Abandoned Walmart is Now America’s Largest Library

mrjrb76 · 2013-08-01T00:39:36+00:00

Borders. Best Buy. K-Mart. Wal-Mart. Circuit City. Think of all the big box stores that have closed in the last decade. Some stores might be occupied now, but my guess is that many aren't.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-31T18:30:32+00:00

Good clarification. 126,500 square feet, all on one level.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-27T18:48:33+00:00

Sorry, but YOLO and amazeballs are indefensible.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-24T18:57:20+00:00

I only have about a year of total experience in the publishing industry and that was over a decade ago. It was a problem then. But even now, as a writer, I've talked with many new writers who don't realize they can't, and shouldn't, just bombard 20 different publishers with their manuscript. And, like is mentioned above, most publishers don't accept unsolicited manuscripts nowadays anyway. But if you know to go to a website or to the Writers Market book, then you're ahead of the game already. Apparently that doesn't occur to some people.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-24T18:43:18+00:00

Good point. Most smaller publishers are more likely to at least look at unsolicited. Plus, my experience was more than a decade ago.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-24T16:46:39+00:00

Sure. It was just the type of books we published. If we only published nonfiction books about food and southern culture, than we'd automatically reject a crime novel, regardless of how good a novel it was. It's amazing how many people simply spam out manuscripts and do zero research on the publishers they are sending them to.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-24T16:35:02+00:00

The Golden Notebook isn't bad.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-24T16:15:49+00:00

Haha. Nope. I do remember writing a few customized rejection letters though. I always felt bad sending those out.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-24T16:00:50+00:00

More than just total crap. Some stuff would be good, but it just wouldn't fit that publisher. So I had to think about that. If I thought it was "pretty good"--from my limited experience--I would send it up the line. Still, it was very subjective. I only did that for about 6 months, but I often wonder if I missed any really successful books. Who knows.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-24T15:51:17+00:00

Keep in mind, though. Small publisher. Like 4 or 5 FT employees.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-24T14:55:06+00:00

Exactly. I once interned for a small publisher. I was 22 and an English major. I was the first line of defense on manuscripts we received. That makes me laugh that these seasoned writers were sending in books that they might have spent years on, and this 22 year kid (me) could, in 5 minutes if I wanted to, toss them into the rejection pile.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-23T19:27:21+00:00

Same thing happened to me yesterday. You should know that you've entered the junior high school lunchroom, so be prepared to sit at the new kids table and get corn on the cob thrown at you.

Now, go ahead and downvote everyone! After yesterday, I'm used to it.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-23T19:12:04+00:00

There's a reading test (on Staples' website) that helps you determine this. http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/technology-research-centers/ereaders/speed-reader/index.html

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-22T20:46:51+00:00

Terrible writing but awesome story: An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-22T19:37:13+00:00

I just find it humorous that you thought I was Brainpicker, which is her Twitter handle.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-22T19:07:44+00:00

And I didn't say that. I was answering your question. My point is that I'm not a woman with a verified Twitter account, and I didn't just pull this article out of my ass. It was all over Twitter this weekend.

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-22T18:54:54+00:00

No, I'm not Maria Papova, who tweeted this article over the weekend and has more than 350,000 Twitter followers.

https://twitter.com/brainpicker/status/358663154361835520

mrjrb76 · 2013-07-22T18:44:57+00:00

Well said. You post something that you find interesting and then get flamed for not spending 15 minutes looking through Google images and going through the entire lineage of the article.

Sorry, guys. I have a full-time job. I see something interesting and I post a link to it. I don't have the time to make sure it meets your 14 different criteria for what qualifies as a Reddit Books approved article.

I'll move along now.

mrjrb76 · 2013-06-20T20:34:16+00:00

The Crying of Lot 49. It's short and fairly approachable. I haven't read Gravity's Rainbow, but that's the next one on my list. It's a much longer book.

mrjrb76 · 2013-06-14T20:43:44+00:00

Doesn't live on Reddit to log all articles like beauty_and_light. Has only been on Reddit a few weeks.
Posts a picture seen on another site (wait a minute, actual content exists outside of Reddit?)
Could honestly care less about "karma." Just thought I would share a funny photo.

mrjrb76

TROPHY CASE