Need to come up with a short pitch to help get your novel published?

Open Colleges has created an infographic called, “How to Perfect Your Elevator Pitch,” which gives great advice for coming up with your 30 second proposal. Check it out:

“An elevator pitch must not beat around the bush. It should come straight to the point. Because you have only a few seconds to work with, you don’t want the other person’s eyes to glaze over! Say what you need to say quickly – it should be no longer than 30-60.” Follow this link to explore the entire graphic.”

What is Bill Gates‘ favorite business book? Business Adventures by John Brooks, a 1960s collection of New Yorker stories which profiles different companies.

Warren Buffett recommended the book to Gates back in 1991, and Gates says that the book is still relevant today. He reviewed the out-of-print title in The Wall Street Journal today, pointing out that while business times may have changed, human nature has not.

Here is an excerpt: “Unlike a lot of today’s business writers, Brooks didn’t boil his work down into pat how-to lessons or simplistic explanations for success. (How many times have you read that some company is taking off because they give their employees free lunch?) You won’t find any listicles in his work. Brooks wrote long articles that frame an issue, explore it in depth, introduce a few compelling characters and show how things went for them.”

While Amazon’s latest offer in its ongoing dispute with the Hachette Book Group may look like they are trying to be more friendly towards authors, the Authors Guild isn’t buying it.

Essentially on Tuesday, Amazon told Hachette that they would restock their author’s books if the publishers promised to give the authors 100 percent of the revenues on eBooks sold until the dispute between the companies is resolved.

Richard Russo, novelist and co-Vice President of the Authors Guild, published an open letter to Amazon responding to the offer and calling the offer “highly disingenuous.” Read more

Harlequin has signed a six-figure three-book deal with Josh Bank and Hayley Wagreich at Alloy Entertainment (NA) to pen a series of books based on the CW vampire television show The Originals. Margo Lipschultz will edit the books.

The books will consist of entirely new stories about the Original vampire characters, a family of New Orleans vampires that pledged to remain together a thousand years ago.

The books will be published under the Harlequin HQN imprint and are scheduled to hit bookstores in February 2015, April 2015 and June 2015.  The timing comes along with the conclusion of the second season of the show.

Artist Mike Stilkey uses the covers of discarded books as the canvas for colorful paintings featuring the likes of animals dressed up in costumes or playing instruments.

Thisiscolossal.com visited his recent solo show at The Gilman Contemporary Gallery and posted a ton of photos of these amazing creations. In an interview series posted on  YouTube, Stilkey explains that he had no formal training but was drawn to painting through skateboard culture.

Here is more about the artist from his bio: “Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery.”

Archie Comics plans to re-launch their superhero imprint under a new name, Dark Circle Comics. This division was previously known as Red Circle Comics.

The executives plan to announce some of the new work-in-progress titles on the Dark Circle list at this year’s Comic Con International: San Diego event. Alex Segura, who serves as senior vice president of publicity and marketing, has been named editor of this imprint.

Co-CEO and publisher Jon Goldwater had this statement in the press release: ”This is a fresh start and a new direction for these iconic characters. It all boils down to story – tales that feature compelling characters by some of the best talent in comics. Alex – with the help of myself, our President Mike Pellerito, CCO Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and Editor Paul Kaminski – has carefully curated a line of comics that will hopefully be seen as the definitive interpretations of these characters for a long time. We couldn’t be more excited.”

Collective Digital Studio has acquired exclusive online rights to James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series. The studio intends to present this fantasy story as a YouTube mini-series.

This project would not mark the first time that Patterson’s popular young adult series has received the adaptation treatment. Yen Press has released seven volumes of Maximum Ride as a manga series with illustrations by artist NaRae Lee; three more installments are in the pipeline.

Here’s more from Variety: “The eight-book Maximum Ride series, which has sold more than 30 million copies, centers on six kids who have been genetically modified to be 98% human and 2% bird — giving them wings and the power of flight. Storyline follows the group, led by 14-year-old girl Maximum “Max” Ride, after they escape from the lab facility known as The School and are pursued by their former captors.” (via Page to Premiere)

As of January 2014, John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars may have become the most frequently purchased book in 48 states within the nation. The Mashable team arrived at this conclusion after combing through the data for both print book and Kindle eBook sales on Amazon.

The only 2 states with different results appear to be Washington D.C. and Hawaii; D.C. readers are enjoying The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and Hawaiian bibliophiles prefer Soul Healing Miracles by Dr. Zhi Gang Sha. What was the last book you purchased?

Barnes & Noble has promised to be more friendly to breastfeeding mothers in New York, as part of a settlement with New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.

As part of the deal, the book retailer will train all of its New York state employees about the company’s breastfeeding policy, in a move to ensure that women will be free to breastfeed in any of their stores without harassment. In addition, Barnes & Noble will display the international symbol for breastfeeding at the entrances to its New York stores and will pay $10,000 to Rockland County to support its Breastfeeding Promotion and Support Program.

The promise comes after the Attorney General’s office investigated an incident at one of the retailer’s locations in Nanuet, NY. Essentially a nursing mother was asked to cover up or leave the store while trying to breastfeed on March 16th. Under New York State law, mothers may breastfeed in any public location without having to cover themselves. Read more

How do you feel when you finish reading a really good book? The Epic Reads team has posted a video about “Book Hangovers” on their YouTube channel.

The video embedded above features Johnna Scrabis, Riley Soloner, and Abby Holland discussing the effects of “book hangovers.” These bibliphiles feel that endings can sometimes lead to an unpleasant “void” as a consequence.

Do you agree? Which books have made you suffer through “hangovers” in the past?