The basics haven’t changed that much at the publisher’s end. They have changed drastically at the bookselling end, the proverbial tail that wags the dog. The dog is the Publisher, or the Author, depending on your point of view.

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What: UHM English Department's Fall 2009 Reading and Colloquium Series When: Thursday, Oct. 29 at 3-4:30pm Where: Kuykendall 410, UH (Manoa) Todd and Linda Shimoda will read for their new book Oh!: A Mystery of \'Mono No Aware\'. Synopsis: Oh! A mystery o [...]
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Because of its photos, this book about the Hawaiian cowboy is a pleasurable source of information. The writing in it is terrific too. Learn how Hawaiians reshaped the work of “cowboying” to the rugged terrain of Hawai`i. Also the kaula `ili or lariat, braided in unique styles – learned from th [...]
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Writers spend a lot of time on their opening paragraphs, and rightly so. Then we stand on the corner, displaying our wares under a streetlamp, waiting for a reader (or agent, or editor) to drive by. When they slow down, or stop at a red light, we boldly slink out to the curb, holding the first manuscript page of our novel up to the car window, pointing to that first seductive sentence, the alluring opening paragraph, the irresistible hook that will charm them into opening the passenger door and inviting us in. Hooker and hookee, together at last in a kind of erotic literary eHarmony dream.

But—and I apologize if you wanted me to pursue this dream further—what about the final paragraph of the novel?

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Here’s an author who is keenly aware of her own community of booksellers, future writers, and readers.

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Surfing is worldwide, but its roots are in Hawaii. From its island home, the sport has spread internationally in the last one hundred years. As surfing has grown, so has the interest in its history. Bishop Museum Archives in Honolulu holds the largest collection of historic photos in Hawaii. From th [...]
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Written by Daniel Kaha'ulelio, a native fisherman of the Lahaina region, this is perhaps the most detailed narrative pertaining to fishing customs, sources of fish, and methods of procurement. It appeared in 1902 as a series of articles in the Hawaiian language newspaper, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa. Kaha'ulel [...]
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Kepelino, like native Hawaiian historians Malo, Kamakau, and Papa 'I'i, worked in the mid-19th century to record Hawaiian historical, cultural, and religious knowledge for future generations. He wrote during a time of great intellectual ferment among Native Hawaiians, creating the bulk of his work b [...]
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For centuries, Hawaiian warriors practiced the martial art of lua under a veil of secrecy. They were as expert, renowned, and revered as the military special forces of today. With the changing times, the number of those extensively trained in lua declined and it became a lost art. By the late 1980s, [...]
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1778. Now anchored off Kaua’i and trading with Hawaiians, Capt. Cook worried `bout venereal disease being passed to natives. So, he forbade women aboard his ships and seamen from “meddling” with wahine on shore – particularly those sailors who were infected. Cook hoped for the best as he ha [...]
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