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

Amazon claims to sell 48 ebooks for every 100 physical books

Dec 01 2009: In yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Amazon spokeswoman Cinthia Portugal claimed that, "For every 100 books we sell in physical, we sell 48 Kindle books... This is up from 35 books for every 100 in May. Our customers tell us they read more with Kindle because they ...

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Colleen McCullough to undergo brain surgery

Nov 30 2009: Colleen McCullough, the Australian author of the best-selling novel The Thorn Birds, is to undergo brain surgery for a condition known as trigeminal neuralgia that causes "unbelievable pain" to her face.

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Borders UK files for bankruptcy, closing all stores

Nov 30 2009: Borders UK launched a closing down sale this weekend, with all 45 branded Borders and Books Etc stores across the UK affected.

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Book found on bathroom shelf sells for $171,000

Nov 25 2009: A copy of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" bought for a 'few shillings' about 50 years ago, and shelved in the family's bathroom in Oxfordshire for many years (where it was recently discovered) sold at auction yesterday for 103,250 UK pounds (about US $171,000).

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Barnes & Noble lowers earnings guidance

Nov 24 2009: Barnes & Noble reported that store sales fell 2% in their second quarter. BN.com sales rose 9% and College sales (from the newly purchased Barnes and Noble College Booksellers) were down 0.2% on the one month of sales that is measurable. Overall, BN reported a loss of ...

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Borders third quarter results 'difficult and disappointing'

Nov 24 2009: Total sales at Borders Group continued to sink in the third quarter, though the chain did better on the bottom-line. Revenue fell 12.7% in the quarter ended October 31, to $595.5 million, while the loss from continuing operations was cut to $38.5 million from $172.2 ...

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The 2009 National Book Award Winners

Nov 19 2009: The winners of the 2009 National Book Awards have been announced at the National Book Foundation's 60th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner.

This year's winners are:

• Fiction: Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin (Random House)
• Nonfiction: T.J. ...

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Google Settlement Filed

Nov 13 2009: After two delays, attorneys for the AAP, Authors Guild and Google filed an amended settlement agreement today in an effort to end litigation brought by the publishers and authors against Google over its library scanning program. The biggest change in the agreement deals...

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