Category: publishing

“Ancient Roman poetry is the last thing you might expect to hear at the center of a sexual harassment claim. But in London, a line from a poem by Catullus, written in the first century B.C. has been the focus for lawyers trying to prove that [an] investment banker … illegally dismissed one of his female employees.”

“Did the world’s great novelists really spend years agonising over the pitch and rhythm of their sentences so some time-efficient post-modern reader could skim over the text like a political spin doctor searching for soundbites in the transcript of a ministerial speech?”

“Stephen R. Covey, one of the most successful business authors of the last two decades, has moved e-book rights to two of his best-selling books from his print publisher, Simon & Schuster, a division of the CBS Corporation, to Amazon.com for one year.”

“A number of academic institutions are quietly trying to do what Britannica and others say can’t be done: build online encyclopedias that are rigorous, scholarly, and free to access.”

“The proposal before the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights could free up thousands of book titles to millions of blind people in WIPO-member nations — without payment to the publisher.”

“Founded in 1933, Kirkus churned out nearly 5,000 reviews a year. Although typically not seen by the general public — except in blurbs on books or excerpted on barnesandnoble.com — Kirkus reviews were often used by librarians and booksellers when deciding how to stock their shelves.”

“The question of exactly who owns the electronic rights to such older titles is in dispute, making it a rising source of conflict in one of the publishing industry’s last remaining areas of growth.”

“After months of speculation about their future, entertainment industry trade newspaper The Hollywood Reporter, music industry paper Billboard and six other publications owned by Nielsen Business Media have been sold.”

“HarperCollins, which has already delayed the e-book of its No. 1 best seller Going Rogue, by Sarah Palin, will start to ‘window’ e-book editions this winter, starting with five to 10 titles per month, a spokeswoman said.”

“Hurt by the recession and ongoing issues in Pioneer Square, Elliott Bay Book Co. is leaving after 36 years for an old Ford truck-repair center on Capitol Hill. … Bookstore owner Peter Aaron said he expects sales to improve immediately and in a big way.”