Eric at My Heart’s Porch is an aspiring writer and reader and I drifted over from the feed to his site today to check out a possible link to a book he’s reading titled City of Refuge. He’s evidently not nuts over it so of course, I went onto Amazon to find out what the novel is about.
I found the following information:
City of Refuge by Valerie Farber and Judith Crown, published by Inkwell Enterprises May 28, 2008
City of Refuge by Tom Piazza, published by Harper August 19th, 2008
City of Refuge by Kenzo Kitakata, to be published by Vertical Press November 25th, 2008
Rather interesting, no, that with the publishing industry still being inundated with wannabe writers that in the space of almost exactly 6 months, three books come out with the same title?
Of course Harper Collins is the big guy here, one of the largest publishing houses with many rooms. I found Vertical Press via Google and it appears to be an established translator and publisher of Japanese artists and writers. Inkwell Enterprises does not come up other than as a business listing in Casselberry, Florida, and does not have a website listed.
I believe that what we’re going to be seeing is an awful lot of repetitive titles once more and more self-published books are made available through dealers such as Amazon. Self-publishing is not the only reason for this, of course, but it’s more likely that the author in love with his book and willing to self-publish by one method or another is also less likely to bother checking his title or even being willing to give it up if it’s already been taken. What I imagine is the leap from merely title to content and story.
It’s a new world with new problems.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
Thanks for the link.
I’ve noticed a little of the same. Home, both a memoir by Julie Andrews and a novel by Marilynne Robinson. My book is tentatively titled the same. Sure to change in such company.
City of Refuge, if I recall from Piazza, was a popular jazz song, which may, if nothing else, explain the Japanese title.