Since its invention in 1965, booksellers have depended on the ISBN system used internationally to facilitate the distribution of books and to track sales. However, the digital revolution is changing even this long-standing publishing tradition. eBooks do not need, and mostly do not have, ISBN numbers (the cost of acquiring an ISBN ranges from $25 to $250). In a world that…
Category: Opinion
The Writer’s Diet: Is a Trim Essay a Good Essay?
WARNING: your writing may be headed for a coronary. No, this is not an indictment of your eating habits. (Believe me--these days I can hardly put fingers to keyboard without a sugary coffee and half a bag of Cadbury's mini eggs in me. I am intimately familiar with the ailment that is "writer's bum." Ergo,…
Read More "The Writer’s Diet: Is a Trim Essay a Good Essay?"
To the Beat of Our Own Drum: My Life Among the Beat Generation
This guest post comes to us by way of one of our eNotes educators, wordprof. Besides serving as one of our literary experts, having written two books on drama and worked for Purdue University, wordprof has much to share for having witnessed firsthand one of the most interesting time periods in American literary history. Read…
Read More "To the Beat of Our Own Drum: My Life Among the Beat Generation"
Do Gorillas Use the Underground Railroad? Children Making Meaning from Adult Puzzles
This weekend, NPR's This American Life featured stories on "Kid Logic." Over the course of the hour, Ira Glass introduced stories of children who tried to make sense of the many puzzles of the adult world. In one story, a little girl's best friend discovers that her father "is the Easter Bunny." Rather than putting two-and-two…
Read More "Do Gorillas Use the Underground Railroad? Children Making Meaning from Adult Puzzles"
Having a Ball at the MOTH
Last week I caught a live show called "The Moth." Perhaps you've heard of it? It's a little like a live version of This American Life--ordinary people (some aspiring writers and performers, many not) headline a show in which they each have five minutes to tell a true story on a theme. On the night I was…
If You’re Going to Procrastinate, You Better Do It Right
A little unorthodox advice from a fellow student--our eNotes intern. There’s winter, spring, summer, and fall… And then there’s midterm season. For us quarter-system kids, the time is now. (For you semester kids, don’t pity us—they’re coming for you.) If you’re in college, you know this is one of the worst times of the year.…
Read More "If You’re Going to Procrastinate, You Better Do It Right"
Every Book A Surprise
Ah, the instant gratification of the vending machine. Always there when you desperately require a dozen eggs or a business card, and no dilly-dallying about it! Well, perhaps that's only in Japan... Regardless, the capabilities of the vending machine have now been pushed to new levels in Toronto, where you can now find the amazing,…
Tips from the eNotes Intern: Getting Over the Post-Winter Break Blues
Here at eNotes, our intern evidently doesn't pull any punches. Following are the straight up facts about the post-winter break blues (aka 'WAA') and how to overcome them with this six step program, straight from your fellow student's mouth: WINTER BREAK IS OVER. Ouch. That sort of hurt, didn’t it? I do apologize, I just…
Read More "Tips from the eNotes Intern: Getting Over the Post-Winter Break Blues"