eBook Gamble 

Scholastic Tries Branding with eBooks by Erin Joyce

The market for e-books is an enduring conundrum for publishers: a necessary investment while they wait out a mass market for digital books that has yet to, and may not, materialize.

But children's publishing and media company Scholastic Inc. sees its latest e-book project as a branding and marketing opportunity to help drive book sales. Plus, if the younger set warms up to e-book formats on mobile devices in the future, the company is taking no chances with positioning now.

The New York-based publishing giant plans to release 19 best-selling titles in e-book format, including its popular Dear America, Royal Diaries, Remnants and Scholastic Question & Answer book series. [read more]

The book is dead, long live the book 

Book Sales Total $25 Billion in 2001

US book sales totaled $25,356,500,000 billion in 2001... [read more]

Publishers take a stand for open government 

Publishers Seek to Overturn Bush Executive Order on Presidential Papers

The U.S. book publishing industry today urged a federal court to nullify President Bush's executive order limiting access to presidential papers and to order the National Archives to administer the Presidential Records Act of 1978 as Congress intended.

In an amicus brief submitted this morning to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Association of American Publishers, leading a distinguished coalition of organizations representing publishers, authors, journalists, and historians, called the Bush Order a "real, substantial, and immediate threat...to the integrity of the historical record and to the public interest." [read more]

Independent bookseller struggles 

Book Lovers Fight to Keep Store Open

Independent Apple Book Center Struggles for a New Lease on Life

Sherry McGee may be in her last days as an independent bookseller. After signing yet another loan, dumping her 401(K) fund into her beloved Apple Book Center, and facing debts totaling $300,000, she told her staff in late February that she would close the doors this month.

What happened next was a surprise to the former staffing company executive who has a passion for literature. Customers begged her not to close, and they started fighting for the store's survival, mounting a "Save Apple Book Center" campaign.

"It is actually catching on," McGee said. "It's the most wonderful thing."

McGee blames last year's economic recession for causing the store's problems. "For a company that already has no cash cushion, we just got wiped out after Sept. 11," said McGee. "We're just completely out of gas and out of cash." [read more]

Seems kind of extreme 

Rowling Bars Swedish Radio From her Books

J.K. Rowling, author of the popular Harry Potter series, has prohibited Swedish radio from reading excerpts from the books on the air, a lawyer said.

Rowling apparently was upset that a radio announcer had read passages from Harry Potter books during a children's program without asking her permission.

Under Swedish law, radio and television stations can broadcast readings of published works without approval from the author, as long as they pay royalty fees afterward. But if authors explicitly say they don't want their books read on the air, the broadcasters must abide, Swedish radio lawyer Gunhild Frylen said Thursday.

The conflict started when radio officials contacted Rowling's agent with questions on where to send the royalty money, Frylen said.

"They were very upset and said, `What do you mean you've read our books?' It was very hard for them to understand that this is the law here." [read more]

Corporate battles 

Amazon settles Barnes & Noble patent suit

Amazon.com has settled its controversial patent-infringement lawsuit against rival bookseller Barnes & Noble's online unit.

Amazon, the Internet retailer, would not disclose terms of the settlement, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Tuesday.

In a lawsuit filed in October 1999, Amazon.com argued that Barnes & Noble's Web site uses technology that was too similar to Amazon's patented "1-Click" system.

That system stores billing and shipping information so online customers don't have to re-enter data each time they buy.

Barnes & Noble's online subsidiary, barnesandnoble.com, uses a similar system, called "Express Lane." [read more]

Hooray for the small press 

Is Quality King? In My Book It Is! by Amy Phillips

I'm tired of hearing that smaller publishers don't put out quality books. I'm tired of hearing it because it simply isn't true.

Yes, there are small publishers who are new to the game and who fail to notice the subtle details that seasoned professionals can spot a mile away. But in my opinion, small publishers are getting a bad rap. There are plenty of independent publishers out there who have a keen eye for detail, who know how to present well-written material in a book that is visually appealing. I can't tell you how many small publishers I've met who consider their work a labor of love. They know books, they care about books, and they put a lot of time and money into producing quality titles.

I have never met a reader who put a book down because they were unfamiliar with the publishing house. I have met readers who put down books because they noticed typos on the back cover or noticed hickeys when flipping through the pages. It doesn't matter who published the book: a shoddy job is a shoddy job. [read more]

More on copyright extension 

Opposing Copyright Extension

Libraries Online 

The Official Web Site of The National Library, India

Book Awards 

National Book Critics Circle Annual Awards

Congratulations to General Nonfiction winner Nicholson Baker.

The debate goes on 

Ted Padova started it with Where are we headed with eBooks?

The responses:

Printed books have a few years yet by Kas Thomas

Practicality vs. Necessity by Bryan Guignard

The future brings with it both good and bad by Peter Zelchenko

World Book Day 

Tomorrow is World Book Day

Book burning halted at last minute 

Down-to-Wire Deal Heads Off Book Burn by Dana Hedgpeth

Victor Kamkin Inc., the Rockville bookstore that became a mecca for those in search of materials on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, got a three-week reprieve yesterday. Its eviction was delayed so that officials from the Library of Congress may pore through the bookseller's 1 million-piece collection to determine what should be saved.

Minutes before the books were to be thrown into two green, 10-ton dumpsters and taken to an incinerator, the store's owner and landlord stood in the parking lot to announce a last-minute deal.

Igor Kalageorgi, owner of the 50-year-old bookseller, said he would pay his landlord, Allen Kronstadt, $10,000 in rent -- raised from sales made last weekend after hundreds of customers came to his store -- to stay in the 20,000-square-foot warehouse off Boiling Brook Parkway.

After exchanging accusations in front of a crowd earlier, the two stepped inside to hastily broker the deal. When they emerged 15 minutes later, they awkwardly shook hands in front of TV cameras. [read more]

Original story link.