Category: publishing

“After Amazon reviewer LB Taylor gave [a] novel one star, calling it ‘a sad excuse for romance, mystery, and humor’, she found herself attacked online by one NiteflyrOne – shortly outed by commentors as Candace Sams, author of the novel.” But things got really weird when Sams wrote “that she’s reporting naysayers to the FBI.”

“When Dickens received the initial receipts of production and sale from Chapman and Hall, he found that after the deductions for printing, paper, drawing and engraving, steel plates, paper for plates, colouring, binding, incidentals and advertising and commission to the publishers, the ‘Balance of account to Mr Dickens’s credit’ was a mere £137.”

“Laredo sits on the border with Mexico. It’s a poor city filled with immigrants who don’t speak English, let alone read it. A federal survey several years ago found half the adults in the county lack basic literacy skills. Yet the bookstore,” a B. Dalton in a mall, “has become a touchstone.” And it’s slated for closure.

“The city closes a main avenue, and places sofas and chairs where cars and trucks normally idle. … This is the Noche de Librerias, Bookstore Night, a chance for Buenos Aires’ many bibliophiles to peruse the millions of titles in stock at the dozens of bookstores that sit under the neon glow on raucous Corrientes Avenue.”

“Is the e-book reader about to experience its iPod moment of explosion? Not this Christmas, but perhaps next, the universally popular present may be one of the competing models.”

“Some of the biggest names in publishing have had a lousy year, posting spectacular sales falls in the run-up to Christmas.”

“As it turns out, the list of most-purloined fiction authors at many stores resembles the contents of the X-Case; it’s a list that is predominantly — and often exclusively — male. Why are thieves shunning the distaff?”

“In a climate where many recession-weary readers would rather troll the Internet for free than curl up with yet another discretionary expense, magazines have to reckon with the digital age, and make it profitable.”

“A Paris court has convicted Google Inc. in a copyright infringement case over online publication of French books. A judge ruled today that the U.S. Internet search giant must pay $430,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere.”

“The design team behind the project have tried to keep elements of print magazine reading that readers want, while abandoning some design features commonly used when creating digital editions of print products, such as page-turning technology.”