April fools is loved by many, though its always more fun to be on the creating end of the joke.
The publishing world is no exception to this joke-filled love. Famous authors, readers, and publishing professionals in the past have all shared their humor with their readers, friends, and fans and will always continue to do so. Their humor, of course will always have a little mix of their publishing love usually involved:
1. This is a tweet by John Green from a few years ago:
2. Last year, Smashwords made a really good one concerning the future of publishing:
Smashwords Unveils Kindle Author: Smashwords CEO Mark Coker penned a blog post outlining a new Amazon program called “Kindle Author,” which “generates high-quality fiction using complex software algorithms.” Coker continued, “It’s like Build-A-Bear for ebooks. The reader tells Kindle Author what they want in a story, and then Kindle Author automatically generates the book.” He ended his post with the quip, “The final thing I find difficult to believe is that I chose April 1 to share this unbelievable news with you.” 2015
3. Back in 2013, publisher Chelsea Green showed us her wit:
Chelsea Green, a small publisher of books about sustainable living, unveiled their latest imprint: Apocalyptica (™), a new eBook-only imprint for “green” erotica. “Who’s writing erotica for the permaculture activists, horse farmers, fermentos, and orchardists? No one. It’s an open market. We decided to jump in bed right away,” their President “said.”
4. Last year, Chelsea was at it again:
Eat Your Words: Earth conscientious publisher Chelsea Green posted on its site that, in advance of Earth Day 2015, it would be introducing an “entirely new type of book – the completely biodegradable, and in certain instances edible, book.” 2015
5. As the big publishers begin to merge, this joke may not seem as funny:
Shelf Awareness described “a tumultuous weekend in publishing” in which the Big Six became The Big One:
“One, under the aegis of Random House, combines HarperCollins and Hachette and will be called Random Ha Ha, while the other, under Penguin, comprises Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, and will be called SSMac Penguin.”
6. The photo in this one says it all:
Baby Geniuses: The Paris Review announced the launch of The Paris Review for Young Readers, “the first magazine that writes up to children.” The post was complete with a photo of the publication’s editor Lorin Stein reading to young children, while smoking; and a table of contents, listing entries such as a poem from Frederick Seidel entitled “Don’t Be Afraid, Children—It’s Just Me, Frederick Seidel.” 2015
7. This one pokes fun at Amazon, which is always in good fun:
The Millions revealed the latest Amazon purchase: English™.
“Amazon announced today that it has acquired the English language and plans to fully privatize the world’s predominant mode of written communication. As of 6 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time April 1, anyone writing in Amazon’s proprietary language, now known as English™, will be obligated to pay a “licensing fee” to the Seattle-based online retailer.”
8. And we have saved the funniest for last:
Beyonce, the Poet: British poet, editor and publisher Tom Chivers reported that he would be publishing the first book of poems from Beyoncé Knowles. “Working with Beyoncé has been a dream,” said Chivers. “She knows her sonnets from her spondeees. She is, in many ways, the Emily Dickinson of her generation.” 2015
As expected, our publishing world is hilarious, and always showing their literary love. One can only imagine what they have in store for us this year.
Happy April Fool’s Day!
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