoughts and some context on this most fundamental issue for all writers. Our panellists are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray and Richard Howse.


Living Dangerously

This week on the podcast: If you look at the bestseller charts on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s not hard to predict what you’re going to see. In the UK, 15 of the top 20 hardback non-fiction books are television spin-offs. Stateside, this week’s hardcover fiction list is equally humdrum - you’d be forgiven for thinking that we’d all been swallowed up in a time warp and gone back to the 1980s. So - has "safe" publishing finally taken over? We also tackle buzz marketing, the ten most manly writers ever, and the definitive American woman of our time. This episode’s guests are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray, Richard Howse and Lynn Price.

For more information or to listen to the podcast, head on over to Litopia's Podcast page, or simply listen to the link on the right.

Litopia After Dark - Podcast 2

The second LITOPIA AFTER DARK podcast was recorded last night - another round of live and uncensored discussion on the world of publishing.

Topics:

• Publishers in the Community - Social Networking
  
• JK Rowling and the Lexicon Litigation
  
• Pullman's Propaganda
  
• Current Reads and Recommendations

This week's guest speaker was Brian Clegg - a Cambridge polymath, says his Redhammer page. For those of you who love Science - here's his blog.

For more information or to listen to the podcast, head on over to Litopia's Podcast page.

Litopia on Facebook

To commemorate the launch of the Litopia After Dark Podcast, we now have a Facebook Group, bringing together writers and readers across the world. So, come along, join up, and start listening.

- http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7537786594

Litopia After Dark Podcast 1

Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture.

I was involved in this, the first in a new series of writer/publishing discussions, on Friday night and I must say that it was good fun, and as a tester session worked very well using Skype. It's a brilliant medium for discussions of this kind and hopefully you'll find it an enjoyable listen (just ignore the idiot that keeps saying "you know")

Topics:

• The Amazon Kindle
• Tom Cruise's new unauthorised biography
• Bloomsbury's Redundancies
• Current Reads and Recommendations

For more information or to listen to the podcast, head on over to Litopia's Podcast page.

Litopia Podcast 8 - My Discussion on Beats

The 8th Podcast is up, and the second in my series of 10 minute sessions on Writers Tips. This second one: Beats.

You can listen to it on iTunes, or subscribe to it from here

As it says on the tin:

Litopia’s Donna Ballman interviews the man who has been called the master of contemporary mystery writing - James W Hall is author of bestselling 15 novels and is professor of literature and writing at Florida International University. We also interview one of the most powerful figures in British Children’s publishing, Sarah Davies, as she prepares to move to America to start a children’s literary agency. And have a writer’s master-class from Litopia’s Richard Howse on the subject of the Beat.

Litopia Podcast 6

The 6th Podcast is up, and the first in my series of 10 minute sessions on Writers Tips. This first one: Describing Characters.

You can listen to it on iTunes, or subscribe to it from here

Litopia Podcast 4

So, my interview with Salley Vickers made it into Litopia's 4th Podcast - Willow. She was a nice lady, and I'm very gracious to her for allowing me to interview her over her sarnies only minutes between arriving and having to give her full talk, which is available either on My Website, or at Bracknell Forest's Website... you decide.

Anyhoo, you can access the Podcast (all 4 of them thus far - and you don't have to be a member of Litopia) by navigating to here.

Next time though, I must make sure we don't sit in the kitchen. Moto thinks it sounds like a Chinese kitchen! As whiney as the background voices are, they're only Librarians - surely much more dangerous with a cleaver than any Chinese Chef!

The Litopia Podcast

New feature to Litopia, courtesy of Peter Cox is the first edition of the Litopia Podcast, either available here: http://www.litopia.com/index.php?categoryid=28

Or, by going to ITunes, and searching for Litopia in Podcasts.

Sheer class, and this month includes the winning stories in the latest Litopia competition, an interview with Andrew Gillman on directing for TV and film in the UK... and, well, I haven't finished listening yet.