Around the Word

A Writer's Life. Over on Thought Catalogue, video-game journalist Leigh Alexander has a comprehensively sardonic explication of the joys and horrors of being a freelance writer. Covering things like how much to drink, how long to wear that pair of sweatpants before shudderingly tossing them in the hamper, and which things conspire against you to make you miss yet another deadline (hint: Facebook), "How to Be a Freelance Writer" lays out all the aspects of the writing life that most of us don't really want to admit to.

iNovel? According to MediaBistro (who heard it from Good E-Reader), next month Apple is probably going to unveil new self-publishing software, which will compete with Barnes & Noble's PubIt and Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing platform. No real details are known yet, but this could be a big deal for aspiring authors, offering yet another way to get your book out into the world.

Worst Line of the Year. Our friend David Murray has selected his contender for the "clunkiest, clankiest, junkiest, stankiest" line from a speech in all of 2011. Want to know what it is? Click over to Vital Speeches of the Day.

Out With the Old. One more end-of-year wrap-up: Kirkus presents their choices for best book covers of 2011. But lest we dwell too much in the past, here's Flavorwire's ten most anticipated books of 2012. The list includes yet another Bolaño, Adam Levin's first short story collection, and Chip Kidd's graphic novel about Batman (!). What books are you looking forward to this year? Tell us in the comments.