Breaking news on authors, publishers, and book-related topics

Maya Angelou Dies at 86

May 28 2014: Esteemed poet and memoirist, Maya Angelou, is dead at 86. She was best known for her searing look at the Jim Crow South. Ms. Angelou was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama.

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Amazon ups the ante in battle with Hachette over terms by removing pre-order option from many titles

May 23 2014: Amazon's slowdown of their business with Hachette Book Group (as the parties battle over terms) has taken another turn with the disappearance of the pre-order buying capability for print and Kindle editions of many forthcoming Hachette Book Group titles.

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Simon & Schuster to make its backlist available via Scribd & Oyster so subscribers can download for flat monthly fee

May 21 2014: Simon & Schuster is to make its backlist of ebook titles available via Oyster and Scribd. Both services offer flat rate plans allowing subscribers to download an unlimited number of books each month for $9.95 (Oyster) and $8.99 (Scribd). HarperCollins and Wiley already ...

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Almost half of 6-8 year olds read daily. Only a quarter of 15-17 year olds do.

May 20 2014: A new report by Common Sense Media based on a number of different studies concludes that US reading rates drop precipitously from childhood to the tween and teenage years: "One study documents a drop from 48% of 6- to 8-year-olds down to 24% of 15- to 17-year-olds who ...

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Amazon continues to delay availability of Hachette books that are readily available elsewhere

May 15 2014: While Amazon continues to play a bookish version of the childhood game Keep-Away with certain Hachette titles (including Little Brown and Grand Central titles), other booksellers in the U.S. are quite happy to step in and showcase their own ability to fill the retail ...

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First ever California Book Day - a triumph!

May 05 2014: If there were any doubts that the inaugural California Bookstore Day would succeed, they were dissolved by noon on Saturday, May 3 by the loud and clear praise from participating indies that echoed from San Diego to Fort Bragg and all points in between...

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News Corp/Harper Collins buying Harlequin

May 02 2014: News Corp. is buying Harlequin Enterprises from Torstar Corporation for $415 million in cash and will make it a division of HarperCollins. Harlequin's headquarters will remain in Toronto, as will the offices of HarperCollins Canada.

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Ordinary Grace & Ketchup Clouds among this year's Edgar Award winners

May 01 2014: The 2014 Edgar Award winners have been announced:. Click the link at the bottom more more information on six of the winners, including full length reviews and backstories of three of the books:

• Edgar Award for Best Novel: Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger 
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