Category: publishing

“The English novelist best known for Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility has been dead since 1817, yet she is drawing a cultish pack of young people, especially young women, known as ‘Janeites’ who are dedicated to celebrating all things Austen.”

“Michael Tollemache, a London fine art dealer and bird enthusiast, bought the four-volume illustrated work for $11.5 million.”

“[H]oping to increase their minuscule share of the American book market – about 3 percent – foreign governments and foundations, especially those on the margins of Europe, are taking matters into their own hands and plunging into the publishing fray in the United States.”

“Three items of current, unrelated book news suggest that now – as never before – the printed word remains in rude good health, despite the merchants of doom.”

Google is allowing merchants to sell its inventory of 3 million electronic books through their own sites and bring in more money as they scramble to adjust to the rising popularity of e-readers such as Amazon’s Kindle and computer tablets such as Apple’s iPad.

“An American independent bookseller has set up a blog “Against Amazon”, despite being a judge for an award sponsored by the online retailer.”

“Since the announcement of local authority budget cuts in the comprehensive spending review in October, councils have been announcing massive cuts to their library services across the country, with some proposing the closure of up to half their libraries.”

The internet giant would join major e-book retailers in the increasingly crowded space.

“The titles of every British book published in English in and around the 19th century — 1,681,161, to be exact — are being electronically scoured for key words and phrases that might offer fresh insight into the minds of the Victorians.”