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

Supermarkets are selling us out

Feb 19 2008: The Times of London takes aim at the monolithic chain stores and questions if they even offer good "value", whether it be for food, clothes or books:

"These days, how you decide to shop defines you as much as how you choose to dress. We treat supermarket shopping as ...

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95% of books published sell less than 3,500 copies, 1/3 sell less than 18 copies!

Feb 18 2008: The London Times reports on the realities of being a published author. Of the 200,000 books published in the UK last year, 190,000 sold fewer than 3,500 copies, with about 60,000 selling less than 18 copies.  Things aren't much different in the US, where it's ...

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E-books will never be our friends

Feb 16 2008: The London Times offers a thoughtful article on the merits of electronic books versus the traditional paper variety, concluding that "The books of all time will remain on paper, but those of the hour will increasingly be digital: the airport novel, the reference book, ...

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Over 250,000 sign up for Oprah webinar

Feb 15 2008: More than a quarter of a million people have signed up for the interactive webinar that Oprah Winfrey is conducting with Eckhart Tolle, author of her latest book club pick, A New Earth. The ten week webinar starts March 3.

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Colorado Senate Committee approve 'harmful to minors' bill

Feb 14 2008: Bookselling This Week reports that the the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee has ignored the pleas of booksellers and voted 4 - 2 to approve a bill that bans the sale to minors of books and magazines that are "harmful to minors."

In his testimony, Matthew...

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Majority of British consumers not interested in downloading books

Feb 11 2008: Publishing News reports that a new survey by BML (a research company specializing on the book market place) shows that most British consumers are not yet aware that it is possible to download books, let alone interested in the prospect of doing so.

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Association of American Publishers joins Plame's fight against CIA

Feb 10 2008: Publishers Weekly reports that the AAP is entering the legal fray surrounding Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game. The book, which Simon & Schuster published in October, has already drawn the publisher and its author into a legal battle with the CIA. A lawsuit filed...

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Eight rules authors should follow to avoid scandals

Feb 08 2008: The Guardian offer eight rules authors should follow to avoid scandals:

1. Do not use the word "memoir" unless you mean it.
2. If you're not sure whether what you're writing is a memoir or not, guess what? It's a novel.
3. No more than half a page of ...

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