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Mystery maven Otto Penzler will publish an eponymous imprint next year; new technology allows e-books to be converted en masse to the popular ePub standard; cuts to library funding in Massachusetts have met with protests; Aussie booksellers are miffed at the persistence of import regulations; and other news.
Plans for a PBS debate yesterday fizzled after a Google Books rep failed to show; the Writers Union of Canada is opposing the revised book-scanning settlement; Smashwords has inked a global distribution deal with a “cloud-computing” firm; the latest ranking of public libraries is out this week; and other news.
Most foreign-language works have been dropped from the Google Books settlement; the Open Book Alliance has cried foul on the new deal; Sony is rolling out themed e-readers for the holidays; a library in Phoenix is going shopping after collecting a massive late fine; and other news.
Advocates for the visually impaired say the Kindle needs improvements; the submissions pool for a new literary journal is an online forum; staff at the Sonoma County Library system will take an unpaid furlough over the holidays; the musty smell of old books contains useful data for preservationists; the “On Translation” conference gets underway today in Vienna; and other news.
Amazon is re-releasing a trio of fiction titles originally published through BookSurge; Rupert Murdoch doesn’t want Google to keep him from charging for digital content; a British university press is hoping to expand its appeal with a new imprint; a public library in California is trying out a “fines-free” lending scheme; and other news.
A new tool lets “green” publishers stamp their eco-savings right into books; Amazon’s “Kindle for PC” app is live; Reed Elsevier suddenly has a new CEO; Andrew Sullivan’s print-on-demand project is steaming ahead; Reading, Pennsylvania may not lose its library branches after all; and other news.
Germany is looking for a way to handle the digitization of copyright “orphans”; an English teacher has been suspended for assigning an explicit story; Amazon is wooing literary agents; squabbling has broken out among a trio of indie bookstores in Wisconsin; Waterstone’s focus on the bottom line has critics decrying its effects on literary culture; and other news.
The Miami Book Fair International kicked off yesterday with a slightly leaner schedule; some of Britain’s university presses are ailing, some are banding together; B&N customers looking to preorder the Nook will have to wait a little longer than expected; amendments to the USA Patriot Act will face a Congressional vote; and other news.
For thousands of would-be novelists, November is NaNoWriMo; the New York Observer is getting a new editor; McSweeney’s is giving readers a taste of its long-awaited newspaper project; the Espresso Book Machine is gaining ground; a new study looks at how U.S. publishers are treating their employees; and other news.
LA’s inkSlam Poetry Festival is underway; the glut of Penguin merchandise has some concerned that the publisher is forgetting its radical roots; U.K. publishers are urging government action against digital piracy; zombie literature refuses to die; and other news.
