Fig Tree Books Blog

Our blog features essays, book reviews, coverage of FTB titles, and noteworthy news of American Jewish experience by our publisher.

PEN AMERICA – Update on Book Bans in the 2022-2023 School Year

Posted on March 6, 2024

Shows Expanded Censorship of Themes Centered on Race, History, Sexual Orientation and Gender  As noted in PEN America’s previous Banned in the USA reports, the movement to ban books that has grown since 2021 is deeply undemocratic, as it seeks to impose restrictions on all students and families based on the preferences of a few parents or […]

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A Publishing Giant’s Risky Fight Against Book Bans

Posted on February 2, 2024

A fiery board meeting inspired Penguin Random House to actively challenge the removal of books from school libraries By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, The Wall Street Journal Jan. 27, 2024 When Penguin Random House held a board meeting in May, book banning was one of several topics on the agenda. It was supposed to be a […]

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A.I.’s Inroads in Publishing Touch Off Fear, and Creativity

Posted on January 2, 2024

The technology has the potential to affect nearly every aspect of how books are produced — even the act of writing itself. Artificial intelligence is already being used in some aspects of the book business, and has the potential, in time, to touch nearly the whole process. By Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter Aug. 2, 2023 The […]

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Philip Roth’s Sabbath Theater … Art and Belligerency Off-Broadway

Posted on November 28, 2023

Desperate times call for degenerate measures. For American Jews, this would be a good time to call upon Philip Roth. Thane Rosenbaum Desperate times call for degenerate measures. For American Jews, this would be a good time to call upon Philip Roth. It just so happens that Roth, in the personage of one of his […]

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Guest editorial – Gaza—Where the Moral Math of Revenge Has No Equal

Posted on October 23, 2023

No other nation, most especially the United States, has ever been held to such an exacting standard of precision while responding in self-defense. By Thane Rosembaum October 22, 2023 [Fig Tree Lit welcomes responses to this guest editorial; decisions to publish are exclusively within the domain of Fig Tree Lit.] Take out your calculators. While […]

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How to Self-Publish Your E-Book

Posted on October 2, 2023

If you have a story you want to share, you can easily publish your work in popular electronic bookstores — and maybe even make a little money. Apple’s Pages app for Mac, iOS and iCloud provides all the tools needed to write, design and publish an e-book to its Apple Books store.Credit…Apple By J. D. Biersdorfer […]

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Why Audiobooks Are Skyrocketing, and How Writers Can Take Advantage

Posted on September 7, 2023

MARISSA DECUIR Audiobooks are the fastest growing format in publishing, but what exactly does that growth look like, and what should authors be doing about it? In January 2022, The New York Times reported that book sales rose during the first year of the pandemic and kept rising, with sales increasing 13% from January to November of 2021 compared to the […]

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The Hollywood strikes explained — and how they could affect you

Posted on August 1, 2023

By Don Aucoin Boston Globe Staff, July 13, 2023 Fran Drescher, actress and president of SAG-AFTRA, speaks about the vote to strike during a news conference in Los Angeles.MARK ABRAMSON/NYT It’s not exactly news that digital streaming platforms like Netflix have transformed the entertainment landscape in recent years. Now a monumental battle is under way […]

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Robert Gottlieb, Eminent Editor From le Carré to Clinton, Dies at 92

Posted on July 6, 2023

At Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker, he polished the work of a who’s who of mid-to-late 20th century writers. Robert Gottlieb at his home in Manhattan in 2016. He turned hundreds of manuscripts into well-received books, many of which sold millions of copies, won awards and made authors wealthy and […]

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Is the publishing industry broken?

Posted on June 1, 2023

Is the Publishing Industry Broken? By Rachel Deahl | Sep 02, 2022 photo credit: Illustration by Jeff Drew Max Perkins didn’t do as much administrative work as editorial assistants do today,” said Daniel Vazquez, an editor at Astra House. Although he may not know exactly what the famous 20th-century editor’s day-to-day was like—did Perkins work […]

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