The deadly threat of Young Adult Fiction

More than half the consumers of books classified for young adults aren’t all that young. According to a new study, fully 55% of buyers of works that publishers designate for kids aged 12 to 17 -- known as YA books -- are 18 or older, with the largest segment aged 30 to 44. Accounting for 28% of sales, these adults aren’t just purchasing for others -- when asked about the intended recipient, they report that 78% of the time they are purchasing books for their own reading. The insights are courtesy of Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age, an ongoing biannual study from Bowker Market Research that explores the changing nature of publishing for kids.

Sub-Cultural Darwinism: Some Thoughts on the Rise and Fall of Fandoms

Over the past few months, I have been slowly pulling together some thoughts on the question of why it is that certain pop culture institutions prosper while others decline.

This I believe!

Professional writers winning the Best Fan Writer Hugo completely undermines the purity of the award! Let us return to the glories of the earliest Best Fan Writer awards when it was reserved for bone fide pure laine fans like Alexei Panshin, Ted White and Wilson Tucker.

A poll not endorsed by astronomers

[Poll #1866200]

A poll not endorsed by astronomers

[Poll #1866200]

It turns out the gender field in the F0521

is optional. I did not know that.

Mindwebs: Rebel and Great Slow Kings & Earthmen Bearing Gifts

Rebel

This tale of youthful rebellion *with a twist* would have been more acceptable as a single page cartoon in, say, the New Yorker circa 1965.

The voice of the rebellious teen was very familiar sounding.

Great Slow Kings & Earthmen Bearing Gifts

Hey, I should have held off on that Zelazny question; here's one about some very deliberate co-rulers. The weird thing is I just ran into a mention of Great Slow Kings in the last couple of days.

Earthmen Bearing Gifts: predictable but short. Spot the moment when you can be really sure Brown never bothered to fact check this one.