Category: publishing

Even for an Oprah Winfrey book pick, “A New Earth” has been a sensation. About 3.5 million copies of Eckhart Tolle’s spiritual self-help guide have been shipped since Winfrey, host of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” announced her selection four weeks ago.

Bly, 81, has written more than 30 books of poetry. He is best known nationally, however, for his 1990 prose exploration of mythology, “Iron John: A Book About Men.” Recently, he translated Henrik Ibsen’s epic play “Peer Gynt” for the Guthrie Theater.

Digital versions of the books–with extras such as voiceovers, sound effects and music–will roll out on kidthing.com starting in March, along with digital games based on the characters.

“Publishers have worried about Internet piracy and whether online text could hurt traditional sales. But lately the trend has been to make more books available on the Internet and hope that interest in all formats will be increased.”

“Many items there are staples. Others are ingredients that, like salt, are only good in combination with something else. Some things you keep around are healthy, if not very tasty, while a few might count as junk food. (A couple of scholarly presses are indeed known for their Pop-Tarts.) And it’s hardly a decent pantry if you don’t have a few impulse purchases you later regret, or gourmandizing experiments that didn’t quite pan out.”

“Despite a soft fourth quarter in which sales and operating income fell by 4% and 26%, respectively, Simon & Schuster finished 2007 with a sales gain of 10%, to $886.1 million, while operating income jumped 29%, to $88.1 million.”

“The subject of poetry being life, and politics being a part of life, poets have written as they thought or might have voted. Whether they actually made anything happen is not clear.”

“Over 800 books have been divided into bite-size pieces to be emailed to you every day. The books are complete editions and each instalment takes just a few minutes to read – as much time as it takes to update your Facebook profile.”

It’s a whole genre, really…

“Dutton’s has a national reputation, a following among authors who appeared at its many readings and, for its two decades of history, a special place in literary Los Angeles. Many considered it the most literary and high-minded of L.A.’s bookstores, as well as one that felt increasingly, if charmingly, anachronistic.”