The literary journal Electric Literature has released another single sentence animation to celebrate Electric Literature #4.

The video embedded above gives the reader a brief, surreal glimpse at a literary dog. You can read the first paragraph of each story from the issue at this link.

Here’s more from the site: “Andre da Loba‘s eclectic interpretation of author Robero Ransom‘s magical “Three Figures and a Dog”, published in Electric Literature No. 4. With music by Tim Leeds. Single Sentence Animations are creative collaborations. The writer selects a favorite sentence from his or her work and the animator creates a short film in response. Electric Literature is an anthology of short fiction dedicated to reinvigorating the short story using new media and innovative distribution.”

Happy Friday! Today’s Booked feature has a selection of upcoming literary events for everybody to enjoy.

Mixer Reading and Music Series with readings by Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Sara Marcus, Rob Sheffield. Your hosts are Melissa Febos and Rebecca Keith. Everybody will gather at Cakeshop on Monday, October 18th starting at 7pm. (New York, NY)

In The Flesh reading series starring Beth Raymer, Daniel Allen Cox, and 5 contributors to Orgasmic: Erotic Stories for Women. There will also be a boudoir photography slideshow, free cupcakes, and giveaways like chocolate body paint. It’s happening on Thursday, October 21st from 7:30pm-10pm. (New York, NY)

The Heroines of Literature Greenwich Village walking tour and book launch party will be held on Tuesday, October 26th starting at 6:15pm. Meet at bookbook bookstore. The party and signing will also be held there after the walk which will start at 7:30pm. (New York, NY)

To get your events posted, visit our Facebook Your Next Literary Event page for more information.

Borders has entered the self-publishing fray, competing with Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Smashwords with the new Borders Get Published program for eBooks.

The program will be driven by the BookBrewer publishing platform. Starting October 25, writers can publish and sell eBooks through the Borders eBook store, as well as other partner eBook retailers.  Borders hopes that both bloggers and self-published authors will use the service to publish their work.

eBookNewser has more about pricing and royalties: “There are two tiers of pricing for those looking to get published –$89.99 and $199.99. Under the basic package, BookBrewer will assign the book an ISBN and make it available to major eBook stores at a price set by the writer. Royalties will be based on sales and will vary with each retailer. The higher priced package comes with a full version of the ePub file, that authors can share with friends, family and press and submit to other eBook stores.”

Twilight tattoos are not the only contenders on the literary tattoo playing field. Novelist Justin Taylor and literary agent Eva Talmadge collaborated on a nonfiction compilation of literary tattoos based on their blog, tattoolit.com.

The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide came out this week from Harper Perennial and the trailer is embedded above. We caught up with the authors to talk about how the book came to be.

E = Eva Talmadge
J = Justin Taylor

Q: From your experience, which book/author receives the most tattoo requests?
E: Kurt Vonnegut and e.e. cummings are probably the most popular authors when it comes to literary tattoos.
J: And of course, if we had wanted to we could have done an entire book of just Shakespeare.

Q: Which children’s book illustrations are most popular?
E: Shel Silverstein, by far.

Q: What was the most interesting “story” behind a tattoo?
E: Best story by far is how Jamie Garvey of Gainesville, Florida, came to copy his e.e. cummings tattoo (“how do you like your blue-eyed boy now, mr. death?”) off the one and only Harry Crews.

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Sarah Wendell, the co-creator of the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books romance blog, has joined Kirkus Reviews as a columnist.

In her inaugural column, Wendell explained her focus: “I’ll be talking about romance novels—books I adore and trends I notice—and take requests for your recommendations and rants about romance. ” Herbert Simon, the owner of the Indiana Pacers and “chairman emeritus” of the Simon Property Group, acquired Kirkus Reviews earlier this year.

Here’s more from her first column: “When readers go hunting for books to read, they might ask a librarian or bookstore employee for recommendations, but they are just as likely to ask a fellow reader of that same genre. Kirkus’ goal with its new website and editorial direction is to include and welcome the avid book reader into the book discovery and discussion process.”

