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

Publisher rejected Obama's book

Jan 27 2009: In a story to warm the hearts of every author who's received a rejection letter or missed a deadline, The Daily Beast reports that Barack Obama received a $100,000 advance from Simon & Schuster to write Dreams From My Father (1995), but when the first two parts of...

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Amazon to drop all e-book formats other than its own

Jan 26 2009: Amazon.com has notified its publisher and author clients that it plans to cease offering e-books in the Microsoft Reader and Adobe e-book formats. In the future, the online retailer says it plans to offer only e-books in the Kindle format (for wireless download to its ...

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Caldecott and Newbery Awards announced

Jan 26 2009: The American Library Association have announced the winners of the Caldecott, Newbery and other awards for the best in children's books.

The John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature has been won by Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard ...

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NBCC announce 2008 award finalists

Jan 26 2009: The National Book Critics Circle have announced their 2008 award finalists in fiction, nonfiction, criticism, poetry, biography & autobiography. The winners will be announced in March.

Fiction
Roberto Bolano, 2666
Marilynne Robinson, Home
Aleksandar Hemon, ...

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Movies based on books score well in Oscar nominations

Jan 23 2009: Films based on novels have, once again, proved to be a winning formula when it comes to Oscar nominations which include:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on the short story of the same name by F Scott Fitzgerald (13 nominations including best picture, ...

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Leading publishers see 400% increase in e-book sales

Jan 20 2009: Publishers Weekly report on the "e-book rush" with Simon & Schuster and Random House reporting a 400% increase in e-book sales year on year, and the Association of American Publishers reporting that total e-book sales ending September 2008 surged 51% over the same ...

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Creator of 'Rumpole of the Bailey' dies

Jan 16 2009: The BBC reports on the death of Sir John Mortimer, author of the Rumpole of the Bailey series. He was 85.

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B&N lays off 100 corporate jobs

Jan 15 2009: Barnes & Noble today announced the elimination of close to 100 positions in its corporate headquarters (representing about 4% of corporate staff). The company said most of the job eliminations were due to the reduction in store openings and consolidation of ...

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