Around The Web: Banished Words, Book Hype, World-Building, and 2020 Book Sales

Welcome back, readers! The Common Deer offices are open once again and we’re swiftly getting back to reality, as I’m sure many others are if they had time off recently. But as the new year takes off, here’s some fun content to read.

The Year’s Banished Words and Phrases

Lake Superior State University has released its annual list of words and phrases to be banished for being cliché, overused, insincere, or useless. As you can probably guess, most of them had to do with Covid-19 (in fact, Covid is one of them!). Check out the full list!

Book Hype Horror Story

And while we’re reflecting on the past year, here’s a look at one of the biggest book stories from last year—the promotion and publication of American Dirt. If you’ve ever wondered about the inner workings of big publishing houses, this provides some insight while also discussing gatekeeping and diversity in the industry.

Sci-Fi World-Building

The Guardian recently published some sci-fi writers’ thoughts on world-building. These authors shared how they create new and sometimes unusual words for their stories, including discussion of how they balance providing details and leaving things up to the readers to imagine.

Book Sales Up, But What About Indies?

Finally, I have for you a quick look at 2020 book sales. With many entertainment venues closed, people have turned to books, meaning sales numbers are up. But what has that meant for independent bookstores?