This spring, Open Road Integrated Media will publish the final product from The Novel: Live! writing marathon. Sales generated from the novel will be donated to various literacy non-profit organizations.

The writing event commenced on Monday, October 11th at Hugo House in Seattle, and will end on Saturday. Thirty-six authors are participating in this charity event, including:  Frances McCue, Erica Bauermeister, Sean Beaudoin, Dave Boling, and Peter Mountford. The last day will feature Jamie Ford, Clyde Ford, Elizabeth George, and Susan Wiggs.

Recently, Open Road hired children’s publishing veteran Barbara Marcus as a consultant to help them enter the children’s market.

TLC has released a trailer for the upcoming series, Sarah Palin’s Alaska.

The show will air on November 14, two full years before the 2012 Presidential election and one week before HarperCollins releases Palin’s second book, America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag. The trailer for Palin’s upcoming television series is embedded below.

Here’s more about her upcoming book: “Written in her own refreshingly candid voice, America By Heart will include selections from classic and contemporary readings that have moved her-from the nation’s founding documents to great speeches, sermons, letters, literature and poetry, biography, and even some of her favorite songs and movies. Here, too, are portraits of some of the extraordinary men and women she admires and who embody her deep love of country, her strong rootedness in faith, and her profound love and appreciation of family.”

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This year’s Nobel Prize in Literature went to Mario Vargas Llosa who beat the odds and captured the tax-free $2 million award. The Huffington Post rounded-up seven authors who have won the Nobel prize in categories other than literature.

The winners include Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr., Elie Wiesel, James D. Watson, and Joseph Stiglitz. In 1993, Mandela shared the prize with Frederik Willem de Klerk for their work towards ending apartheid. Mandela has also published his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. Last year, Obama was honored with the prize; he has written three books: Dreams of My Father, The Audacity of Hope, and the forthcoming picture book, Of Thee I Sing.

Chinese author Liu Xiaobo joined this inspirational group, winning this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The judges honored the writer “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.”

At midnight (PDT) tonight, voting concludes in our Dancing with the Stars Facebook contest. Follow this link to vote for your favorite writer to appear on the popular show. Next week, we’ll build a Facebook petition for the winning author.

The New York Post wrote about our contest yesterday, mentioning top three contenders: Claire Cook, Kathy L. Patrick, and David Sedaris. It’s not too late, so please hit up the votes to support the author of your choice.

Patrick  posted the photo embedded above (click to enlarge) and wrote a blog post: “I am beside myself with JOY! To be nominated to be on one of my favorite shows by somebody who loves to dance, after all, I don’t have a ‘GREAT BIG BALL OF HAIR’ BALL at my annual Girlfriend Weekend for nothing! I am running SECOND in votes so now I am asking for you to VOTE BIG TIME!”

Please submit your votes in either the comments section or on our Facebook wall. Tell your friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances, and verifiable-friendly strangers to participate–we’ll need everybody’s support to get our author on the show.

The Dad Dad Mom Mom picture book series tells the stories of families with same-sex parents. The video embedded above features the book trailer for the publisher’s new book, Stork M.I.A. (written and illustrated by Sandro Isaack). In the book, two same-sex couples  search for the Stork to start a family.

The company subscribes to this philosophy: “Census data shows that 25% of same-sex couples in the U.S. are raising children, and there are other more progressive countries with even larger numbers. This large number of children is reading mostly books from ‘borrowed’ universes. Dad Dad Mom Mom intends to create a universe for these children – their own universe in which the main characters happen to be same gender couples and their kids. Dad Dad Mom Mom has no political agenda. It was created for the children and to ease communication between same-gender couples and their children. Children of Not same-gender couples are also welcome.”

Earlier this week, we covered the debate about the future of the picture book. Some industry professionals theorize that standardized testing culture pressures parents to avoid picture books. It would be interesting if President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI–two world leaders who have authored picture books –would weigh in on the subject.