Arianna Huffington

John Pavley, CTO of Huffington Post and speaker at the Publishing Business Conference & Expo spoke with Gigaom yesterday on the Huffington Post's recent decision to end anonymous commenting in order to combat abusive "trolls," an effort that he will lead. Pavley will continue to stretch his technological know-how at the Expo's Mobile & Digital Magazine Symposium on September 23^rd.  He, with Livingly Media CEO Tony Mamone, will delve into the challenges and opportunities unique to digital-only magazines and may even impart tips to limit your own site's trolls. Click here to learn more.

One of the most controversial stories in today’s Morning Roundup was the news that Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington wants to end anonymous commenting on her site. She explains that the troll problem is getting more aggressive and that people should “stand up for what they say and not ‘hide’ behind anonymity.” But is it the anonymity [...]

The post The Anonymous Comment Debate, and Why HuffPo’s Proposed Solution Won’t Work appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.

How I love author parties!

According to what I read in The New York Times this morning, it looks like there was quite a splash of a party this past Monday night to celebrate Kurt Andersen’s new book, “True Believers” (unfortunately the book was given a less-than-stellar review by Janet Maslin elsewhere in the paper).

I’ll never forget my first author party when I was a young editor just starting out at Ballantine Books. Ok, since you asked, I’ll tell you about it.

The June release of British writer Ian McEwan’s “On Chesil Beach” was accompanied by screenings of a 28-minute film profiling the author at dozens of bookstores in the United States. According to producer Powell’s Books, the film aimed to go beyond the traditional author reading to inspire “spirited discussion about great new books and their impact on readers’ lives.” This was, perhaps, an innovative and effective tool for promoting McEwan. But if proponents of the emerging tool of webcasting are proven right, the logistical challenges accompanying such an operation (and those inherent in luring a finite set of audience members to bookstores to watch