Entries Tagged 'weekend round-ups' ↓

News from the publishing industry from the last week (or so):

1. “Little Orphan Artworks” - The New York Times - 5/20/08
An op-ed piece from Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig about the possible reform in Congress of the copyright law regarding orphan works.

2. The 2008 National Indie Excellence Awards have been announced.

3. Published authors can upload and format their published books into Kindle format at Amazon.com.

4. “B&N Mulls a Borders Buy” - Business Week - 5/21/08
Barnes and Noble considering taking over Borders bookstores.

5. “Who killed the literary critic?” - Salon.com - 5/22/08
“Has the role of the professional critic become obsolete in an age of book clubs, celebrity endorsements and blogs?”

6. Publishers Weekly is cutting pay to its book reviewers, effective June 15. You can read more at my friend Kevin Allman’s blog.

7. “Lessing: Nobel win a ‘disaster’” - BBC News - 5/11/08
Doris Lessing gives her views on winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007.

Photo by GiniMiniGi

Tidbits of some of the publishing industry news and other book business articles this week:

1. Children’s author says “serendipity” most important to publishing success. (The Daily Iowan)

2. “Why is Random House CEO Peter Olson stepping down?” (The Week Daily edition)

3. Memoirs: fact or fiction? “Now, when people think of memoir, they begin to associate it with lying.” (The Christian Science Monitor)

4. “At 99, New Hampshire man becomes a first-time author” (The Boston Globe)

5. “Sex sells, so do scandals” (The Daily Vidette - Illinois State University)

6. “Borders turns page on old bookstores” (The Union Tribune - San Diego)

• Read Write Web: “Is the iPhone the Ultimate eBook Reader?” - 2/14/08
• San Francisco Chronicle: “NOTE TO READERS: Changes in Chronicle sections” - 2/23/08
• The Los Angeles Times: “Eaten alive in the studio jungle” - 2/13/08
• Newsweek: “A Book of Blogs?” - 2/15/08
• Bookseller.com: “Canada’s book market ’stagnant’, warns government” - 2/19/08
• Freep.com: “New Borders more than just books” - 2/14/08
• The Times-Picayune: “$20 million gift planned for Gentilly” - 2/21/08
  (”The founder of Barnes & Noble bookstores will spend $20 million from his private foundation to build and renovate homes in devastated Gentilly[, Louisiana.]”)
• The Sydney Morning Herald - “eBook - fact or fiction?” - 2/20/08
• The Guardian - “Self-publish boom challenging old order” - 2/20/08
• The Norman Transcript: “Books, reading can change communities, NEA official says” - 2/19/08

photo by Zsuzsanna Kilián

A weekly round-up of publishing industry news.

1. 2008 nominees for The Edgar Awards from The Mystery Writers of America

2. NPR: “Bookseller Amazon Building on Review Function”

3. Ars Technica: “Publishers warm up to ‘Net, sell chapters, give away books”

4. Mark Nelson: “Cashing in On Electronic Books”

5. The New York Times: “A Tight Grip Can Choke Creativity” (J. K. Rowling v. RDR Books)