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- Seal of success: writers and publishers supported the return of Izvestia's literary section
The book industry has welcomed the revival of the classic Izvestia column. After the "premiere" - the release of an excerpt of a fresh novel in the Hunger Games series - we asked authors and publishers to share their thoughts on the relevance of this format today. Writers Vadim Panov, Alexander Tsypkin and Elena Mikhalkova believe that such practice will become a navigator for readers in the modern literary process and will familiarize them with the novelties of Russian and foreign authors.
The relaunch opened a new "Hunger Games"
On the eve of Izvestia announced the revival of its popular format - the first to publish excerpts from new books by major contemporary writers. In different years the newspaper published Maxim Gorky, Mikhail Sholokhov, Andrei Voznesensky, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Vasily Shukshin and Valentin Rasputin. The column was relaunched with the publication of an exclusive excerpt from Susan Collins' new novel "Dawn of the Harvest" based on the "Hunger Games" universe. The new book will be released in Russia and around the world in March.
- The publication of excerpts is an opportunity for readers to touch the long-awaited novel and plunge into the atmosphere of the book even before its release. We are glad that Izvestia is resuming this format and we and the authors will be able to introduce the audience to the bright literary events, among which is a world bestseller, a new story from the cult series "The Hunger Games", - said the director of the fiction department of AST publishing house Sergey Rubis.
The initiative found support in the book community. Thus, the writer and screenwriter Alexander Tsypkin, the creator of the literary-theater project "Besprintsypnye Readings", said that he himself in a sense became famous thanks to the publication of his stories in magazines and newspapers.
- It's a great idea that needs to be revived. Readers will have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with this or that language, with the author's style, and decide whether or not to buy the book. Good authors should be published - it makes no difference whether they are foreign or domestic. If the author leads a person to something light, it doesn't matter what country he is from," says the writer.
Ekaterina Pisareva, editor-in-chief of Litres Group, noted that the idea of publishing preprints is not new, but in recent years has not been so widespread in the media, despite the fact that it is a great opportunity to familiarize oneself with the work in advance.
- A preprint expands the audience of a book, it can be called the simplest marketing tool. For any author, be it a famous one (like Gabriel Garcia Marquez) or a beginner (substitute any name here), it is important to become visible, to reach the reader, to get a chance to interest and captivate - preprints just cope with these tasks," she added.
Konstantin Milchin, editor-in-chief of the Yandex Books service, believes that a well-chosen fragment can tell the reader more about a book than a review, which will also appear on the pages of the publication. "Actually, book teasers themselves are not a new invention, it's just that there was no such title before. In past centuries, it was about author's readings in salons for selected invitees, now it is possible to publish fragments for a wide circle," the expert added.
Orientation of readers in the literary stream
Writer Elena Mikhalkova - author of popular detective novels "Feather of a Paper Bird," "The Well and the Butterfly" and "Look, Turn Away, Look" - called the publication of teasers in the form of excerpts from her most anticipated books an attempt to turn readers toward the book "in a world of victorious visuals."
- I go on social media, and the further I go, the more I see very short, literally 20-30 second videos on absolutely any topic. They have millions of views. Very few books can dream of such a circulation, unless you take the most popular ones. And in a way, for me, these videos mean the victory of visual over letters," explained the writer.
According to Mikhalkova, in any bookstore the reader faces thousands of titles. Only someone who clearly knows what he came here for, or a prepared person, can orient himself here. "And it seems to me that teasers are a great navigator in this 'sea'. It gives the reader a choice and gives him an understanding of what exactly he wants to read, what has come out recently, the novelties of world literature," the author added.
Vadim Panov, a science fiction writer, author of the book series "Secret City", "Hermeticon" and La Mistique De Moscow , shared with Izvestia that he himself gets acquainted with some literary novelties by reviewing fragments of them in the press. And he doesn't mind sharing excerpts from his future books with readers in the same way.
- This is a very correct and interesting topic, because, firstly, it allows readers to familiarize themselves with a new book in advance. I'm a reader too, I'm always interested in reading at least an excerpt a couple months or a few weeks before release. Naturally, this fuels my interest in the work, I always want to know at least in general terms what the book will be about, and to immerse myself in it a little bit," said the writer.
Panov considers it important to talk not only about novels, but also about other expected works, whether it is a movie or a video game.
- Another important point, in my opinion, is the very fact that such a large publication as Izvestia prints excerpts from books. This shows people the importance of literature in principle. It is one of the most important ways for people to learn about the world, to learn about themselves. It is, of course, a hackneyed phrase, but a good book makes you want to think. And as human experience shows us, the more we read, the better," the author added.
"Izvestia" will regularly familiarize its readers with the major works of Russian and foreign literature.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
