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

ALA releases list of 2008 banned books

Apr 16 2009: The American Library Association listed 530 challenges against specific books in 2008, a roughly 25% increase year on year, but well below the levels in the 1990s. The ALA defines a challenge as a "formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that...

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Indies Choice Book Awards announced

Apr 16 2009: The American Booksellers Association today announces the winners of the inaugural Indies Choice Book Awards. Formerly the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards.

The winners are:

• Best Indie Buzz Book (Fiction): The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by ...

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The Debate Over Pay-for-Play Online

Apr 16 2009: Editor & Publisher, America's oldest journal covering the newspaper industry, has a very interesting article exploring if and how newspapers should start charging for their online content - a topic which is on the minds of all newspaper editors these days in the light ...

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The timeless appeal of the pony book

Apr 14 2009: The Guardian newspaper (UK) has a lovely article on the the timeless appeal of the pony book ....

"How many small girls own a pony? How many small girls even come within mucking-out distance of one of these snorting, flatulent, white-eyed quadrupeds? How many would...

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Amazon admits 'ham-fisted cataloging error'

Apr 14 2009: Following the public outcry when it became apparent that Amazon was excluding certain books with adult content from bestseller lists and some searches, Amazon reports that 57,310 titles in categories including Health, Mind & Body, and Erotica were affected by an "...

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Editor of 'Quill and Quire' dies suddenly aged 40

Apr 13 2009: Derek Weiler, editor of the Canadian book trade magazine Quill & Quire, died suddenly at the weekend aged 40. He is survived by his wife and two children

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New larger screen Kindle in the works?

Apr 13 2009: Rumor has it that Amazon is developing a new version of its Kindle electronic-book reader featuring a larger screen which could debut before the 2009 holiday shopping season. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment on what he called "rumors or speculation."

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Amazon's de-ranking policy sparks online ire

Apr 13 2009: Shelf Awareness reports that Amazon.com came under Internet fire Sunday when word began to spread that the company had been "de-ranking" certain titles, especially - - though not exclusively - lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender books. The disappearing sales ...

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